For the first time ever, inmates incarcerated this Christmas in Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails will have the opportunity to share the joy of the season through a new technology called web based video visitation. The technology will allow inmates to be able watch as their kids open presents or to visit with their loved ones as they enjoy the Christmas meal.
Family and friends of the 8000 plus inmates in jail this holiday can sign up from 12:01 A.M. to 9:00 P.M on Wednesday, December 24th to schedule a Christmas day visit from virtually anywhere in the world. Each visit will last 20 minutes and will cost absolutely nothing, courtesy of the Sheriff and the company who installed the technology, Securus Technologies.
“Normally a 20 minute remote video visit will cost the requesting family member or friend just shy of $13.00 but in the spirit of Christmas, we are offering Christmas day visits for free this year,” Sheriff Arpaio said.
All that is needed for a remote video visit is either a personal or public computer that has a web camera and a high-speed internet connection. Requestors must also create a user account by visiting the website www.visitfromhome.net/maricopa. New visitation accounts must be approved in-advance before a visit can be scheduled.
If a requestor has not already created an account and had it approved, the Sheriff’s department is highly recommending that the home-user apply for an account as soon as possible.
Reservations for the Christmas time slots are expected to fill up quickly as Sheriff Arpaio is encouraging all who wish to visit with an inmate to log to www.visitfromhome.net/maricopa as soon as possible after on Christmas Eve day.