Files Formal Request to FCC Requesting Accurate Data Be Presented to the Media, Inmates, and Friends and Family Members on Inmate Calling Rates and Stop Incendiary Statements.
DALLAS, Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Securus Technologies, a leading provider of civil and criminal justice technology solutions for public safety, investigation, corrections and monitoring – has filed a formal request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that they refrain from issuing multiple misleading statements that can incite violence.
"Our executives have received multiple threats of bodily harm or death regarding the proposed inmate rate order related to comments from FCC Commissioners using inaccurate or misleading information," said Richard A. ("Rick") Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Securus Technologies, Inc. "I sent a formal letter to the FCC yesterday apprising them of the fact that the FCC's issuance of misleading statements is inciting threats of violence."
Examples include this quote from the FCC News Release on October 22, 2015:
"With the cost of a call sometimes ballooning to $14.00 per minute once inside prison walls, the FCC for the first time capped rates . . ."
"The media, inmates, and friends and family members have taken this quote to mean that we charge $14.00 per minute. In fact, we actually charge on average $.21 per minute or 1.5% of what the FCC portrayed we charge. That $.21 per minute is for approximately 15 million calls per month – so a very large number of calls – and it is just not responsible to tell the public that we charge $14.00 per minute, and the FCC has done that."
Another quote from the FCC is:
"The new caps fully cover the enhanced security requirements of inmates calling, while allowing providers a reasonable return."
"That clearly is not true or accurate and the FCC knows it," said Smith. "They set rate caps too low, at a level below what we and other providers filed with the FCC – using the methodology that they provided to us. They specifically told us to EXCLUDE COMMISSIONS, and we did – then said that we can pay them from a rate that excludes them – really does not make sense. In addition, we have over 750 features that provide operability, safety, and security, and we develop another 50 products per year. The FCC does not have all of that built into their price caps nor did they discuss how we would be compensated for those in their press release or the Fact Sheet. This clearly misrepresents what they have done!"
A third FCC quote from the same FCC News Release:
"Eliminates unnecessary fees by capping or banning burdensome ancillary service charges, which can add nearly 40% to the cost of a single call."
"This is another clear misrepresentation of our data," said Smith. "Fees represent approximately 10% of our charges and less than you would see on a typical telephone or cable bill. The 40% quoted is a "sensationally high" number – but not accurate for us by a considerable amount. The FCC continues to paint our industry in a bad light – and the cavalier way that they use data is dangerous for the thousands of employees in the Inmate Communications Services sector (ICS)."
Here is another quote from the Big Tent Meeting – "Breaking the Cycle of Prison Poverty One Phone Call at a Time" delivered on September 25, 2015:
"And if you needed more proof that high rates are discouraging connectivity: after we lowered interstate rates, long distance call volumes increasing 70% in some facilities. What is also important is that security protocols have not been compromised."
"The above 70% increase quoted by Commissioner Clyburn is not based in reality. It does not reflect the detailed elasticity study that we filed with the FCC – the only party to do so. That study reflected a 15.5% increase in volumes with a 30% to 40% decrease in rates. The FCC overstated the average volume increases due to the reduction in interstate rates that we saw by a factor of 4.5X, i.e., it was OVERSTATED by 4.5X. I would suggest that is clearly misrepresenting the facts to put us in a bad position with inmates, friends and family, and the media," Smith said.
"Over the last several days, I have been threatened with beatings, being banned from the United States, being burned to death, and being killed – all surrounding media reports fueled by inaccurate FCC reporting on their future order. These threats will be turned over to the FBI," said Smith. "Here is a sample of one which is not the worst of those that I received:
"We need to start acting like Robin Hood and take this into our own hands. It won't be long until these bastards are going to be gunned down in the streets, mark my words!"
"This clearly is hate speech from my perspective and the FCC needs to consider what they put out – their embellishment of the facts puts me and the ICS sector in harm's way," said Smith.
"We strongly encourage the FCC to discontinue the use of these misstatements of fact. Failure to do so puts good people at risk, people that keep all of society safe and enable quality communications at a reasonable price," concluded Smith.
ABOUT SECURUS TECHNOLOGIES
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and serving more than 3,450 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1,200,000 inmates across North America, Securus Technologies is committed to serve and connect by providing emergency response, incident management, public information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, inmate self-service, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live. Securus Technologies focuses on connecting what matters®. To learn more about our full suite of civil and criminal justice technology solutions, please visit SecurusTechnologies.com.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100831/DA57799LOGO
SOURCE Securus Technologies, Inc.
Share this article