[CSDN editor's note] Do you dare to think, there will really be hundreds of strange incidents in which prisoners have been detained because of software bugs.
Finishing | Li Lei, Editor in Charge | Zhang Wen
Exhibit | CSDN (ID: CSDNnews)
Recently, a person in charge from the Arizona State Prison Department reported to the news website KJZZ that there was a bug in the prisoner management software in his prison , which led to the continued detention of hundreds of prisoners who met the conditions for release . In fact, the person in charge pointed out the bug inside the prison department a year ago, but no one has taken action to fix the software bug.
It is understood that this prisoner management software is called ACIS, which was developed by the prison department with an investment of 24 million US dollars to hire an IT business & decision-making company in North America. The ACIS application has a software module that calculates the release date of prisoners. Application, unable to explain Amendment No. 1310 passed in 2019.
The amendment allows some non-violent prisoners to earn extra points through study or labor education, that is, they complete vocational education courses such as programming in the prison or get a high school diploma. Finally, when the points meet certain requirements, they can be released in advance. .
However, according to a source from the relevant prison department, this ACIS software cannot identify prisoners who meet the requirements of the SB 1310 amendment, nor can it calculate a new release date after they complete the programming course.
The whistleblower said:
"From the first day, we knew it wouldn't work... When they approved the bill, we looked at it and said'oh, sh*t'."
After repeated internal warnings, the employee sent a report to the department head in October 2020, which detailed the software error.
The leader did not work hard to fix the software vulnerabilities after knowing it, but tried to manually identify qualified prisoners. He also ordered him and other employees to "don't say a word... We spent too much money on this software, and now we can't look back."
According to the whistleblower, since November 2019, the entire ACIS prisoner management software program has encountered more than 14,000 errors. Several other similar programs also failed to operate normally, including modules that track prisoners’ medical conditions, property conditions, religious beliefs, security classification, and gang relations.
©Photo: File Photo (AP) Florence State Prison, Arizona
After the media reported, the prison spokesperson responded that the statement that prisoners released after serving their sentences were continued to be detained was wrong, but the ACIS software system did “not calculate the correct release date according to Senate SB 1310”.
Criminal justice reporter Jimmy Jenkins tweeted that the Arizona Department of Corrections has blocked all employees from accessing the KJZZ website.
In response to such a bug, who will "back the pot" for it?
Reference link:
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https://kjzz.org/content/1660988/whistleblowers-software-bug-keeping-hundreds-inmates-arizona-prisons-beyond-release
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/software-bug-keeps-arizona-prisoners-behind-bars-past-release-dates/ar-BB1dUHqw