As of May 2013, the total population of inmates in the United States numbered at 218,171. When demographics from that number are examined, that means that 0.7% of American adults are incarcerated into the prison resident population. It is a sobering statistic.
The causes for incarceration among these inmates is as varied as their faces. Many are in for felony drug possession, others for violent assault. Regardless of their crimes, however, prisoners must be allowed certain rights, like access to counsel, while they are imprisoned. However, traditional visitation systems that rely on physical visitation are rife with issues. Here are three ways implementing video visitation systems can improve prisoner life while increasing everyone’s safety.
- Ease of Providing Counsel
- Granting of Mandated Visitation Rights
- Greater Protection for All
As previously stated, prisoners have the right to legal counsel when they are in jail. Some want to discuss the appeal process, and others want somebody to talk to. Regardless, visitation with attorneys can be problematic for a number of reasons, the least of which is the ease of privileged visitation. Virtual visitation systems, such as video visitation systems, allow attorneys to easily talk to their clients from their office computer, making case prep much more convenient.
Regardless of the crime, every prisoner is entitled to prisoner visitation rights. In other words, prisons must enable prisoners to visit with friends and family, assuming they have done nothing further to negate their opportunities. The problem is that visitation often gives inmates the ability to smuggle drugs and discuss elicit dealings inside and outside of the compound with their visitors. With the use of video visitation systems, authorized personnel can conduct, monitor, interact with, and shut down any live visitation feed with built-in command keys. Prison video visitation gives prisoners their rights without endangering the outside world or that inside the jail.
Prisoners are often visited by judges, attorneys, clergymen, and other people to whom they wish to speak about their imprisonment. A video visitation system allows these visits to happen over high quality, two-way, secure virtual servers between the inmate and these privileged individuals. It is not exactly unheard of for prisoners to harbor animosity toward these type of people, after all. Video visitation systems allow them to stay safely out of reach.
Prisoners have the right to visitation with their family and counsel. However, they do not have the right to smuggle in drugs, weapon making tools, or any other items that would serve to do harm to the prison population. Video visitation systems make sure prisoners get what they are guaranteed while allowing corrections officers to do their jobs safely.