CorrectionsInnovations.Org Proposals to Leaders in Law Enforcement, Supervision and Public Safety
CorrectionsInnovations.Org 
In the new millennium, there are many new technologies available for the corrections officer to truly correct individuals, and for the probation and parole officers to use to keep an eye on those they supervise. It is they who help ensure public safety while helping people to develop their full potential.
A corrections system should at least maintain what is already correct about the accused. He may have a job, a wife, and a family. The current incarceration based system destroys jobs, leaves families without a bread winner, and children without a father and more likely to join gangs. It is destruction in the name of improvement.
What they need is more education. There is something from high school they just did not get - if it was even taught there. The thief needs job skills training so he can earn money legally. The drug addict needs a health education and drug treatment program. The assaulter need stress and anger management.
Present Situation
Most inmates spend the day sleeping until noon and watching TV. Less than 1% participate in educational programs. It costs taxpayers about $300 per day per inmate. Private companies such as Corrections Corporation of America house the inmates at low expense, while reaping huge profits, with rising stock market values. They are paid by how many inmates they house, not how many they correct. The incentives are all wrong. It is in their financial interest for inmates to return again and again.
Upon release on probation or parole, inmates enter the workforce little better than when they went in. They may have learned more tricks of the trade, and how not to get caught. They have lost their job, home, and family. They may have little choice but to turn to crime. They are required to attend drug testing, meetings, and obligations which interfere with focusing on doing a full day's work. This leads to stress and possibly a return to crime or drugs. The cycle starts over.
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This situation has been brought to light by
Martha Stewart, during her sentence at Alderson
prison for women.. "I beseech you all to think about these women -- to encourage the American people to ask for reforms, both in sentencing guidelines, in length of incarceration for nonviolent first-time offenders, and for those involved in drug-taking. They would be much better served in a true rehabilitation center than in prison where there is no real help, no real programs to rehabilitate, no programs to educate, no way to be prepared for life "out there" where each person will ultimately find herself, many with no skills and no preparation for living. " |
What would you do if you were taken away from the job market for many months, with nothing to do but watch TV, then asked to return to society and get a job? Most people, even the law abiding citizens, would find this very difficult to do.
No wonder there is a high rate of recidivism. The current system encourages it. There are many whose jobs depend on a high rate of crime - corrections officers, guards, police, prosecutors, attorneys and judges. The public pays for the system, and suffers a persistent high rate of crime.
But there are alternative techniques available. Many of these technologies allow closer supervision, even from the desktop computer of the Officer. Prevention oriented, field tested methods for self-correction and rehabilitation are available today.
1. Early to Bed
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Get the inmates to bed, and quiet by 10:00 pm.
Presently they are kept up until 2:00-3:00 in the morning by the constant noise, such as a
blaring TV (with perhaps no one even watching it), and shouting from inmates to each other
until 3:00 am. They develop a habit of sleeping until noon, making them unfit to keep
most jobs. Police will tell you, most crimes occur at night, after 10:00. Upon release, the inmates are habituated to months of a schedule where they hang out lateat night. Their physiology is in a habitual circadian (day/night) rhythm of stating up late. They physically cannot get to bed early, or get up early, without weeks of reconditioning. When the body gets on a schedule, it tends to stick with it. The release of human hormones and enzymes get established in to a pattern Crime seldom happens in the early morning, when most people get up to work. It is better for inmates to develop the habit of going to be early, start yawning about 10:00 and say good night guys to the gang. They will be able to get up, get a job, and keep the job. |
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2. Early to RiseStop training inmates to keep "criminal's hours" in jail at taxpayer expense. Develop a "worker's or soldier's hours" as a daily routine. |
Inmates should get up by about 7:00.
Presently breakfast comes by at 5:00, a needlessly early hour. Most eat a quick
breakfast, then go back to bed until 12:00 noon.
This type of schedule, after months or years, leaves them in a physical schedule habit unable to show up for work at a normal hour such as 8:00 or 9:00 am. So they have fewer choices for making money than to turn to crime. The schedule should develop good work habits in the physiology that are in accord with the laws of nature. |
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3. Restful, Refreshing Mattresses
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Provide a decent mattress for a complete sleep.
The present mattresses are about 1 inch thick, and not much better than sleeping on the
steel bed. Inmates toss and turn, and never get fully rested. They are in a
state of constant fatigue. This is not conducive to development of higher
consciousness.
The apparent idea behind the thin mattresses is to make the inmate suffer. But this only produces a tired, and angry person upon release. It is better to allow him to release the stress and tiredness of thinking that got him in to prison in the first place. Let him clear his mind of fatigue, so he thinks more clearly about what he did, and what he can do better. |
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4. Emphasize Educational TV
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Put on educational TV if anything. The major
"activity" of inmates is to sit like couch potatoes and watch mindless "junk" TV programs,
such as Jerry Springer. This wastes their minds. At least they could put on the
History or Discover Channels, so they would learn something. TV should be limited so
there is more incentive to read books.
The TV should be turned off after 10:00, and not left loudly blaring in to the night, not allowing inmates to get a good night's sleep. TVs should be in a room so the noise does not travel through the entire cell wing. Silence is golden. It give the inmate the opportunity to think about what he did, and to plan a better life. |
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5. Global Positioning DeviceLogging, with periodic downloading at the Office. Most standard GPS units have a logging feature. Client presses the Mark Position button
every hour, or once a day, as specified. At each meeting, he downloads the data into
the Supervision Officer's computer to show where he has been.
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6. Advertise Educational Programs
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Put up a poster about any educational program.
The computer, writing, life skills, and anger management classes have low enrollment - about
7 students each, from among 5000 prisoners. It is almost as if the classes are "top
secret".
A simple sign, one per cell wing, would get many more students to attend. Presently, it is almost as if the classes are a "secret." If there were more students, the prison would have to hire more instructors, and more guard escorts. For private, profit making prisons, this cuts in to the bottom line, and the stock price. They want a few classrooms to show they are providing them on their web site, but so many that significant costs are involved. But the public would benefit by advertising classes, because the inmates will become productive citizens, and not return to crime. |
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7. Provide the Financial Incentive to truly Correct - not to maximize profit
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Change the way Corrections Corporation of America (www.CorrectionsCorp.com) is
compensated by the DC Government. There should be some financial incentive to
correct the inmates. If they had large enrollment in classes and rehabilitation
programs, would have to hire counselors, more instructors, and build more classrooms.
This would hurt their bottom line, and stock price.
It is in their interest to get paid $300/day per inmate, and simply house them. For that money, we could send inmates to Harvard University. The United States had 2.1 million people in jail. That's almost 1% of the population. The USA has over 25% of the world's incarcerated people. The reason for this is the current system is structured so that profits are in that direction. It is in their interest for the inmates to go out, get in trouble, and come back, to keep the rooms filled. A doctor is judged by how well he cures patients, so they don't come back to the hospital. A teacher is judged by how well his student performed, and don't have to re-take the same class. A programmer is judged by how well his program works, and does not have to undergo debugging. A correction system should be judged by how well the inmates do in society, and do not come back to jail. There should be a Correction Incentive. Their payment should be tied to reduced recidivism. If the CCA can truly correct, that individual should not come back to prison. CCA should get a bonus if the person stays out of trouble for a year. CCA should get less pay if the person commits another crime. We pay CCA to correct. Another incentive would be to allow Malpractice suits against CCA. They would quickly focus on educational programs, and tracking the progress of the inmates. |
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Require Computer Instructors to Actually Teach
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Recently computer training at the Washington DC CCA
facility was shut down for weeks "because the server is down." Computer instructors in prisons should be required to teach the class, even if the server is down. They should also know how to fix a server. There is no reason a computer class must be cancelled if there are functional workstations. Individual PCs can still run the Microsoft Office suite of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Access. The class was not about local area networking or server configuration. Many inmates require typing skills that can be accomplished with the simple Notepad program. Instructors who cancel classes because the server is down, may be looking for an excuse to not teach, and should be replaced. Would a school or university stand for this? Not even for one day. The problem is that education for prisoners is a low priority. They current system profits too much on keeping prisoners uneducated, and more likely to return to prison. |
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8. We Don't Need More Prisons
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Oppose the building of the new prison. CCA will
make even more profit once the new prison is built, at taxpayer expense. Like a hotel
chain, they will have more "customers". Incarcerating individual has become a big
business. The citizens of DC will be the losers, paying for the new prison, and paying
in terms of more crime. If they build a new prison, they will fill it - if they have
to start jailing people for jaywalking. There is a financial incentive to fill the
rooms, so the Judges are encouraged to jail more people, and the prosecutors encouraged to
prosecute more minor offenses, and ask for longer jail terms.
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9. Trial by Jury
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DC is where the U.S. Constitution is housed, but not practiced. DC residents don't have 2nd Amendment rights, and don't have the 6th Amendment right to a trial by jury. All misdemeanor (less than 180 day) charges are decided by a judge. But even 30 days can be devastating to a businessman. Judges tend to go "85% of the time" with what the US District Attorney asks, according to a survey of DC attorneys. Juries decide the cases more carefully. It takes longer, and is more expensive to have juries, for the Government. But every American citizen has this right in the Bill of Rights. We must end this sham of justice. | |||
10. GPS Integrated Mobile PhoneThis combines the above suggestion with a phone. Client is set up with GPS/Phone capable of beaming client's current location Client is called on special phone and asked to beam present location Also allows call tracking, for drug offenders. |
 
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11. Phone Camera with GPS trackingThis combines the above two suggestions with a camera. More mobile phone companies, such as Sprint and Verizon, offer a phone that can send photographs, with its PC Vision phone.
The client should take and send a picture that will indicate a street sign, or known landmark, such as the Washington Monument. Notes: DC rep Jason 888-233-3538 prepare price proposal |
Most camera phones are also equipped with GPS tracking, usually used for assisting in 911 emergencies, but can also be used for skip tracking. |
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13. Enlightened Sentencing ProjectEnlightenedSentencing.org Judges in St. Louis have been sentencing probationers to learn the TM technique as a condition of release, with the greatest results they have seen from any other rehabilitation program. This is the most scientifically validated of the meditation rehabilitation programs.
It is the most specific and consistent in its instruction, and has the best follow-up
checking procedures. This is crucial, to make sure participants continue to practice
it until the benefits become self motivating. |
 
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12. Relaxation Response RehabilitationRelaxationResponse.org/Rehabilitation Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard has done numerous scientific research studies, showing the Relaxation Response to be an effective drug use prevention, and anger management technique. Dr. Benson was the first to publish a scientific research study on the Transcendental Meditation technique in 1972. He outlines a simplified form of TM in his book. However there is no follow-up program to ensure that participants continue to practice. Dr. Benson was recently featured in Time Magazine, as the most scientifically validated of the meditation techniques, through measurements of the neurophysiology during a wakeful hypometabolic state, and afterwards in daily life. |
  How to Teach the Relaxation Response, can be taught to corrections officials through the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education.  |
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14. Insight Prison Project,
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15. ParoleJoint.OrgDC Supervision Officer Charles Wade works beyond the call of duty, to create an
innovative online newsletter web site to inform and inspire probationers and parolees to
become productive citizens. He has written and recorded contemporary music to help get
the message out, remember the conditions of release, and help keep them out of prison. |
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16. Condition CardsThese small cards include the Conditions of Release, so they can be easily carried, and remembered. Many violations can be prevented by simply knowing these conditions. Probationers are released on conditions they may not be aware of. It is almost as if the system does not want them to know them, so they can be put back in to the profit producing prisons. For example, they not be aware they must report traffic tickets to their probation officer, and go back to jail for months. The cards can also include important phone numbers on the back. So there is less excuse for violating the conditions, or not being able to call in to the Supervision Officer. Click here to print out
a Condition Card |
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17. Computer Training for
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Laps can be set up to create a computer classroom almost anywhere, even in prisons. For probationers, a standard computer lab can be used. They can learn word processing, spreadsheets, database management, and web site creation. Otherwise upon release, they may find themselves behind the times, and unemployable. While there is generally high unemployment, there is consistent high demand for those skilled in the latest computer technologies. All this time, they could be developing their intellect and job skills. They may be less prone to steal or deal in drugs, if they can earn more money in the computer field. The current system leaves them unprepared for the job force, and may force them back to their old methods of gaining money. |
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18. Web Site Creation TrainingA Peaceful, Lawful Method of Alternative Conflict Resolution, Dispute
Prevention, and Anger Management |
An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure." The ability for people to make web sites has a
preventive effect on wrongful treatment of others. If people know that a web site can be
created within days, and listed on the major search engines, telling everyone about an
injustice, people will naturally be kinder towards each other.
Making a web site is a peaceful, lawful way to "let off steam" about an injustice. It provides an educational outlet for dispute resolution and anger management. |
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19. Computer Books for Job SkillsThe book collections in detention centers need improvement and updating. For example, they may contain old books on MS-DOS. To prepare prisoners for entry in the work force, more modern books on Windows based software should be available. They don't have to be the very latest. Bookstores and libraries should be contacted to donate their slightly outdated computer books to prison libraries. Upon release, the inmate will have a better chance of getting a job, instead of crime. |
For example, although books about Windows NT 4.0 are out of date and being discarded, they contain many useful networking concepts. BooksForPrisoners.Org |
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20. Inspirational BiographiesThe book collections in detention centers should include inspirational books, such as the biographies of great men. Great men of various races should be available, to help prisoners relate to those who have struggled as they have, some even being in prison themselves, and coming out to accomplish great things. Martin Luther King - jailed during civil rights demonstration Abraham Lincoln - in jail one day for firing pistol in camp when Captain Mahatma Gandhi - spent 2,338 days in jail during his life-time of peaceful protest More at MugShots.org |
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21. Job Hunting and and Self Help BooksThe "hoops" should be minimized for inmates to gain access to books. They should be readily available in each section, instead of requiring special access times and escort to the main library. Some inmates may not know the library is available, not have time, or not be allowed to go to the main library. They can also learn useful stress management techniques, especially Dr. Benson's Relaxation Response. |
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22. Camera WebViewInexpensive Cameras can be installed in the client's home for periodic supervision as
required. |
[AD] |
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23. Dale Carnegie Training
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How to Replace Conflict with
Cooperation
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24. Tony Robins Training
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25. Automobile Tracking SystemThe new GPS-2 Weatherproof, Battery-Powered, Magnetic-Mount GPS Vehicle Logger provides up to 30 days (with BAT-AAR batteries) of GPS vehicle logging on 4 AA batteries, and it's motion-activated which conserves battery power when the target vehicle is not in use. $699 www.TheSpyStore.com |
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26. Running for HealthIn a detention center, it is impossible to run for any significant distance. Running is a major form of exercise, to develop the heart, and lung capacity. An inmate may go years without running. It is important to raise the heart and breath rate periodically. As the body deteriorates, so does the mind. If tracks cannot be made available, treadmills should be installed in each section. |
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27. Mobile Video CameraClient can wear this small camera, which transmits a video signal to a recording device.
It can be worn on the client's lapel, or in his shirt pocket. It can be configured to
upload periodically through web based streaming video. This provides the Supervision Officer
with a continuous view of the client's location |
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28. Web Based Time Tracking
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29. Protection of the InnocentOne way to cut down on the prison population is to stop prosecuting people who are innocent of such charges as trespassing, with a valid lease, and to focus on prosecuting those who have actually broken a law. |
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30. Brain FingerPrinting Laboratories
Dr. Shaddock created the web site BrainFingerprinting.com, trains the staff as internet web consultant, and is a founding investor |
Dr. Farwell's EEG testing was admitted as evidence by judges in three court cases so far
in Iowa. It persuaded James Grinder to confess to 5 murders, and in another case
helped establish the innocence of
Terry Harrington. |
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31. RecognitionResponse.comDr. Farwell's ground breaking invention paves the way for more physiological measurements of recognition. Research should be done to find more ways to detect knowledge stored in the suspect's brain. For example, pupil dilation, and galvanic skin response, as measured by the polygraph. This can help determine more quickly who is innocent, and who may end up being charged with a crime. Recognition Response Research Foundation |
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Dr. Nuha Abudabbeh, DC Psychologist, and founder of
NAIMFoundation.org for Health & Social Care
Washington, DC
Virginia Department of Corrections
DC Department of Community Supervision
DC Offender Supervision Agency
Creative Innovations From
Other Addresses and Links:
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Virginia Probation and Parole Association
Virginia Department of
Corrections
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