Florida prisoners will soon have access to tablets, email, video conferencing

Seven prisons in Florida have installed interactive kiosks that allow inmates to send emails, search for jobs and even video conference with family.

Eventually there will be one in every of Florida’s major institutions, including work camps and release centers.

“There’s a kiosk in a common area there’s a screen you can type and enter data -- and in some cases -- you can have video conferencing," said Action News Jax Law and Safety Expert Dale Carson. ,"You can have family go to a specific location -- not inside the jail -- and they can communicate back and forth."

Prisoners cant email just anyone. People must log onto a special system and send an email to the prisoner first.

Prisoners also pay for the system.

Carson says video conferencing could help keep contraband out.

“When you don’t have people coming in and out of a secure facility, there’s less opportunity for contraband to enter the facility," Carson said.

But Carson says both need to be monitored.

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“The kiosks are the portal to the outside for inmates and those kiosks can allow them to engage in activity that can be prohibited,” Carson said.

Besides the video sessions, the Florida prisons will soon let prisoners have tablets.

The Department of Corrections says the tablets, which would have to be purchased by inmates, do not have internet access and will be an incentive for positive behavior.

They’ll be available in early 2018.

The company in charge of the new program is J Pay Inc, which also runs commissary payments within Florida’s prisons.

Cox Media Group