An interesting article about the use of video visitation in jail as a replacement for face-to-face visits. As in prisoner phone calls, the video visitation interaction is recorded. One of the benefits highlighted in the article is that it gives family members more time to visit. Visiting is now offered at the jail five days a week, not just the weekend. We believe giving prisoners secure cell phones will also expand the availability of family […]
Prison Cell Phones
289 posts
Today’s blog posting if from guest blogger Miranda Brown. In this essay, she discusses the shortcomings of the existing telephone service in the Texas prison system and the potential for improved rehabilitation of prisoners through the introduction of a secure and monitored cell phone solution. Over ten years the look of the world can change significantly. Cell phones have gained significant popularity over the last decade. With all of the technological advances in our evolving […]
A major concern about contraband cell phones smuggled into jail is the lack of control over the calls made by prisoners. As this article shows, recorded prison phone calls are a key source of evidence in investigations. The meshDETECT secure cell phone solution provides the ability to record and monitor all calls made by prisoners. Domestic violence is one of the most confusing crimes prosecutors have to deal with. The victim and suspect know each […]
His replacement will have big shoes to fill… TWO Leytonstone men have been convicted of plotting to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into a prison. Pentonville inmate Desmond Brown, 26, formerly of Montague Road, and his friend on the outside, Calvin Chance, 26, of Birch Grove, conspired with a corrupt solicitor to avoid detection. They were also helped by Brown’s 24-year-old girlfriend Danielle Porter, of Barking, and another prisoner, David Sterling. It is thought the […]
This article from the Bahamas on the problem of contraband cell phones in prison identifies the usual issues with smuggled cell phones. One prisoner states, “Everyone doesn’t have a phone to do foolishness. Sometimes you just want to contact your loved ones. If we had phone access like a prison in (a) foreign (country), they could monitor the conversations.” This is exactly what the meshDETECT secure cell phone solution offers. A lawyer has called on […]
The legislation to curb contraband cell phones in California prisons is headed to the governor’s desk for signature. Additionally, it paves the way for wireless signal jamming via managed access systems. No consideration in the push to legislate on how to curb demand however. Update – May 9, 2012: For an update on this legislation and the planned deployment of wireless managed access systems in the CDCR facilities to block contraband cell phones, see this […]
Might prison-friendly cell phones be a wiser response to contraband phones smuggled behind bars? So writes Douglas A. Berman the Robert J. Watkins/Procter & Gamble Professor of Law at Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University on his blog Sentencing Law And Policy. Professor Berman, who attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School and who’s principal teaching and research focus is in the area of criminal law and criminal sentencing, states in his […]
This editorial discusses the three cell phone bills working their way through the California legislature. Certainly making it a misdemeanor to smuggle a cell phone and permitting random monthly searches of prison employees for contraband will help prevent some the contraband wireless phones from making it into prison, but it certainly won’t stop all cell phones in jail. The question then becomes what strategy is deployed to address the rest of the problem? Expensive and […]
According to this article, the GAO has just released a study on the use of contraband cell phones in federal prisons. However the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) has not put in place or developed evaluation plans to measure the effectiveness of new technologies to address the smuggled cell phone problem. In fact, according to the GAO report, “BOP has a policy, called Pilot Initiatives, Approval and Evaluation, that identifies numerous criteria that should be […]
It’s not just prison staff who attempt to smuggle cell phones and other contraband into prisons. Friends, family and former inmates are enticed to smuggle by the high contraband value of items such as wireless phones. Drugs will always be in demand in prisons, but the contraband value of cell phones can be reduced by supplying a legitimate alternative such as the meshDETECT secure cell phone solution. Two men, including a former inmate, were arrested […]