Video calls

2018: In the USA appointments in prisons replace with video calls

By May, 2018 more and more prisons of the USA began to use services of video calls – theoretically, they help prisoners to keep in contact with family and friends, but many prisons use these services as a pretext for restriction or an exception of traditional appointments. Therefore the family of prisoners is extremely dissatisfied with use of technology.

Individual visits – hard work for personnel which should accompany prisoners to the meeting place and in time reveal possible smuggling. Video calls facilitate load of the budget of prisons.

Appointments in the American prisons replace with video calls

However, limiting personal visits, prisons even can get profit. Video calls directly in the territory of prison are free, however outside a certain section use of this service requires money, and part of them goes directly to the prison budget. The lawyer on protection of human rights Alex Friedmann said that prisons sign the agreement not with those companies that provide the best rates, and with those that are ready to deduct to prisons the biggest commission.

The system of video calls is implemented in more than 600 correctional facilities of the USA. In the first years of the company providing the equipment for video calls required from prisons to sign contracts on the step-by-step termination of personal appointments. It caused such protest that the companies deleted this point from later rural lands of contracts. Nevertheless, about 74% of the prisons which implemented services of video calls finally limited or completely excluded personal visits.

Researches confirm that the imprisoned persons have the best results when they receive personal visits from family members and the supporting associates, - the National Institute of correctional facilities of the Ministry of Justice in the report for 2014 wrote.

It is considered that video calls will be useful both to prisoners, and to society. However the National agency of correctional facilities of the USA notes that video calls should not replace personal visits. Regular communication of prisoners with relatives and friends reduces the probability of offenses and the repeated conclusion in the future. Prisons should encourage personal contact of offenders with family and use video calls only as an additional service.^[1]

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