An agreement on the positioning service was signed today, 23 January, by the Prison Service administration, ElisaCom Oy and Radiolinja Oy. The service will be tested during 2002 in a total of eight units of the Prison Service administration and, in addition to this, in prisoner transportation vehicles. The objective is to enhance the surveillance of prisoners outside the prison area and, simultaneously, to obtain savings in the prisons’ time and resources.

The service delivered by Radiolinja enables the positioning of moving objects, in this case prisoners, by means of GSM network positioning. Surveillance personnel from the prison will use the service with their PC workstations over the Internet. The prisoner carries a terminal that enables the positioning: a regular GSM mobile phone. The service can be used everywhere in Finland within Radiolinja’s GSM network coverage area.

Positive experiences

The testing of the prisoner positioning system started a year ago in the Vanaja open prison section located in Hämeenlinna. Prisoners have, with specific preconditions, the opportunity to work or study outside the prison. Prisoners exiting the prison area were equipped with a GSM mobile phone, which enables the surveillance of the prisoner from the prison.

Earlier, the prisoners who are allowed to exit the prison area were monitored through random inspections, which entailed that a guard with a vehicle was sent from the prison to check the location of the prisoner. Today, the mobile phone can be positioned at any time on the screen of the prison’s computer. Making a call to the phone checks if the prisoner him/herself is at the place indicated by the phone. The prisoner may only use the mobile phone for contacting the prison and the alarm centre. The prisoners have also had a positive attitude towards the experiment and no improper use has occurred.

Extensive use of the service as the objective

On the basis of the positive experiences, the testing of the positioning system will be expanded to all three prison service districts. In the prison service districts of eastern and northern Finland, the service will be introduced to the Sukeva and Pelso prisons and in the open prison section of the Kuopio prison. In western Finland, the service will be tested in the open prison section of the Turku remand prison. In southern Finland, the system will be introduced, in addition to Vanaja, to the open prison section of Jokela, the labour colony in Ojoinen, and the Helsinki labour colony located in the area of the Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

The objective is to expand the use of the positioning system to cover almost every prison. The system will also be tested during longer prison furloughs and, for example, in monitoring the restraining orders imposed on the prisoners.

For further information, please contact:
▪ Arto Kujala, Director of the Prison Service, Criminal Sanctions Agency, tel. +358 (0)9 1608 8475, mobile phone +358 (0)50 528 6194, arto.kujala@om.fi
▪ Hannu Turunen, Director, Radiolinja, mobile phone +358 (0)50 506 5660, hannu.turunen@radiolinja.fi