Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos on Wednesday inaugurated the first country-wide prison monitoring center.
The Strategic Prison Information Center will allow authorities to monitor in real-time 40 prisons from across Colombia. According to local media, 400 cameras located in the corridors and common areas in all 40 prisons will allow prison officials to better control inmate population and minimize escapes.
The center is reportedly targeted explicitly at high profile drug trafficking gangs, guerrilla groups and paramilitaries. Wealthy drug traffickers recently attempted to stage a prison break by bribing guards, but were thwarted by authorities.
MORE: ‘High-profile prison break thwarted’ in northeastern Colombia
Inmates have also recently protested prison conditions and lengths of sentences by staging hunger strikes.
MORE: Colombian prisoners on hunger strike over overcrowding crisis
The center will also supposedly include a crisis room for reacting to prison breaks, fights or contraband smuggling.
