Insight in to what it is like in jail

3 responses

1. 

   tome

   June 29, 2008

   poor richard. he can only have a video visit. video visits are becoming the industry standard. video visits make life simpler and safer for jail personnel and the inmate. inmates do not have easy access to contraband w/ video visits. there are only two ways inmates garner contraband, and visitors are one way. criminally minded jail personnel are the other way.

   when inmates do not have access to contraband, they become safer, because stronger inmates tend to intimidate weaker inmates, and therefore contraband gets through the system. inmates are conniving and will take every opportunity to have something in prison they are forbidden to have in their possession.

   as for criminally minded jail personnel, they are eventually found and are prosecuted. once jail personnel cross the line, inmates will give them up for any reason: not being assigned a cushy work details, not having an extra dessert or any other reason that comes to mind.

   so, you see, your video visiting complaint does not stack up.

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2. 

   Parchangelo

   June 30, 2008

   tome just doesn’t get the point about video visitation. Three types of visitations: in-person, contact visits (which were never allowed at Winnebago County Jail), in-person non-contact visits, face-to-face with glass barrier between inmate and visitor (as in the 30-days video), and video visitations (black & white, grainy, distorted video conferencing which has as de-personalizing an effect to a visit as it is possible to impose without just turning a visit into just a phone call. I’m sorry, but when you are there; you want to be able to see your person up close to really see them and their true condition. You even want the option to put your fingers to the glass, even if you cannot touch them. You do not want less.

   The excuse that video conferencing is being resorted to to cut down on contraband is ridiculous. Contraband was not getting in via the non-contact glass partition visits. It come is via mail, via jail staff, via suppliers, and other ways. The strong versus weak argument is also not the concern. Inmates are separately allowed to buy commissary weekly to supplement their awful food diet and the strong are permitted to openly prey upon the weak. If the concern is to protect the weak, then the jail would greatly improve the jail diet, medical care, and activities.

   The real concern is in making money for the jail and contractors, not the welfare of the inmates. It is also to be as invasive as possible. That is why video conferencing machines exist to record conversations for law-enforcement use which were previously not able to be recorded, and why inmates have to pay private phone rates ranging from $3 – $7 for 3 minutes to $7 – $17 for every call they make to their loved ones. Commissary items are not selected for health but for profit margin. Personal supplies provided are severely limited and the only dental service offered is to pull teeth (no matter what the ailment). I’m sorry but many Winnebago County taxpayers would be dismayed to see how their special tax money is actually being spent.

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3. 

   scornn

   June 30, 2008

   I think video visitations would be helpful for long distance visitation with family and friends that are not local.

   if you have ever used Skype or other video conferencing software to “see” loved ones, yes it is better than not seeing them at all but it is not like you visited them. In fact that is what Richard and I were setting up for another friend on 2/6/08 between 11:30 and 3:30 when Mr. Clark was murdered.

   In the video Morgan puts his hand up to the glass and his mother and wife does the same on the other side. you do not get to do this with video visitation. Tome’s comment about easier for inmates is absurd I do not think you would ever have an inmate complain that they wish they did not have to leave their “Pod”.

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