by Mary Rupert
A tablet that will work as a behavior management tool is a new feature at the Wyandotte County Jail.
According to Capt. David Thaxton, spokesman for the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department, the new Edovo tablet will allow the jail inmates to take education classes, learn skills including job readiness skills, and participate in counseling and self-help programs.
The tablets are issued on a first-come, first-served basis to inmates who check them out, he said. They must be returned to jail officials after a certain number of hours.
The Edovo tablet system is expected to assist with behavior motivation, Capt. Thaxton said. Inmates will earn points for positive uses of the tablet, such as general education classes, and then those points may be applied to time watching a video game or movie, he said.
Typically there are not a lot of programs available for county inmates, and not a lot of activities available to them, according to Capt. Thaxton. That may result in inmates sometimes becoming irritated and causing problems, he added.
“With the implementation of tablets, it’s calmed things down,” Capt. Thaxton said. “They have things to do, they are more busy, less agitated, and more calm. That makes the jail safer.”
In conjunction with other programs and volunteers who come into the jail, officials hope to implant seeds of change to slow recidivism, Capt. Thaxton said.
Jail officials plan to keep statistics on detention violations to see if behavior changes with the tablets, he added.
Capt. Thaxton said the Edovo tablets are totally funded by the inmates’ telephone services, not by taxpayer funds. When inmates or their loved ones deposit money for inmate phone services, part of those funds are being used to pay for the tablets, he said.
He added the tablets will be inspected before being given to each inmate and after being given back. If the tablets are damaged, the inmate will be given a ticket for the damage, he said.
According to information from the Sheriff’s Department, the tablets will not have any connection to the external internet. The jail staff will be able to electronically monitor the inmates’ usage of the tablets.