Prison program finds some inmates receiving secure computer tablets
OKLAHOMA CITY — Inmates at an Oklahoma prison began receiving special computer tablets this week, as part of a Department of Corrections plan to provide secure tablets to everyone incarcerated in state prisons.
The devices, specially designed by prisons communications company Securus Technologies, will include free content such as prison policies, access to a law library, some books and educational and self-help materials. Inmates can also pay to receive music, movies, games and television programs, as well as to send and receive messages, including video messages, to and from their families. The tablets do not have unrestricted access to the internet.
Usually, inmates wanting to receive educational or vocational training must be escorted to a classroom or program location. But inmates can now receive those services directly on the tablet, said Mike Carpenter, chief of technical services and operations at the Corrections Department.
“The education and programming, that’s huge for us,” Carpenter said.
On Tuesday, North Fork Correctional Center inmate Byron Robinson, who has been incarcerated since 2005 — the same
year YouTube was founded — said the tablet was totally new to him.
“I’ve never even touched one of these things until today,” Robinson said. “It’s mindboggling, really, how much this thing can do.”
Similar programs allowing inmates to access secure tablets have been rolled out in other states, including Arizona, Connecticut and Utah, but Oklahoma is one of the first in the nation to combine the company’s latest tablet and operating system.