Virtual visits for prisoners' family and friends

16 April 2019

The States of Jersey Prison Service (SoJPS) has introduced virtual visits to enable prisoners to help maintain family ties and relationships which are crucial to aid their rehabilitation.

The video call service will be available to all prisoners but will only be accessible during the existing established visiting times.

The SoJPS is supportive of helping prisoners to rehabilitate themselves and provide opportunities for them to break their cycle of reoffending.

Prison Governor Nick Cameron said: “The virtual visits initiative aims to help maintain family ties and relationships which have proved important in helping to reduce reoffending. We are conscious of the fact that a number of prisoners do not have family or friends on the island, meaning they are cut off from face to face contact with those who could be influential in helping them reduce their risk of reoffending.”

Installation of the service, which uses encrypted technology to ensure security and the safeguarding of individuals using it, is now complete and trials have begun. If the service is successful the initiative will be rolled out in the coming weeks. The States of Jersey Prison Service and Guernsey Prison service have both used the same company to achieve efficiencies, and both prisons go live this month.

Governor Nick Cameron added: “This is a self-funded service which will not burden the public purse with any additional costs. Users of the service will be charged roughly £10 per visit, which compared to the cost of travelling to the Island, accommodation, food etc. proves a very cost effective option for family and friends”.