Federal Bureau of Prisons in the United States use Trulincs for permitting inmates to communicate with their family members and friends. The Trulincs itself is operated by Corrlinks. What is Trulincs actually? Here is the explanation about Trulincs that you need to know.
What Trulincs is and How It Works
Trulincs is a system which is used by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to permit inmates to have limited computer access where they are able to send and get messages without accessing the internet. With this system, it can help the inmate’s release to the community. Besides, this system also helps them to be able to contact their family members and friends easily. If inmates can build their ties with their family and friends, it can help them to improve the possibility of them being successful to enter the community again so that it is expected that they will not be recidivists.
By using Trulincs system, all messages are monitored. When inmates, their family and friends use it, it means that they agree for the monitoring.
Are there any other rules for using the system? Yes, there are. When creating a message, it may not be more than 13,000 characters or around two pages. It is also prohibited to have attachments. If people insist on sending attachments in an electronic message, the staff will stripe the attachments and will not deliver them to the inmate. The sender also needs to make sure that the email does not endanger the public or the security, safety, and the operation of the correctional facility.
How about the funds for using the system? The Inmate Trust Fund provides the funding for using this system where it is maintained by profits from the purchases of telephone services, commissary products and the fees that inmates pay to use Trulincs.
When an inmate wants to send messages to someone through Trulincs, the inmate can only do that to people who are in their approved contact list. They also can only receive messages from the people in their approved contact list. It means that if they want to get or send messages to other people who are not in the contact list, they have to enter the person to the contact list first. Before an inmate can communicate with the person, the staff needs to approve the inmate’s request first.
Starting Sending and Receiving Electronic Messages through Trulincs
It has been explained that if an inmate wants to send messages to a person or receive messages from someone, the person must be in the inmate’s contact list. So, how to enter the person to the inmate’s contact list?
- First, the inmate needs to make a request to be able to send and receive electronic messages with a person and the inmate puts the person on their contact list, but the staff must approve it first.
- If the person’s contact has been approved by the staff, then the person will receive a message from CorrLinks where it asks the person whether they want to accept electronic communication with the inmate in the future or they want to block it.
- If the person accepts it, then the inmate is allowed to send electronic messages to the person.
The Purposes of Using Trulincs
The purposes of using Trulincs system are explained below.
- Providing an alternative means of communication for inmates with the public.
- Providing a method which is more efficient, cost-effective and secure for BOP to manage and monitor services for inmate communication.
- With this system, it is expected that the opportunities for illegal drugs and contraband to be spread in Bureau facilities through inmate mail can be reduced.
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