Only 10% of the jammers in the prison work properly
The 150-year-old health prison has become a symbol of the dilapidation of French prisons. It was refurbished in a public-private partnership, costing 210 million euros. This Monday, about 80 detainees must return to the quarantine area in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. Starting in mid-January, they will be assigned to the general service department for the first major cleaning before other residents gradually arrive at a cost of 25 per week.
The initial capacity of the institution is 808, including about 100 semi-free places. By the end of 2019, the occupancy rate may reach 150%, while some remand centers located in Ile-de-France have reached 200%. From this perspective, most cells are already equipped with two beds.
More than 40,000 mobile phones were seized in prison in 2017
Reopening will be a test: the health department is "the first prison equipped with both a new laptop jammer system and a fixed phone in the cell", the agency's head, Christelle Rotach, emphasized. . Attorney General Nicole Belloubet initiated the detention revolution in January last year and finally completed a project.
The government started with a double observation: the ineffectiveness of cell phone jammer-only 10% of the 804 jammers currently in prison are effective-and the proliferation of mobile phones in custody. In 2017, a new record was broken: 40067 phones and accessories were seized from 180 French prisons, when the number of prisoners was close to 70,000.
The laptop jammer was entrusted to the French company SAGI.fr for six years. After sanitation, it will gradually expand to other places. At the same time, Telio, one of the European leaders in this field, was granted a ten-year landline public service concession. "Using a fixed phone in a cell is an element of comfort in detention. Christelle Rotach explained that prisoners will be able to call their family members without restrictions "without the need to "recruit guards who can devote themselves to other tasks." This innovation will help the Prison Administration (DAP) prevent suicide and better reintegrate into society. Inmates can only call previously verified phone numbers. No telephones will be installed in isolated or disciplinary premises.
The company will fund all investments and will be remunerated based on the phone bill paid by the prisoners. In mainland France, the cost of calling a fixed line is 0.08 Euro per minute, and the cost of using a mobile phone is 0.18 Euro per minute, which is about ten times the current rate. For Christelle Rotach, the purpose of the tour is also to build a modern prison while maintaining health in its historic millstone environment: hollow out the stadium, sidewalks, and drill glass roofs above the passages. Light also entered the cell: the tall windows dropped to human height. Sanitary facilities, showers, electric stove and refrigerator have been installed. The “unworthy” conditions of detention in certain remand centers are far from being detained, which led to the condemnation of France in Europe. The "personal" area for the most disadvantaged and "visited guests" will be retained. With the close attention of 380 managers, health will also play a role in welcoming radical prisoners.