Some days Sylvia Gomez thinks it is harder for her to get inside the Bexar County Jail to visit her son than it would be for him to break out and come to her.Apparently there's a dispute regarding whether all the visitors possible are let inside to wait for visitation hours:
It's not the strict dress code, invasive security measures or even the agitated and sometimes unruly residents of the imposing red-brick fortress.
For Gomez, 62, and thousands of other visitors, the obstacle is far more mundane: marathon waits in long lines in the summer sun.
A lobby with a seating capacity for 80 people is just inside the jail entrance, but most days guards allow a fraction of that number inside at a time — often as few as 20 people, agreed numerous visitors interviewed over several weeks.This story made me think: Some jails are switching to video visitation, though in most cases families must still come down to the jail to use it. That seems unnecessary, inviting this kind of problem to fester. Once video visitation becomes common, I wonder if there's a need in the era of cheapo webcams for families who won't get contact visits to come down to the jail at all? Certainly that would help resolve this situation, and could also boost inmates' connections to family and others in their lives trying to help them. (It might be an even more appropriate suggestion for TDCJ, where many families face long drives for visitation.) It should be possible to create user accounts to access the system that could monitor record conversations just like they do now. I've thought for a long time jails and prisons should make it easier for folks to visit; maybe that's the way to do it? OTOH, perhaps there's some intangible extra benefit from an in-person visit, particularly for kids, that justifies lamenting a shift to video.
“They treat us worse than the criminals. It's degrading,” said Connie Torres, 62, who is diabetic and suffers from a joint condition called fibromyalgia, which makes it difficult for her to sit or stand for long periods.
Jail officials say they let 80 people at a time wait in the lobby. Tomasini said that policy has been in place for months. “Elderly and handicapped are given priority,” she said.
Visitors flatly deny it, saying guards only began allowing that number as recently as a week ago, when a reporter was there.
I don't yet have an opinion on replacing in-person visitation with video, though it's commonly part of new jail construction these days and appears to have become the wave of the future without really much stakeholder debate. At the state level, if UTMB can deliver medical care via video, TDCJ could probably do the same for visitation if the Lege directed it. But is it a good idea? What do folks who participate in such visits think of the video option? What are the benefits and drawbacks? And are there good arguments for requiring video visitors to come to the jail, or might it be possible to provide secure online access?
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16 comments:
In Smith County, there is no standardized set of rules for any shift of guards to enforce. One set may run things one way and the next another. One shift may let the prisoners watch TV and the next lock everyone down when they come on duty and the TV is on. This applies to visitation as well. The rules are never the same two days in a row.
Anyone who complains, of course, goes to the back of the line or is prohibited from visiting.
It's incredible the difference a contact visit makes versus behind the glass. That incentive to be able to hold your family member for just a greeting and just hold hands for the visit is incredible. A video no doubt is better than nothing, but when you have a non-contact versus a contact there's difference. The inmates that do get visits often try to stay out of trouble just for that contact visit. When you have an aggravated offender that is one of the only things you can punish them with. In my opinion video is good to open the door to visitors that don't get to visit often, but would be terrible to replace all current visits completely. They need that human contact.
In my case I have to drive 10 hours from Houston to Tulia, been doing it for 2 years until recently because of funds. I believe if we were given the opportunity to visit via video I would do it in a heartbeat.
As a supplement (because we all know how much Texas likes giving extras to its prisoners), video visitation is a great idea. As a replacement, though, it sounds miserable. Half the branches of my bank switched to video tellers, rather than in-person, and it's awkward and impersonal. I can't imagine only being able to see my wife or my parents that way during an incarceration.
If parents would actually teach their children right from wrong and how to live a law-abiding life, then they wouldn't have to worry about long lines in the heat to visit their family member in jail..Have no sympathy
Yah, Timothy Cole's mom really screwed him over, didn't she troll. He surely got what he deserved, didn't he? It must be comforting to be so completely fruit-loop misguided and not even be aware of it.
Anon 11:59am
Please leave the parents out of this.
I have done attorney-client visits over video link, and it just doesn't work. You can't talk as naturally, there's no sense of closeness or relationship-building. And one seriously mentally ill client was really freaked out by it. As an option for family members who can't travel to the facility it might hve some merit, but it's really not the same in human terms as seeing the person for real, even if it is through plexiglass. What is really shameful is that the Bexar County Jail hasn't come up with some improvement - an awning or tented area with chairs, a big box fan and a water supply, and a guard to keep an eye on things. Or change back to the earlier visiting hours. Perhaps they will, now that they're getting bad publicity. And as for the nincompoops who say that the process is supposed to make inmates suffer for their crimes: many of the people in jail are awaiting trial i.e. are presumed innocent, and the poor, who can't bond out, are the ones whose families suffer disproportionately. But if you don't have a heart, well, you don't have a heart ....
When TDCJ, the Lege, and Rick Perry's friends can figure out how to make a buck out of this idea, it will happen.
Nice read. While family members are often supportive of those incarcerated, they are not always a good influence. Sometimes they are an exceptionallly bad influence. Telling inmates they're on "trumped up" charges when there is plenty of evidence of guilt is not conducive to responsible living.
I fear that you run the risk of video visitation becoming "web-porn" for a few inmates. There would certainly be security concerns with that as accidental viewing by another inmate could lead to altercations.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office, and the jail it operates, is constantly in the San Antonio news for problems with inmates escaping through ceiling ducts or walking straight out the door with forged paperwork. The jail is also severely understaffed and had several problems meeting accreditation standards a few years ago. When it comes to cutting funding in Bexar County, the Commissioners always find room to trim the fat out of the SO, which is why the Sheriff has not spent the money on building covered waiting areas or providing water for those waiting in line. That jail was never designed to hold the crowds that come for visitation, morning or afternoon. There are several options they have to alleviate the strain (a neighboring county implemented different visitation periods for males and females during the morning, afternoon, and evening periods) but there seems to be little incentive for the jail staff or the SO to actually make a change. Though the story was shocking to those outside of the San Antonio area, there was little surprise around these parts.
Physical contact is best, if possible, but video would give lots of families the chance to see someone they normally would not be able to see. Under the right conditions I think video chat is a great thing.
I like the idea of video visitation from home for county jail inmates. I am not sure what the cost of a system would be, for example, in Harris County, however, you could also reduce staff that right now work visitation.
As for TDCJ, Texas is somewhat archaic in it's visitation policy. Contact visitation needs to include people, related or not, who drive across the state to see someone they care about.
http://www.kens5.com/news/local/Visiting-hours-shift-at-Bexar--99472539.html
They have changed the hours at the Bexar County Jail...good PR for them you know.
Video visit were it from my home to the prison and if it were an option along with contact visit would help with my 12 hour day when I go to visit. But to drive all the way to South of Houston only to get a video visit???? Absolutely not. I would't visit. I love my husband. I need the limited physical contact. Even when we get a behind the plastic wire and glass where you can't hear each visit... just to see him is helpful. He needs to see me, touch me and be near me. IF we want prisoner's families to be close to them bcause it decreases recividism. We need to keep them close, not separate them by hardships like video visits at the unit itself. Contact visits are essential to strong families? I was wondering why it was so easy for volunteers to get in to play baseball games with prisoners...but not their sons? Families are basically excluded from the lives of the incarcerated except through great expense and hardship on the part of the family. 23 cents/ min phone calls and long long drives with mean CO's. Don't worry they are yelling at each other not just the inmates and the family members.
I was appalled after reading the story in the San Antonio paper! I can't believe the state of TX would allow a county Jail to put families through that! After all that waiting they aren't even allowed to hug their loved one and sit in his or her presence. If we need strong family ties to decrease recividism...why then are we breaking up families by video visits in the jail it self? Shouldn't those video visits be from one's home computer to the jail to save the family member from fainting in the hot sun? Or sitting in the rain for 6 hours. Then...the hate mongers and their comments in the paper! Family members are not the cause of a person's errant ways. Many people in prison are innocent or had a crappy lawyer. What is the point in putting blame on the family member who is showing love to their incarcerated loved one by waiting like that. I wouldn't do it. I vote no for video visitation and it should be out lawed!
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