The Numerous innovations continue to reshape the way correctional agencies operate on a daily basis. From education to security, technology is not only opening new doors to inmates and corrections staff but also making an impact on the entire criminal justice system.

DNA
In recent years the headlines have shown what many consider to be unbelievable. Inmates on death row have been exonerated from their crimes; offenders serving life sentences have been found to be not guilty, individuals who have lost 10, 12, or 20 years of their lives through wrongful conviction are coming home. This is all made possible by the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) blood test. But freeing the innocent is only a small part of what DNA testing is all about these days.

Solving cold crimes through the DNA testing of convicted offenders is one of the hottest issues before many state legislatures. Corrections departments are playing a major role in helping to collect those samples and, in some cases, have offered the test to certain offenders for whom the test could illuminate the pathway to freedom.

Most states have policies that allow DNA testing for a certain class of offenders (often sex offenders) for cold hits, but the latest trend is to expand the test offenders for other violent crimes such as burglary and other felonies.

The Colorado DOC has a mechanism in place to collect DNA samples for offenders convicted of sex offenses such as incest or sexual assault on a child, but as of March, it must also collect them for crimes such as second degree assault, kidnapping, first degree arson aggravated robbery and others. In addition, the DOC collects DNA samples of offenders on death row prior to the execution of the death penalty.

In Ohio, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction collects DNA samples for offenses similar to Colorado and has offered the testing to death row inmates. A new law in June requires the Michigan DOC, to test all inmates in the system regardless of criminal status. In Virginia, officials are poised, according to Kent Willis, Director of Virginia Office of the American Civil Liberties Union, to pass a state law that would allow the collection of a DNA sample from everyone arrested for a violent felony.

"The purpose of the DNA testing is not to solve the crime for which the person was arrested. The purpose is to create a databank to solve past crimes. Depending on how long the database is kept, perhaps future crimes," said Willis.

Meanwhile, groups like the Innocence Project have been using DNA to exonerate offenders falsely convicted of a crime. According to Huy Dao, the organization's Assistant Director, the most important ramification of the success of DNA cases is that the group is able to study why there was a wrongful conviction.

"[We can look at] those reasons not connected with DNA, those factors like mistaken identity and others. There have been a lot of bumps in the road [getting to this point], but DNA opens doors to the criminal justice system and to the faults of this system," says Dao.

Identification Technology
Since September 11th, the use of technology to accurately identify a person has received a great deal of attention in locations ranging from airports to office buildings. While it was used years before these tragic events, the terrorist attacks on this country raised the level of awareness for the need to identify people in a variety of situations. The field of corrections, while also utilizing this technology in the past, has also taken notice.

"Since 9/11, [identification technology] has been in the papers and in the consciousness of corrections more and more," says Joe Russo, Corrections Program Manager for the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center in Denver, Colorado. "It is a tremendous tool for access control in the field - to be able to pinpoint who is allowed in what facility at what time."

Six years ago at the Lancaster County (Pa.) Prison, a case of mistaken identity resulted in the release of a convicted rapist instead of a man serving a weekend sentence for DUI. The combination of switched identification and officer error allowed the rapist to be free for six months before being recaptured, luckily committing no other crimes as a fugitive.

To avoid similar incidents, the county became the first in the nation to utilize iris recognition technology through IriScan, Inc to ensure accurate identification of all inmates coming through and leaving the correctional facility.

"We wanted to take the human element out of future releases and make sure the body coming in, is the body going out," says Warden Vincent A. Guarini.

Rather than using technology as a response to a specific incident, the Prince George's County (Md.) Department of Corrections is utilizing new technology to avoid security breaches in its facility from occurring in the first place. As opposed to focusing the use of identification technology on inmates, the department is instead using it to give them more information about staff.

The solution has come in the form of a combination of technologies - facial recognition equipment from Visionics Corporation and access control systems from Group 4 Technologies.

"We need to increase security," says Lt. Colonel Carl Crumbacker, Chief of Security and Operations for the DOC. "This program was started before September 11th, but that accentuated issues with law enforcement and corrections. We want to be sure that we have positive identification of our staff and prevent escapes and [other incidents]."

Distance Learning
Face-to-face training has long been the norm in corrections and considered to be the best way to impart specific skills to new recruits and provide refreshers for existing staff. But times are changing in corrections as in other industries. Companies and state agencies have been utilizing new technologies for training for several years and corrections is not far behind.

"[Distance learning] is the wave of the future - it's how to train more people in a less expensive [way]," said Ed Wolahan, Distance Learning Administrator for the National Institute of Corrections (NIC).

Distance learning is used widely as a term to describe any off-site learning as well as the use of new training technologies to share information with staff.

The trend in corrections distance learning is a mixed bag with many agencies using satellite training while others tinker with computer-based programming and training via the Internet or through CD ROMs tailored to specific facilities and correctional courses. The satellite training can be chosen from a number of venues catering to the corrections field, while some of the computer-based programs can be generic. When an agency finds one that can cater to their specific training need, however, it can save corrections agencies money by making courses available to students at virtually any time of day.

Some who follow the distance learning industry closely say that the longer agencies wait to become a part of the technological wave of training and education, the more they stand to lose.

"Every year you miss [utilizing distance learning], you miss a professional development year to move staff development along," said Dr. Lloyd Korhonen, Director of the Center for Distance Learning Research at Texas A&M University. "It's like waiting to join the next graduating class in high school [which prolongs continuing your education]."

States such as Pennsylvania, Florida, Oklahoma, Washington and Maryland have all turned towards distance learning and found benefits in providing new educational avenues for both staff and inmates.

David Metelow, Supervisor of the Education Department of Corrections in New Jersey, says that the Office of Educational Services (OES) for the New Jersey Department of Corrections made distance learning available through the Corrections Learning Network (CLN). This service is federally funded and CLN supplies the satellite dish and receiver.

"All we had to do was install the equipment and fine-tune it." Not only is the actual service funded, but "programming for inmates and staff costs nothing. We do have to do some basic paperwork for CLN and they are very helpful," he said. As to whether the programming has been effective, Metelow says, "as a whole, it is well received by both inmates and staff alike."

Security Technology Review
The need to track, scan, detect and deter in corrections facilities is no longer accomplished by individuals alone. Security technologies have advanced to a place where corrections agencies can choose from a number of different models and types of devices and tools to help officers keep a prison or jail secure.

Whether the changes are modifications to a perimeter fence that makes it nearly impossible to escape or the development of mapping technology to pinpoint the cell location of rival gang members, security technology is changing fast.

"Technology is really the future of corrections especially in these times where budgets are being cut. You have to be able to do more with less. Many [technology] projects are going to allow you to do that," said Robert Donlin, Project Manager for the National Law Enforcement Corrections Technology Center-South East division.

Until recently, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were difficult to use in a prison simply because most facilities are multi-level and these systems cannot read individual cell over cell locations. But a new adaptation of this technology integrates Computer Assisted Drawings to allow for a three-dimensional layout that makes each cell on a floor identifiable. This program is called CORMAP.

According to Donlin, who is the Project Manager for CORMAP, when linked to a records management program, the GIS system provides a map of color coordinated cells that allow corrections officers to see what the relationships are between inmates in adjoining cells.

"We don't think there is anything out there like this. It is a way of linking [information] visually," he said. "It will never on its own make anyone safer, but it will allow someone to see what's happening."

The scenarios in which this technology could be used range form managing security threat group members to identifying inmates with certain medical ailments or inmates with similar visitation patters or potential escape risks.

"With security threat groups, if you found you had a Crip and a Blood in a two-man cell, you know off the bat you have problems," Donlin said.

According to Donlin, the CORMAP technology will be tested in the coming months in Anistan County, Alabama. The technology is being set up in the local sheriff's department jail for beta testing. Donlin adds that if the beta test for the project, which is funded through a federal grant, turns out well, then the center will link with other NLECTC offices around the country to train staff on its use.

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