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Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

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Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

#121

Post by sarciszewski »

jamespo wrote: post #113
ObviousScience wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Did the thought ever cross your mind that the police may be able to get security footage from a nearby storefront to identify the assailant I'm aware that police do this when investigating crimes. However, this is also a source of misidentifying people, which often ends poorly. Young, black, and in a yellow shirt? Must be the first black guy we see in a yellow shirt! I find it unlikely that your call is going to le…

So given the option, you don't want their intervention if you're getting attacked?

What's the difference between a gang member and a police officer? Social acceptance. They all engage in the same behavior, have their own rites and colors, and a shared identity and sense of loyalty to bend the rules for one another.

Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

#122

Post by jMyles »

ObviousScience wrote: post #101
hueving wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>My comment was meant specifically to point out that even when trying to list reasonable times to call the police, the person only seemed to get 2/3 being times the police would actually help the situation in any sense. Did the thought ever cross your mind that the police may be able to get security footage from a nearby storefront to identify the assailant or that they might be able to give you a ride home after you…

> Did the thought ever cross your mind that the police may be able to get security footage from a nearby storefront to identify the assailant I'm aware that police do this when investigating crimes. However, this is also a source of misidentifying people, which often ends poorly. Young, black, and in a yellow shirt? Must be the first black guy we see in a yellow shirt! I find it unlikely that your call is going to le…

My brother, who is an awesome, gentle, smart, great dude, is training to become a police officer. I haven't talked to him much about it. I'm not exactly sure what to say. Your statements rings very true to me, though. For the first time, I'm a little worried for my little bro.

Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

#123

Post by nights192 »

sarciszewski wrote: post #121
jamespo wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So given the option, you don't want their intervention if you're getting attacked?

What's the difference between a gang member and a police officer? Social acceptance. They all engage in the same behavior, have their own rites and colors, and a shared identity and sense of loyalty to bend the rules for one another.

No- one set goes through an (at least semi-)standard training process, with public scrutiny upon their every action at a personal level with additional access to public records of most of their related actions, while the other is recruited through familial relations and contacts, with the media investigating the group with a view from a collective standpoint with far more limited resources available.

Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

#124

Post by jMyles »

nights192 wrote: post #123
sarciszewski wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the difference between a gang member and a police officer? Social acceptance. They all engage in the same behavior, have their own rites and colors, and a shared identity and sense of loyalty to bend the rules for one another.

No- one set goes through an (at least semi-)standard training process, with public scrutiny upon their every action at a personal level with additional access to public records of most of their related actions, while the other is recruited through familial relations and contacts, with the media investigating the group with a view from a collective standpoint with far more limited resources available.

Perhaps it's useful to think of this as a spectrum rather than a stark distinction. In some places and at some times, police organizations behave in ways that we traditionally regard as "gang-like," while in other places and times, gangs behave in places that we think of as more "civic."

Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

#125

Post by jMyles »

jessaustin wrote: post #78
ajb wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A genuine question: What do you think is utility of this reply? Have you thought about what effect this and similar comments might have (in aggregate) on the political process?

Have you considered the possibility that the "political process" is part of the problem? There are other options.

Are those laid out succinctly somewhere? In a manner that's easy to follow and implement?

More importantly - are those options peaceful? Is that a distinction even worth thinking about?

Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

#126

Post by sarciszewski »

nights192 wrote: post #123
sarciszewski wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the difference between a gang member and a police officer? Social acceptance. They all engage in the same behavior, have their own rites and colors, and a shared identity and sense of loyalty to bend the rules for one another.

No- one set goes through an (at least semi-)standard training process, with public scrutiny upon their every action at a personal level with additional access to public records of most of their related actions, while the other is recruited through familial relations and contacts, with the media investigating the group with a view from a collective standpoint with far more limited resources available.

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/02/24/jtrig-manipula...

Any time someone creates a throw-away account to post a pro-government opinion, I immediately assume it's GCHQ/JTRIG.

Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

#127

Post by donaldsfone »

disposition2 wrote: post #20
innguest wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can we trust the government to solve this when it was the government that created the problem to begin with?

I doubt the government would be doing this: "JPay is protected from other market forces, as well. When states offer its music players and tablet computers for sale to inmates, they often confiscate radios that people already own, according to inmates in Ohio. This leaves inmates dependent on JPay’s music downloads, which can cost 30 to 50 percent more than the same songs on iTunes, inmates say." I'm confused, are you…

Lack of marality? Do you not see the writer's total bias? The guy is just a regular entreprenuer who is being brought down by an over eager (crappy) journalist.

Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

#128

Post by donaldsfone »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #48
disposition2 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt the government would be doing this: "JPay is protected from other market forces, as well. When states offer its music players and tablet computers for sale to inmates, they often confiscate radios that people already own, according to inmates in Ohio. This leaves inmates dependent on JPay’s music downloads, which can cost 30 to 50 percent more than the same songs on iTunes, inmates say." I'm confused, are you…

Who is confiscating the radios? JPay? No.

You cant have two devices at a time (prison security) - so if inmate buys an mp3 player he has to give up his walkman

Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

#129

Post by donaldsfone »

jessaustin wrote: post #79
ajiang wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to do work in this space and personally diligenced JPay for investment purposes. Their profit margins are low for the same reason most successful startups have no profit - growth. They're growing incredibly fast, investing in sales and marketing efforts (as well as the 'commissions'). Take out the growth aspects, you have a company with very high gross margins.

Is this company in any sense a startup? They seem like a utility to me. I've never seen any ads they've run, and I can't imagine an ad volume that would justify $6 emails, so "sales and marketing" seems to be a euphemism for "lobbying, bribery, and personal entertainment slush-fund". This much basically-stolen money being thrown around is bound to erode ethics. It will surprise no one if multiple principals of this f…

pEOPLe you're all talking out of total ignorance. Jpay has huge capex - since none of you know anything about business ill explain - they spend millions upon millions of dollars deploying networks and computer banks in prisons for inmates to access these services. Now you know why their margins are high? Understand why they charge for email? If they were gouging customers people would send snail mail. You are all plain dumb. And I'm a former customer who used to pay these damn fees!

Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates

#130

Post by Swannie »

egwor wrote: post #33
deadfall wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a victim of these ridiculous fees. I thought about how someone was getting rich and I justified the fees because of the convenience. It most certainly cut back how much I sent and how frequently I used it. This directly affects the incarcerated person. Side note: PayPal allows you to send money to friends and family for free.

Question: why can't paypal be used here as a viable competing solution?

Because the inmates need to convert their balance into goods in the prison. They don't have cash, just an "account" with the prison operator.
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