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Israel's prison of the future - underground tunnels and smartcards for inmates
By Jonathan Lis
Tags: Prisons, Israel

Serial rapist Benny Sela, child murderer Zvi Gur and the late, notorious killer Herzl Avitan have in recent years become symbols of the ineptitude of Israeli law enforcement, all three of them having managed to outsmart the police and Israel Prison Service and escape from captivity. Behind the walls of the country's prisons, a daily battle of wits is taking place: On the one hand are prisoners planning their escapes, and on the other, the Prison Service staff labors to expose and foil their plots.

Prison Service officials are convinced that the penitentiary of the future, of which Israel is to have an example within the next five years or so, will succeed in deterring many of them. After all, how many prisoners can be expected to be ready to risk their lives by jump from one of the upper stories of the world's most secure high-rise prison tower.

The first example of a new prison of the type is apparently planned to rise within the municipal boundaries of Ramle, and will be intended to replace the existing Ma'asiyahu, Ayalon and Neve Tirza prisons. In the future, the Prison Service hopes to build two additional prison towers, one in the north of the country and the other in the south, which together will replace most of the remaining prisons now scattered around the country.
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This prison would be a revolutionary structure: Every floor in the high-rise structure will consists of two wings, each divided into three corridors of cells (see illustration). Between the wings there will be high balconies for strolling, where prisoners will be able to have their daily walk on their floor. The division into wings is expected to enable Prison Service officials to divide the various sections modularly, according to need. It will, for example, be possible to quickly isolate certain wards from others during disturbances by use of dividers; and to create women's holding areas adjacent to men's sections, in the event of a significant increase in the number of female prisoners; or to increase the number of jail cells for security prisoners during unusual occurrences.

Prisoners will be transferred to their cells by elevators. One of the most significant developments now being considered by the Prison Service is the option of equipping prisoners with smart cards, based on biometrics, that will enable them to go alone to different areas of the prison, without being escorted by guards, as is the current practice. "The cards will give the prisoner the option of going by himself to the infirmary or the administrative offices or finance office, for example," explained Deputy Warden Anna Polonsky, who heads the service's logistical support department, and the one responsible for the planning of the tower prisons. According to Polonsky, "the card will be updated by computer and will enable a prisoner to go through sealed passageways only to a specific room. The card will not allow him to open doors leading to places to which he has not been granted access."

Polonsky noted that "the significance, for us, is the huge savings on the manpower that today is needed to escort prisoners nearly every time they move about."

At the edge of each wing, there will be classrooms, kitchenettes, dining rooms and recreation rooms, where prisoners will be able either to pass the time or acquire an education. The plans call for each wing to house 120 or so inmates. Unlike today's penitentiaries, where between 8-10 prisoners must often share a single cell, the new prison will have cells for just two and four prisoners, thereby doubling the space allocated to each prisoner.

Adjacent to the towers, an unusually large receiving area is to be built, where incoming prisoners will be processed. The plan calls for intake capacity to be up to 200 new prisoners at a time. Inmates will be brought in on up to here on six trucks at a time, and sent immediately to temporary, separate cells, in order to prevent friction between feuding criminals. Sorting will take place at the intake facility, at the end of which prisoners will be sent to one of the two towers.

Vocational facilities on the ground floors will employ thousands of prisoners simultaneously.

There are currently high-rise prison towers operating around the world and these are considered a success story. The Israeli plan being spearheaded by Polonsky, who is considered one of the country's leading experts on the subject, is based to a large extent on examples from other countries, but also on the Prison Service's accumulated experience over the years. So far, the service has not consulted prisoners, who have not been asked how what they would like to see in the penitentiary of the future.

The estimated budget for construction of the towers is around NIS 1 billion, the entire amount of which is to be covered by the elimination of 300 prison-guard jobs, which will be made possible by the transition to the new state-of-the-art methods. "The budget sources for this project are internal," said Prison Service Commissioner Benny Kaniak. "Combining prisons in one building will create a surplus. We will create an internal budget that over a period of 11 years will provide one 1 billion shekels for the project."

Until the funds are raised, the Finance Ministry is expected to provide a bridge loan to the Prison Service that will enable the construction of the towers within five years or so. In total, the first two towers will be able to hold some 5,000 prisoners, around the same number of prisoners currently held in the prisons in Ramle.

The 12th floor of each tower will serve as living quarters for staff. Jailers' shifts last a full 24 hours. In the evening hours, however, the volume of a guard's activity drops, and he or she can spend time resting as well. Rest areas will be based on the same cell layout used for inmates' quarters on the floors below, but they also be equipped and set up for wardens' free time, with fitness recreation rooms, as well as space for sleeping.

But the most significant innovations are expected go beyond the living areas: The Prison Service is planning the biggest revolution for the structure's ground floor. Next to the high-rise tower, a courthouse will be built, to which prisoners will be sent on foot, via underground passageways. Next to the courts, whose construction is already in advanced stages of discussion by the Courts Administration, the Prison Service hopes to persuade the National Police Headquarters to set up a police station in the complex as well. That would mean that a burglar caught in the act, for example, could be taken to the new complex when arrested, and only walk out a few years later, following arraignment at the police station on the site, filing of charges, trial in the adjacent court and the serving of his sentence in one of the towers.

According to Commissioner Kaniak, "behind this prison there is an underlying three-dimensional philosophy. The first dimension is improvement of conditions for inmates, by which their living space in Israeli cells will almost double, to 6.5 square meters. The second dimension is the connection and integration of a court and police station in the complex. This will save the Prison Service a lot of the expense of transporting and escorting prisoners to courts all over the country, and will prevent harm to a prisoner who now leaves his cell early in the morning, is kept in a holding small cell in the court building, and returns to his own cell only in the evening. The third dimension is the fact that we are embarking here on a project with internal budget sources. Uniting the prisons will create a proper surplus. We will create an internal budget and within 11 years, will use it to finance a one-billion shekel project."
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  1.   Israel`s prison of the future: Toz 06:20  |  Aounist 21/08/08
  2.   A comic image 07:42  |  Colin Wright 21/08/08
  3.   wow 12:33  |  leona 21/08/08
  4.   It sounds like Israel`s idea of a Palestinian state 14:24  |  Ismail 21/08/08
  5.   Tunnels are already there 16:43  |  * BEN JABO 21/08/08
  6.   underground for the underground 17:34  |  Dr Noam 21/08/08
  7.   A littlle typo to correct. It should be "Israel is the prison of 11:53  |  Andreas 22/08/08
  8.   The towers are impressive 13:37  |  AliciaYasmeen 22/08/08
  9.   Sounds like an excellent idea 17:03  |  T A Shepard 09/12/08
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