Interactions Between Hardin County Jail Detainees and Correctional Officers are Automatically Tracked with Precision Dynamics’ Clincher RFID Wristbands

In a new initiative to automatically track and document critical interactions between individual jail detainees and guards, Hardin County Jail in Eldora, IA has implemented Precision Dynamics’ Clincher RFID wristbands as a major enhancement to its GUARDIAN RFID Corrections System from Codex Corp.

Nick Whitmore, jail administrator, states, “Clincher RFID Wristbands provide a new level of precise, point-of-contact verification of one-on-one interaction between the detainee and our correctional officers. The Clincher RFID wristbands, with GUARDIAN mobile software, electronically validate our officer’s physical contact with detainees whether it’s to log headcounts, supply passes, jail rounds, or more.”

Whitmore continues, “Before using Clincher RFID Wristbands, we solely relied on RFID tags positioned throughout the facility, which only provide our officer’s proof-of-presence within the general vicinity of the detainee. With Clincher, we now have electronic documentation of the inmate, date, time, location, and guard officer that were involved in each interaction.”

Hardin County Jail first installed the GUARDIAN RFID Corrections System in 2005 as a Correctional Compliance system for its 107 inmate capacity facility. Implemented in December 2009, the adoption of Clincher RFID wristbands enhances the jail’s safety and security by providing non-transferable identification of detainees. Previously, Hardin County Jail used ID badges for detainee identification, but as Whitmore points out, “ID cards were sometimes lost by the detainees or taken by another inmate. With Clincher RFID Wristbands, the detainee’s ID stays intact at all times.” Clincher’s read/write technology interfaces with the GUARDIAN RFID Corrections System for real-time, electronic recordkeeping, tracking, and reporting.

There are several applications designed to improve jail security and detainee safety, while also automating manual processes to save time and labor. Tracking the issuance and return of supplies—especially dangerous supplies, such as shaving razors—to individual detainees is now administered using Clincher RFID Wristbands. Another application is tracking the transfer of detainees from the jail to court and back to ensure all detainees are accounted.