ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study

The importance of information technology (IT) in several sectors of the economy can never be overemphasized. It is quite evident that IT has done so much by aiding the economic growth of several countries all over the world. Researchers are exploring several sectors of the economy for upgrade purposes. This did not leave the interest of security and its subs aside. The integration of IT systems and services will do great good to the efficiency of our security system, more specifically the prisons services.

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and usually deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime. There is no centralized management information system in most prisons to keep track of prisoner’s information for efficient and effective management. Currently the management of most prison service in Nigeria, particularly Makurdi prison is still using papers and files system to keep track of information thereby leading to delayed work and time wastage. This approach of generating prisoner’s information is totally manual hence requiring additional manpower, time and produces a lot of errors and this may lead to inappropriate planning and financial loss in future. More so, with the ever increasing number of prisoners, a lot of documentation and recording has increased and this kind of paper work and manual handling of data is not a user friendly way of collecting and managing information. This approach creates delay in creating reports more over it’s a hectic and costly exercise (Emmanuel et al, 2017). This gives more reason of integrating a management information system to the prison services to aid in automating most of their prisoner recording activities.

The maintenance of prisoner files is easily associated with the realms of prison administration and bureaucracy—often a burdensome task for overworked prison staff. The role of prisoner files in relation to the protection and promotion of human rights, however, is rather less obvious. The presence of complete, accurate and accessible prisoner files is not only a prerequisite for effective prison management and strategic planning, it is also an essential tool for ensuring the human rights of prisoners are respected and upheld. If prison systems deny such rights, the rehabilitative purpose of imprisonment is necessarily undermined, along with public confidence in the criminal justice system and the rule of law in general. The realities of prison systems worldwide are characterized by limited resources. However, effective prisoner file management is not entirely dependent on financial investment; it is more about having a clear and workable system for recording information, accompanied by procedures that are respected and followed by prison staff (Rachael et al, 2008).

Creating and maintaining prisoner files is also an essential component of effective prison management and plays an important part in improving the transparency and accountability of prison administrations. The careful collection of information about those being held in custody is critical to informing both day to day prison administration and long-term prison planning. The total number of people held in custody, their classification, along with their health and rehabilitative needs provides important information for prison managers to identify resource requirements, set budgets, manage health and safety, and develop appropriate rehabilitative and treatment programs (Rachael et al, 2008).

1.2     Statement of the Problem

Looking at the importance and vitality of prisoner information in prisons, it is evident that prisoners information is expected to be kept and managed as efficient as possible. However, in cases where prisoners become too many in the prison, information management becomes challenging.

Currently in the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) Makurdi, prisoners information are recorded on paper and stored in files, this system is also known as local filling system. However, documents are most times misplaced or damaged thereby leading to poor accountability of prisoners as well as their management. Also, it is stressful and time consuming to retrieve far dated files which are most times needed in urgency for administrative, management or security purposes. This has been a problem affecting the management of prisoners Makurdi medium prison. Hence this, the design and implementation of an online prisoners information management system is proposed.

1.3     Aims and Objectives of the Study

The major aim of this research work is to design and implement an online prisoner information management system that will assuage the problems encountered by the Nigerian Prison Service in terms of prisoner information management using Makurdi medium prison as a case study.

The objectives of the proposed system are as outlined below:

1. To review the impact of information management in prisons
2. To solve the problem of record management encountered in the Nigeria prison service
3. To help Makurdi medium prison keep track of far dated records for future purposes

1.4     Significance of the Study

The development of the proposed system will be of great significance to prisoners, prisons and the country at large. It is of significance to prisoners in a way that It aids in making sure that prisoners are attended to and properly taken care of since their records exist in a database that can only be managed by the administrator of the system. Also, the system will be of great significance to prisons in a way that it will simplify the processes involved in prisoner information recording and retrieval. Even long passed records are easily retrieved as if they are newly registered. Finally, the system is important to the country in a way that it centralizes the records of ex-convicts which cannot be illegally removed since it is controlled by just the system administrator.

1.5     Scope of the Study

This research work is aimed at developing an online prisoner information system. The system will only be able to register prisoners in prisons. However, records are easily retrieved in several sequences not minding the year the prisoner information was registered.

1.6     Limitation of the Study

The researcher faced some limitations during the course of this research. Some of this limitations/constraint includes;

1. Time constraint: Time factor was the major factors as the timeframe to submit the project was too short for an extensive research.
2. Financial constraint:  Lack of adequate finance to fund the researcher as to visit many places was another major setback.

1.7     Definition of Terms

Prison: A building in which people are legally held as a punishment for a crime they have committed or while awaiting trial.

Prisoner: A person legally committed to prison as a punishment for a crime or while awaiting trial.

Information System: This is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information.

Management Information System: This is an information system used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization.

Information Technology: This is the study or use of systems (especially computers and telecommunications) for storing, retrieving, and sending information.

Legal Penalty: Punishment in the form of fines or prison terms imposed on wrongdoers.

Incarceration: This is simply the state of being confined in a prison.

Imprisonment: This is simply the state of being confined in a prison.

Crime: This is an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law.

Record: Document that memorializes and provides objective evidence of activities performed, events occurred, results achieved, or statements made.

Record Management: This simply refers to a set of activities required for systematically controlling the creation, distribution, use, maintenance, and disposition of recorded information.

File: A folder or box for holding loose papers together and in order for easy reference.

Rehabilitation: This is the action of restoring someone to health or normal life through training and therapy after imprisonment, addiction, or illness.