Inmates at the Pinellas County Jail have been able to speak with family and friends through a virtual platform since Sept. 17.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office has decided to implement a new visitation system after partnering with technology company Smart Communications. It is available daily between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Switching to a fully remote visitation platform was a strategic decision, said Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office captain Adam Kinzel.
Since February 2024, the jail has used a hybrid system. Guests could either go to the Pinellas County Jail Visitation Center or use an online system to speak with an inmate.
Even when guests traveled to the Visitation Center, they would have conversations with the inmate via a video monitor. Face to face visits for family and friends have not been allowed since 2011, he explained.
“Over the last year, we’ve really been looking at how to make it easier for the inmates to connect with family because that communication is very important,” Kinzel said. “We did a lot of research on what the best system for our inmate population was.”
With the new platform, every inmate will have access to a tablet. Families can schedule visits up to a day in advance.
Additionally, inmates can send links to their families and friends for “on-demand visits.” The receiver of the link must click it within a four-minute period.
Kinzel provided some statistics to explain why a fully remote platform was selected. The jail has offered seven visitation sessions each day. Each session has 40 slots. This means only 280 inmates – or 9% of the inmate population -can meet with their families or friends every day.
“There’s no limitation for a family member to be able to visit with their inmate with the Smart Communications system,” Kinzel said.
As part of the new system, in-person visits will only be offered for professional or specially authorized meetings upon approval by the jail’s leadership.
“Certain things are done better face-to-face and we’ll never restrict that,” he explained.
Kinzel said that because the system requires a photo ID for verification purposes, the Sheriff’s Office is allowing families and friends of inmates to sign up for the Smart Communications system now, ahead of the change.
Approximately 10,000 people have visited inmates in the past year. “We have a lot of people who need to fill out those applications, so we opened it early so that there was no delay.”
The Pinellas County Jail Visitation Center will close permanently Oct. 1.
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