Precision Offers Biometric Kiosks to Monitor Inmates During COVID-19 Pandemic

Precision Kiosk Technologies is emphasizing the utility of its AB Kiosks in an effort to assuage the public’s concern about inmates who are being released from prison. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many prisons are opting to release low-risk prisoners to mitigate the severe public health (and humanitarian) threat the virus presents to a confined population.

Precision is simply trying to reassure the general public to let them know that those convicts are still being monitored after their release. Before the pandemic, the company’s AB Kiosks had already been installed in more than 20 county courts and probation departments in the Midwest, and the kiosks can be used to keep tabs on anyone released during the pandemic.  

To that end, the AB Kiosk is essentially an automated check-in system. Newly released inmates and people on probation can use the kiosks to set check-in schedules, and the system will send text and email reminders to ensure those individuals make it to their appointments. The Kiosks use fingerprint recognition to verify the identity of each user, and supplement that with photos and video footage captured during each visit. They also include a breathalyzer to confirm that inmates are obeying any court-mandated alcohol restrictions.

“Using probation officers to conduct face-to-face check-ins with inmates would be a logical option in normal times, but this would also increase the risks of coronavirus transmission,” said Precision General Manager Patrick McKinney. “Our AB Kiosk can autonomously conduct check-ins with released inmates, and the results can be remotely monitored in real time.”

The system will notify prison officers if an inmate misses a scheduled check-in. The prisoners themselves will receive a printed receipt following their check-in, and their files will automatically be updated to display their results.

Precision is based in Minneapolis. The company has installed AB Kiosks in Wisconsin’s Iowa County and the Lafayette and Waupaca County Sheriff’s Offices in the past 12 months.

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March 31, 2020 – by Eric Weiss