44,000 prison inmates to be RFID-chipped:
Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at 02:58PM
TheSpook
44,000 prison inmates to be RFID-chipped:
Ohio Inmates to Wear Detection Transmitters
One US state reckons it's cracked how to keep track of
all of its 44,000 prison inmates - RFID-chip them. The Ohio Department
of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRH) has approved a $415,000
contract to trial the tracking technology with Alanco Technologies. The
pilot project will run at the Ross Correctional Facility in
Chillicothe, Ohio. If all goes well, the technology could be rolled out
to all of the state's inmates in 33 separate facilities. Inmates will
wear "wristwatch-sized" transmitters that can detect if prisoners have
been trying to remove them and send an alert to prison computers. Staff
will also wear the technology on their belts so they can be tracked for
security purposes. Warders can activate an alarm themselves but the
alert will also be sent if the transmitter is forcibly removed or the
warder is knocked down. Alanco claims system can pinpoint the location
of staff and prisoners in real-time and track them within the confines
of a prison. The Ross project is not the first such rollout of tracking
chips in US prisons. Facilities in Michigan, California and Illinois
already employ the technology and Robert R. Kauffman, Alanco CEO, said
he expects three new states to sign up to use RFID technology. [more]
- Schoolchildren to be RFID-chipped [more]
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