NCJ Number
88494
Journal
Corrections Magazine Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1983) Pages: 18-23
Date Published
1983
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Although a beginning has been made in using computers to serve corrections needs, most systems are far short of realizing the potential; further Federal funding will be required if significant advances are to be made.
Abstract
Computer systems can forecast prison populations with an error rate of less than 5 percent and analyze scores of pending State laws to determine their impact on the needs of a department; they can track the success or failure of job-training programs on an inmate-by-inmate basis; they can keep track of offenders from the beginning to the end of their being under corrections jurisdiction. Computers can also handle all the routine, daily institutional tasks: maintaining and updating inmate personnel records; handling the paperwork for the transfer of an inmate; computing parole, probation, and completion-of-sentence dates; recording admissions and discharges; crediting payments to inmates for work in prison industries; and crediting 'good time.' At the departmental level, computers can handle food service management, budgeting and cost control, equipment maintenance, scheduling, inventory control, and staff personnel records. Although all but a handful of the 50 State corrections departments have either their own computers or access to other State computing systems, experts indicate that most departments have made little effort to develop the potential of their computers. The main problems are the end of Federal LEAA funding to support data-processing system development, the lack of interest and involvement of line corrections people in the management and operation of their computing systems, and the lack of appreciation for what computers have to offer.