Prisoners in New York have lost access to electronic tablets | Tech Reddy

As Gothamist’s Matt Katz reports, inmates in New York have lost another connection to the outside world, this time in the form of free electronic tablets.

According to reports, the contract between the Department of Corrections and the tablet provider APDS gradually expired over the summer and was not renewed for unknown reasons.

Tablets have provided inmates with much-needed contact with the outside world, offering access to education, job training and other rehabilitation programs, as well as common activities such as communication with friends and family, movies or music.

Tablets are another item that has been available to inmates since 2015 and has now been removed in recent months. In the summer, it was announced that inmates would not be allowed to receive care packages directly from friends and family. Instead, those sending care packages would have to order them from a third party and pick up home-cooked meals. And letters sent to inmates would no longer be delivered and would be scanned from the prison.

According to reports, a Department of Corrections spokesperson said a new tablet provider is on the way, but did not provide additional details and an announcement has yet to be made. “We were never invited to present to the DOC, we were never given any explanation as to why they were suspending it,” APDS CEO Harris Ferrell told Katz.

Some worry that the new tablet provider will exploit inmates and charge them for things that used to be free, like sending emails. Prisoners also expressed concern that without these resources, tensions and violence could escalate.