The Kalamazoo County Commission is preparing a bid process for a new contract to provide phone and video services to those incarcerated at the Kalamazoo County Jail.
The current contract, with ViaPath Technologies, has come under scrutiny and raised community concerns after a NowKalamazoo investigation found a large portion – sometimes a majority – of the fees paid to use the system were profits directed to county coffers.
ViaPath is one of the contractors around the country providing jail and prison communications services – from phone and video calls to tablet-based infotainment. Often, in-person visitation is severely limited, like at the Kalamazoo County Jail, if not prohibited, creating a dependency on the technology companies for any connection to life outside – or preparation for after – incarceration…