NCJ Number
130628
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 53 Issue: 4 Dated: (July 1991) Pages: 142,144-145
Date Published
1991
Length
3 pages
Annotation
In an effort to avoid legal problems and eliminate breaches in safety and security, prisons and jails are using technological advances to institute inmate identification systems that ensure easy, accurate inmate identification.
Abstract
The technology involved ranges from simple but effective extra-strength inmate wristbands with written or typed information to elaborate systems of bar coding that allow officials to trace an inmate's movement and keep computer records of the services the inmate receives. Los Angeles County, which maintains the largest jail operation in the world, has used inmate identification wristbands for 14 years. Wristbands are placed on inmates when they are booked. The bands are color-coded to permit easy identification of inmates in various classifications and to monitor their access to particular areas. An alphabetical coding system is used to identify inmates with special medical and dietary requirements as well as those prone to violence or suicide. The DeKalb County Jail near Atlanta, Ga., uses bar code wristbands that apply the same basic technology as bar codes used in clothing stores and supermarkets. Using hand-held laser units to scan the wristbands, deputies enter data into a small computer, thus eliminating the paperwork previously involved in monitoring inmate movements. Technology is now being developed to allow inmate photos to appear on the same wristband as the bar-coded information.