A news video showing a K9 searching for contraband smuggled cell phones in a Florida jail.
Prison Cell Phones
289 posts
CorrectionsOne has published an interview with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary, Matt Cate. Cate oversees 33 adult prisons and four juvenile facilities throughout California, with a budget of nearly 10 billion dollars. Right now, CDCR has approximately 160,000 inmates, 105,000 parolees, and 1,100 juvenile offenders (including in and out-of-state housing). As part of that interview, he discusses the problem of smuggled cell phones in California prisons. Cate is quoted as stating, “There’s a […]
Smuggled cell phone detection by a dog at Riker’s Island prison is the topic of this article. The article states that smuggled cellphones haven’t been as big a problem in New York as they’ve been in other areas. The reason is the generous policy on the use of land lines. “New York state facilities charge inmates less for phone use and offer greater access than other states, said state prison spokesman Peter Cutler. That cuts […]
Smuggled cell phones in prison are a problem globally as this article from South Africa highlights. As in the US, the contraband phones are believed to be smuggled into the prison by guards. In addition to the scam mentioned in the article, “Prisoners use the phones to contact family and spouses, or to surf the internet.” Just as they are used in prisons here. Sixty cellphones, sim cards, a bucketful of phone chargers, earphones and […]
This article discusses the “amenities” available to the detainees in a women’s minimum security prison in Indiana. In discussions about amenities available to prisoners, there is always a contrast between those who advocate what they believe to be reasonable privileges for the purpose of facilitating rehabilitation and those who advocate hard time and bare minimum facilities. The warden of this particular facility states, “We definitely want to put a better person back on the streets […]
An interesting article about the uses of funds received from the sale of prison commissary items. One use is the installation of computer terminals in each maximum security cell to provide video visitation. This reduces prisoner movement and increases safety. The use of the meshDETECT secure cell phone solution also eliminates the need to move prisoners to provide access to telephones. Every time an inmate buys a candy bar or a bag of chips he […]
No technology is perfect, and that includes cell phone jamming technology. The real issue here is how compromised is the wireless blocking system installed at Parchman to combat contraband cell phones? The meshDETECT secure cell phone service has no internet access available so prisoners cannot access Facebook or Twitter. An inmate inside a Mid-South prison has been able to take pictures and post them online, despite a high-tech blocking technology put in place to keep […]
The website Gizmodo has a interesting article about smuggled cell phones in San Quentin. Its a pretty graphic article as you will see from the excerpt here. You can read the rest of the article here. According to the article 10% of the population has a contraband cell phone. We believe addressing the demand for contraband cell phones by providing a secure prison cell phone solution should be part of the strategy to reduce contraband […]
Traditionally, tobacco and stamps have been the preferred currency in prisons. But now it appears that in some prisons cellular airtime on contraband smuggled phones may be the new prison currency. According to this article, prisoners in a South African jail are using smuggled cell phones to run a scam to get wireless airtime. A prison official states, “We have found the phones and sim cards in the strangest of places. Some of them hide […]
This article discusses the use of K9 to detect smuggled cell phones in a Tulsa prison. The article quotes a prison official as saying, “Cell phones are a way for them to communicate without us listening.” The meshDETECT secure prison cell phone solution records each call and gives corrections officials the ability to monitor detainee conversations during and after the call itself. The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office added a new deputy to the force. Baxy, […]