This week, more than 100 computer tablets were distributed to inmates at San Francisco County jails as part of a new pilot program.
The tablets, which can only access a limited number of websites and applications, will cost $275,000. The program was funded through grants from the jail’s Five Keys Charter School, the San Francisco Adult Probation Department and the California Wellness Foundation, according to NBC Bay Area.
Steve Good, the executive director of Five Keys Charter School, said he has high hopes for the program:
We hope this will help bridge the digital divide and provide inmates access to technology that every elementary, middle and high school student already has, but has been out of reach for those forgotten by society.
American Prison Data Systems manufactures the tablets and enlists a software company to monitor the secure devices, which can be shut down by a remote supervisor with the push of a button.
The devices will also allow inmates to complete homework assignments to earn credits towards their schooling.
Inmates believed that the technology would help them stay out of jail. Army veteran Dennis Jones, who has spent the last ten years moving between civilian life and prison, said the tablets will help him obtain his “diploma.”
Inmate Michael Hunter said, “It can help me with my attention span, which is good when I get out on the street. I’ll know how to work one of these things.”