Connecticut is introducing electronic tablets to prisoners in state facilities this spring. Department of Correction Commissioner Scott Semple made the announcement in Hartford on Thursday.
Semple told the monthly meeting of Connecticut’s Criminal Justice Policy Advisory Commission that the introduction of the tablets is an effort to help prisoners keep up with technology.
Semple said officials have taken security concerns into consideration. “These tablets are an embedded network where there is no risk of victimization with the use of WiFi. But it has a lot of capability to keep people connected with technology who are going back into the community. I think that’s a step in the right direction.”
Semple said Connecticut is not the first state to move in this direction. He said Georgia and Colorado already have similar programs. Semple said in Georgia it has resulted in a 50 percent reduction in incidents, “because people are engaged and there’s something to lose. And people don’t want to lose those privileges.”
He said the tablets will be loaded with books and apps to help develop life skills like managing a checkbook.
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