By Dean FergusonReporter
Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
LEWISTON, Idaho — Parents can attest to the difference electronics can make on a road trip — for everyone involved.
It turns out computer screens have the same effect at quieting the boredom for prisoners in the Nez Perce County Jail.
“It has become a very good babysitter,” said NPC Deputy Kael Brink, 38, who was apologetic about the metaphor. “There is a change in inmate behavior.”
One of Brink’s jobs is to monitor the use of tablets that are issued to inmates at the 165-capacity Nez Perce County Jail .
On Oct. 1, the jail started issuing computer tablets for free to each inmate. These devices not only provide entertainment or educational viewing and listening — they have become how lawyers, loved ones and visitors communicate with inmates, officials say.
While the technology is new to Nez Perce County, the Canyon County Jail in Caldwell introduced the tablets two years ago. Immediately, the tablets made the prison population more peaceful.
“We saw a decline of 40% for disturbances and fights,” said Canyon County Sheriff’s Deputy Lt. Travis Engle.
The rates for fights and disturbances have remained at the new lower level, and may have decreased more, Engle said.
Improvements to quality of life
Brink and Engle both stress that the quality of life in both jails has improved with the tablets.
“Inmates are not here to be punished, or punished more,” Brink said.
Brink believes that providing access to self-help, drug and alcohol recovery information, religious programing and audio books helps inmates. Giving prisoners a chance to watch the same entertainment that someone on the outside views isn’t extravagant.
“We’re not pampering them by any means,” Brink said. “I’ve never had to spend my holidays in jail.”
Engle said inmates now have more opportunities to communicate with friends and families. In fact, the texting function — called “chirping” — aligns with how people communicate these days
“Anybody can visit from anywhere,” Engle said. “The texting system, that’s how they communicate anyway so they use the text system all the time.”
Whatever misgivings folks have with the technology, having tablets in jail just amounts to keeping up with the times: “I’ve been in this business for 20 years and it’s modernizing a lot lately, and it helps us and it helps the inmates and the staff,” Engle said.
By avoiding disturbances and fights over a centralized telephone, or what is on television, or whose football team is better, the quality of life for inmates is improved.
And the screens take some pressure off jail staff. Staff isn’t constantly under boredom-driven scrutiny from inmates.
“The tablets take the attention off staff,” Brink said. “They are more focused on the screen.”
Along with viewing entertainment or getting books online, inmates also can access mental health counseling and other self-improvement resources.
No more physical mail
Inmate mail is now sent through the same company that provides the computer system, and mail is scanned and arrives digitally. Dropping physical letters from the system has cut off a common route used to smuggle certain kinds of contraband.
“That’s a huge benefit. Contraband is huge,” Engle said. “They can send drugs in through the mail system such as Suboxone (opioid) patches in the mail and books. They can’t get those drugs into the facilities like that now.”
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Cost breakdown
Texas -based CTEL installed and manages the tablet system. The company is responsible for the equipment, training, curating available content, and helping monitor the communications.
CTEL did not return a call from the Lewiston Tribune to comment on this story.
Some content on the tablets is free. However, “premium content” costs money.
Inmates get 40 minutes a week of visitation time over the tablet for free, which can be split up into smaller chunks or used all at once. After that, it costs 5 cents per minute, which inmates can pay out of their commissary. Visitation via tablet is available seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Inmates can’t all be using visitation at the same time, though.
It’s free to view nonpremium content including religious and drug recovery resources, and plenty of books are also available at no charge. Premium content costs 5 cents per minute: “Shawshank Redemption,” which runs at 2 hour and 22 minute, would cost $6.40.
Texting is 10 cents for 150 characters, or 20 cents for 320 characters.
The system is paid for by inmate usage fees. Part of the Nez Perce County contract with CTEL dedicates a share of inmate fees to purchasing hygiene items, mattresses, ear buds and more.
None of the system requires money from the county, Brink said.
He did not know how much CTEL took to run the program.
Public defenders express concerns
Whereas jail managers see mostly an upside to this system, Idaho’s public defenders are more circumspect.
There’s concern that indigent people can’t pay for access. There’s worry, too, that confidentiality could be compromised in the communications between attorneys and their clients.
“For our agency, it’s essential that Idaho’s jails allow State Public Defender clients to contact their public defender in ways that don’t cost the indigent inmate any money — and the means of communication are secure and private,” wrote Patrick Orr , spokesperson for the Idaho State Public Defender Office. “If the communication between a client in custody and their public defender does not preserve that, we would have concerns.”
Brink said the system does not spy on inmates talking to their attorneys. However, he said there is not a broader right to privacy in jail. Text messages to people who aren’t lawyers can and will be monitored.
“Self-incrimination is not common, but it is possible,” Brink said. If prisoners do incriminate themselves, then copies of the text are provided to defense and prosecution via a USB drive sent by certified mail.
As for concerns about affordability, the 40 free minutes of video visitation per week gives indigent inmates access to lawyers and others. They also have access to nonpremium content.
Combating abuse of the system
CTEL has clients across the nation and has a program designed to prevent abuses.
As far as concerns about inmates who use the texting feature or video calls, they can’t easily stalk or harass people because the system allows for easy blocking.
Also, the system prevents the naughtier live visitation by presenting only a close up image of the face of the person who is calling. If it’s not a face, it’s blurred.
Of course, officers like Brink can and do monitor the communications.
When asked if he was concerned about prisoners having access to a podcast that doles out advice about how to escape from jail, Brink just chuckled: “Good luck with that.”
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