Tablets for County Jail Inmates to Reduce Contraband, Improve Education
(OCSO, Oct. 25, 2020)
Pontiac, MI – The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office has taken a huge step  forward  in  revolutionizing  operations  and  safety  within  the  jail at zero  cost  to  the  taxpayers  or  inmates  by  using  innovative  technologies  for  inmate  communications.
The  Sheriff’s Office  has partnered with  Smart  Communications,   based in  Tampa,   Florida,  which  has state-of-the-art patented technologies to  provide  the  Oakland  County  Jail     with  specialized  inmate  tablets.  These  tablets  are specifically  designed  to  automate  internal and  external  communications, and,  in  turn,  jail  operations will be a paperless environment, which will increase agency safety and intelligence.    With implementing this new system, the Jail has eliminated all manual labor which had been required to process incoming and outgoing inmate mail.  Further, this eliminates contraband and illegal drugs from entering the facility through normal postal mail. All inmate postal mail will now be sent directly to Smart Communications where the mail is screened and scanned into a high-definition color copy and delivered to the inmate electronically on specialized inmate tablets.
Not only does it eliminate contraband from getting into the facility through the mail, but it will also keep staff and inmates safer through the current COVID-19 pandemic by decreasing the risk for transmission through the mail.
“Oakland County is proud to be the first county in the state of Michigan to implement this new smart mail  technology,  especially  at  no  cost  to  taxpayers  and  will  result  in  being  able  to  redeploy  staff to where they  are  needed  most  in  the  jail,”  said  Sheriff  Michael  J.  Bouchard.  “This  is  a  win-win opportunity  for  both  streamlining  our  operations  and  increasing  safety  for  our personnel,  while  at  the  same time, providing more diverse services and programs to our inmates.”
Each inmate will receive free communications with approved family and friends eight times per month on the tablet. This will allow inmates to maintain relationships with family and loved ones critical   for success upon release.  Inmates  will  also  have  complete  access  to  a  library  on  the  tablets  which  will  include education, substance abuse resources, cognitive behavior programming, as well as a complete law library. Having  access  to  this  programming,  has  been  proven to  dramatically  reduce  recidivism, change inmate behavior, and better prepare inmates when released back into the community.
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