A high tech prison!!

We are truly moving into digital age & what we used to see in science fiction movies 10-20 years back is now coming true!! Same might hold true for what we see now in sci-fi movies, it may be realised in the near future!! But that apart, ladies and gents, hold out your mouse arms for a prison in the dutch country, Lelystad, Netherlands. The prison opening this week is a high tech one where inmates will wear electronic wristbands that’ll track their every movement and guards will monitor prison cells using an emotion recognition software.

Dubbed as “the Big Brother Prison” by the local press, the jail represents the future of correctional facilities which will be cheap and efficient, without treating criminals badly or paying a lot of attention to each and without violating their fundamental rights!! The prison will have cells which will house six inmates each who’ll do their own cooking, washing and organise their own daytime schedules via a touch screen monitor at the foot of their beds. They will have limited choices for their activities, electives will include drug education classes and exercises & they will be locked in their cells at night.

Hans Janssens, a Justice Ministry spokesman, said that the prison cannot be compared to a youth hostel since taking away the freedom of a person is the biggest part of his punishment. However, the camera surveillance will be limited to public spaces & bunk beds or bathrooms won’t have them, bad choice I should say since there’ll be fewer guards will be there in the compound, they should have a means of knowing what an inmate is doing in his cell or bathroom. That doesn’t mean that I’m implying that the inmates should be spied upon in their private moments, but a way to record the footage would’ve been better so incase of any trouble, the footage of that particular date & time can be viewed to take further action!! The cells however, will be equipped with microphones that’ll relay information to the jail’s control center, where a software will analyse sound volume and rhythm to alert guards when a violent confrontation between inmates might be taking place.

This high tech prison is expected to save quite a bit of money for the authorities. The cost estimated to be spent on a prisoner is $125 per inmate against the current $170 per inmate!!

So are we seeing a new turn in the times? :think: Definitely I’d say, but the progress of this digital chapter will surely depend quite a bit on the success or failure of this prison!! :tup:

Source: Yahoo! News