The Cape May County Correctional Center is making history, becoming the first jail in the country to offer visitation of inmates over the Internet.
The new program was launched on May 1st after officials watched the successful development of a beta test site in Reno, Nevada.
Inmates at Cape May will now have visits from any location in the world.
The Correctional Center cited several benefits of the new system.
Corrections Officers won’t have to move inmates through the jail for their visits, making their jobs safer.
The online visitors will pay a small fee, generating revenue for the correctional center.
The program will allow more visitations that were once limited due to spacing issues.
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The system will also record both audio and video visits, allowing the staff to monitor any potential criminal activity.
Finally, the system allows for more convenient visits from family, attorneys and probation officers.
Sheriff Gary Schaffer praised the new system in an official statement:
I am excited about this new technology and pleased to be the first in the country to contract with Rob Avery of iWebVisit.com to offer this service. First and foremost, it will benefit our officer’s safety by very rarely moving inmates throughout the facility for visits and at the same time generating revenue to offset expenses and “save the taxpayer’s money.” It will also make visits easier for the average person as they can visit from anywhere for a small fee and save the related costs and expenses of driving to the correctional center.
