Virtually Innocent

For Immediate Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WHITMAN CITY BULLETIN

After three years in development, the Virtual Reality Prison Retraining Program (VRPR) is ready to launch! Citizens first started voting on policy changes five years ago when the virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors were initially taking off, first changing the medical diagnostic processes that have since allowed medical practices to increase their patient caseloads. Using VR devices to train law enforcement officers started its launch in large cities like New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, becoming the standard within just one year for the whole industry.

The VRPR is rolling out with citizens knowing very little about the practical application. Until today, all the public knew with any certainty was that prisoners would be placed under partial sedation in order to be set up in personally tailored environments to address the violent crimes committed by the inmate. While at the live press conference held yesterday, the biggest unknowns were revealed to the public, answering the questions that had many people on edge about supporting the program in the past.

One of the biggest concerns was about the cost. VRPR's Project Manager, Samuel Bergman, spoke at length about the budget, assuring concerned citizens that the reason the program has taken so long to launch is because they are sourcing all of the start-up funds from the annual profits from private prisons willing to pioneer the program in their facilities. Over the last three years, they have acquired just over 5,000 VR units, with 100 units going to 50 different prisons sites. A team of over 100 coders have been engineering software to create scenarios for every violent crime across each participating state, including federal offenses.

However, VRPR's Bergman broke down the cost-benefits of the program in terms of the required space to house violent criminals in a facility with the VR rooms in comparison to a traditional prison setting. The most notable would be the lack of public and recreational areas. Inmates enrolled the VRPR will be assigned to a room that simply houses a hospital bed, basic vital monitoring equipment, and space for a medical staff to enter the room as needed to do health checks and maintain equipment.

Though the cost of medical equipment and staff was not well received by the crowd, Bergman explained that there will be less law enforcement staff needed on site at prisons due to the sedation of inmates. "This will free up prison guards to serve with local law enforcement teams. Research studies have shown a greater police presence in the community will reduce crime rates, resulting in fewer prison sites being needed to house inmates found guilty of their crimes," Bergman explained.

People were interested what they would do with the unused real estate if they are able to reduce the incarcerated populations as drastically as VRPR claims it will do in the next five years. Bergman was quick to respond, "We will be converting old prison sites to community buildings or rehabilitation facilities, whichever is more appropriate for the communities they are located in, because we want these buildings to remain focused on helping disillusioned populations."

Support of the program became obvious as the crowds cheered, but there were more questions to be answered. The people wanted to know if inmates enrolled in VRPR would remain sedated for the full length of their sentences. Berman provided a brief answer, "Appropriate reprieves will be utilized through the sentenced period of time to gauge progress in retraining." Vague as the answer was, it did not spur further inquiry.

Bergman fielded questions for approximately one hour, revealing that the roll out of the program will begin with violent criminals who have been sentenced within the last 90 days for crimes resulting in death at 10 sites across the country. This will include our very own Whitman Independent Detention, which has been holding overflow inmates from public sector prisons for the last fifteen years. Staff began their training six months ago and began receiving the necessary equipment last month to prepare for the VRPR launch.

The first prisoner in our community is scheduled to be immersed with live streaming for the public to see what the process will look like for inmates being set up in the program. An anonymous coder has been assigned to the unnamed inmate to prepare the simulation and is scheduled for a short interview describing the process for the public. This can be expected after the immersion is complete.

Despite the inmate being unidentified publicly at this time, there has only been one violent crime tried and sentenced within the last six months that would qualify the perpetrator for the VRPR program. As such, it is speculated that the man who was found guilty of murdering his wife, Anthony Canson, will be the inmate we will see in the livestreamed demonstration this evening. Those suspicions can only be confirmed or denied by tuning in for the event.

Citizens can attend a public airing of the demonstration at public parks in town, where viewing sites are being set up and monitored by the parks department staff. For those wishing to view from home, the local WLN channel as it is found in your service provider's channel guide, or the WLN website. For a review of the Anthony Canson murder case, I will be walking the WLN staff through the entire timeline live two hours prior to the event.