New Mexico jail bans in-person visits, offers video chats

  A New Mexico jail is no longer allowing family and friends to visit detainees in person and will offer only phone or online video chats. The Farmington Daily Times reports the San Juan County Adult Detention Center made the announcement this month. The county says the change will reduce the travel burden for families. But the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative says hundreds of jails and prisons across the United States have moved away from in-person visits. The group and Face to Face Knox found that ending in-person visitation at the Knox County Jail in Knoxville, Tennessee, made the jail more dangerous by increasing the number of assaults on other inmates or staff.