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Firstly, I've never started a thread before so hopefully I don't make a mess of it. Sorry if that happens. The reason for this thread is I read SH/SC quite a bit an occasionally post - I mentioned I work in a prison (doing IT) and it raised the discussion of the constraints working in a secure environment poses. Some of the posters suggested making this thread and it seemed like a good way to avoid derailing the existing topics so here I am I don't really have an prepared pile of information to share (like some of the other thread I checked here, sorry to those that are putting in far more effort than me!) and given the nature of working in a secure place that might not be a bad thing - so I suppose there will 2 initial points to make, there might be some security subjects where I simply can't share the info publicly, if that happens sorry - I'll just say. Also, I may change the names/details to protect the innocent (And the guilty I suppose... pun sorry, can't help myself) but the main reason will be to not dox myself if my employer, or a colleague happens to be reading this. It seems sensible to mention I am not based in the US for some context. As I said I don't really have a load of information to share I'll just say a bit about what I do to perhaps prompt some questions (and I'll go link this thread in SH/SC to perhaps draw some questions my way and get things going!) I've worked in multiple prisons in multiple countries for over 15 years. As the IT guy we do basically everything, including all the bits IT guys want to get rid of (think printers and phones) this does also include any tech prisoners use such as education devices etc and the kiosks they use for commissary/phone contact. I also look after all the security and alarm systems and I'm also part of the prison management team. The first question (IRL) that people always ask when they find out is "omg do you see real prisoners" - yes I'm on the shop floor every day and interact with pretty much anyone, I try to take the approach of behave like an adult get treated like an adult because that isn't always a given. So I guess I'll leave it at that and say as me any technical question or, any ethical questions I suppose. Let's go 
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Sep 12, 2021 21:14
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Thanks for biting It's probably worth saying every country classifies security in their own way - to translate my experience into what looks like the American levels you've quoted there most of my experience is medium/high security - I've not really done anything in 'supermax' or open - I've worked in male and female prisons but I've not worked in any youth or immigration places. Where I've been my experience of prisons are fairly consistent - there are some nuances dictated by the local government but never anything wildly different. My work has been via a private company though, so I guess the values of the company have been consistent in how they operate no matter where they are. It is probably really wise for me to point out at this point that I have never worked in America - I am aware there is a massive 'prisons for profit' type thing with the privatisation of prisons and I can honestly say I am proud to work for the company I work for, even compared to our competitors I think we operate with a strong moral compass, make the right decisions and treat people, be it staff or prisoners in our care with dignity as much as we possibly can. I am currently based in a medium security prison, this means I could encounter prisoners wandering around the place and an old prison governor said to me once if you treat people like adults they will behave like adults - I always very consciously say hello how are you to anyone in passing (staff or prisoner) and it's important to not look down your nose at anyone and actually develop some kind of working relationship with the people around you. It's unusual these days that I would get into any "here I am to help you fix x" type situations but it happens occasionally - I generally take the same approach to fixing prisoner IT that I would with staff - please show me the issue, then I can show you I've fixed it and we can both walk away happy knowing the problem is resolved - It would be easy to try and guess the problem and fix it during lock up, but this only leads to frustration if you guess wrong and honestly, most prisoners are grateful someone is paying attention to their requests so it's really no bother at all. In terms of guards - they are always around where prisoners are around, they always offer as a courtesy to follow me if I'm say, going to fix a kiosk - The only time I need them is to actually open a cell as I dont have a key, plus the highest risk thing is probably ending up in a cell of a prisoner you dont know and they lock you in - This has never happened to me but I like the officers to know where I am just in case at least. It's just a safety thing really.
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Sep 17, 2021 11:50
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ante posted:What are the kiosks, internally? Kiosks, (I assume this answer works internationally) The kiosk is very similar to what you would see in MacDonalds as in the big touch screen things where you customise the order except they are build to withstand angry prisoners so, physically a bit more robust. In terms of use, they basically try and replace all the paperwork processes within the prison - need to see medical dudes? go on the kiosk. Need to check your finances? check the kiosk. Want to see what activities such as work or visitation you are doing? check the kiosk etc etc. The idea is to increase efficiency in terms of less people to lose... I mean pass paper around but also to get prisoners to take responsibility for organising their own lives. In cell - we have responsibility for a little bit of the stuff inside the cell, they have a TV, we are responsible for making sure the aerial point is functional but not the TV itself. They are issued a (monitored) phone, again we are responsible for the data point and cabling. There is also an emergency alarm button, depending on if it's networked decides if it sits with us - for all these systems we potentially need to go in the cell to test the point, repull the cable subject to vandalism. It's probably worth saying since the pandemic the prisoners have been locked in their cells for far greater amounts of time than ever before, this has led to vandalism to these items being at an all time low and long may it continue!! Security systems, hmm got to be careful about how I answer this one as it's quite a big no no to reveal any security processes, obviously. I'll try and answer in terms of things that might be public info, so basically if a prisoner could have observed it and blabbed then I am not revealing anything too secret. I would say it's generally not overly automated. There are some safety features like panic buttons where all that happens is a radio message goes out and staff come running at the sound of alarm. I think a lot of it is to do with contingency - a lot of prison people are ex-military people (in my experience) and a lot of that experience means people naturally sort of prepare for "if that thing breaks, what is our contingency" - this generally leads to people not wanting a technical solution all the time through fear of it falling over when you need it. JnnyThndrs posted:Great thread idea, I am a maintenance mechanic in a US state prison, and you rarely see prison threads from the viewpoint of someone who’s not either a correctional officer or an inmate. The prison I work in is oriented toward inmates with medical issues, is classified a medium-security institution, and it’s not a private prison. prisoners have access to IT in the education area to learn IT skills and apply for jobs but anything else in their possession is contrband. Thinking about that, I think I had a conversation with someone about the situation in Scotland over in the UK - they issued mobile phones to prisoners (yeah really) in a reaction to covid. The way I interpreted this was that they were slow on the deployment of in cell telephones as the government in scotland felt this would not look good, so then when the pandemic hit they had to do something and issues funky mobile phones. I'm pretty sure I saw an article suggesting those phones have been hacked. (oops!) My question for you is how do you find your job over in the USA? I would say in my role, prisoners work out that as I'm not a CO I am just a guy there to fix things for them, so I dont get a hard time because ultimately I am useful to them. COs have to discipline and generally say no so it's a different relationship - US prison is always hyped up in the media as the worst of the worst so would you say you have a similar experience of decent relationships with the prisoners or is it totally different? I am going to make an assumption that if your prisoner is geared towards the medically infirm, that you dont have major issues with violence so it probably isn't the worst place to be perhaps?
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Sep 20, 2021 12:17
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