This article is about the challenges and indignities of visiting a loved one in jail. The sheriff in charge of the jail discusses the environment in the visiting room, “There are loads of kids there. And a strong part of me says that’s not a good environment for any child. I don’t want kids seeing this stuff. The other side is, if they’re connecting with their father, that’s a good thing, too. We can’t do […]
This bill and associated executive order are an attempt to hinder the smuggling of contraband cell phones into California prisons. These legislative efforts may slow the supply of cell phones, but they will not eliminate it. Just as illegal drugs continue to flow into prisons around the country, contraband cell phone smuggling is supply meeting demand. Until a strategy to address the fundamental demand for more communications between prisoners and their loved ones is also […]
As we have noted before, the problem of smuggled cell phones in prison is a global one. In a Jakarta prison, cell phone jammmers are being installed to stop drug smuggling. Contraband cell phones and drugs are the two most smuggled items into jails. Apparently, the Jakarta prison authorities believe one is smuggled into prison in order to facilitate the smuggling of the other. Interestingly however, an inmate is quoted as saying, “Prison authorities could […]
As this article shows, the effort to keep contraband, such as cell phones, out of prisons and jails is extensive.The irony is that there is little effort to address the demand side of the equation. As the article states, “visitation and phone privileges are the two things inmates fear losing more than anything else. They’re also the privileges corrections officers are most reluctant to take away, leery of eliminating what may be a prisoner’s main […]
What happens to contraband cell phones confiscated from prisoners? Here are two articles discussing the donation of these smuggled wireless devices to soldiers and veterans through the organizations Cell Phones for Soldiers and Soldiers Incorporated respectively. We applaud the decision of these Michigan and Georgia prisons to make sure these contraband cell phones are put to good use after being confiscated. LEESBURG, GA — The Macon State Prison donated 1,204 cell phones to a local […]
This news video discusses the use of a cell phone-sniffing dog, appropriately named, “Sprint”, to find smuggled contraband cell phones in Oregon prisons. The video includes a demonstration of Sprint’s skills at the Santiam Correctional Institution in Salem. Within seconds of the start of the demonstration, Sprint honed in on the scent of a cell phone hidden under an inmate’s pillow. According to the report, “High-end electronics such as cell phones have a unique odor. […]
The creative smuggling of contraband cell phones into prison is not just limited to the Untied States as this article on a remote-controlled helicopter smuggling cell phones in Thailand shows. We guess that it’s a generally accepted rule that cellphones aren’t allowed in prison, and we’re guessing it’s for a huge variety of reasons. After all the point of prison is to serve your time and rehabilitate yourself, and not to spend all day yakking […]
Evidently now even the FBI is smuggling cell phones into California prisons! According to this article, “Sources said Monday that the deputy allegedly caught in the sting accepted the money to smuggle the cellphone to the inmate, who was locked up at the Men’s Central Jail. Unbeknownst to the deputy, the inmate was working as an informant for the FBI.” Besides the jurisdictional issues and bad press for both organizations, the larger issue remains. Why […]
This article discusses the impact prison telephone service commissions have on the overall cost of prisoner’s calling loved ones. The article quotes the recent GAO study on contraband cell phones at the BOP, “lowering rates could increase communication between inmates and their families, helping the inmates reintegrate when they got out of prison. But there would be less money available for things like paying wages for inmate labor and offering education and recreational activities.” Bureau […]
An article from the Cayman Islands regarding the problem of detecting contraband cell phones and SIM cards in prison. The meshDETECT secure cell phone solution does not use SIM cards to avoid the problem of prisoners sharing a phone by swapping SIM cards. A new machine acquired by HMP Northward will help in the fight to stop inmates getting access to mobile phones and SIM cards, which officials believe may be contributing to the current […]
This article discusses funds awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) of the U. S. Department of Justice to Maryland to reduce smuggled contraband cell phones in Baltimore prisons. It is interesting that the funds are not being used to purchase wireless signal jammers (the usual strategy for funds granted to address the contraband cell phone problem), but to hire DPSCS investigators and State’s Attorney staff. Of note is that there is no mention […]
Providing prisoners secure cell phones is an idea whose time has come. The latest British prison to provide land-line phones in prison cells to control the contraband cell phone problem is being chosen for a trial of service. This is after a similar successful trial in a private UK prison. According to the article, the reason for this latest initiative is, “to stamp out the illegal use of mobiles in prisons and the flourishing black […]
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 […]
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 […]
This article discusses the new $25 fee charged to inmates’ visitors at the Arizona DOC facilites. In the article, Wendy Baldo, chief of staff for the Arizona Senate states, “”We were trying to cut the budget and think of ways that could help get some services for the Department of Corrections.” We at meshDETECT have a better idea. Rather than charge families to visit inmates, why not offer a secure cell phone service that generates […]
This article discusses the potential pitfalls of VoIP prison local number services offering cheap jail calls and used to bypass long distance charges for prisoners calling friends and family. One mother is quoted as saying, “I’m not able to call my son. He has to call me.” With the meshDETECT secure prison cell phone service, not only are all calls the same price regardless of distance, but families can call their incarcerated loved one directly, […]
According to this article, the going rate for a smuggled contraband cell phone in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan is $2500. Update (7/03/12): An ex-jail official was sentenced yesterday to four months on the other side of the bars for helping an inmate smuggle cellphones and drugs into the federal lockup in downtown Manhattan. Nydia Ciancioso, a former case manager at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, sobbed in court as she apologized for taking […]
The main source of contraband cell phones in prison is the prison staff, including guards. They smuggle cell phones because the demand for wireless phones is so high that they can charge as much as $1000 per phone. This officer only received probation after being caught smuggling two cell phones. The threat of as many as three years in prison did not dissuade him from bringing contraband cell phones into his jail. A former corrections […]
The smuggling of cellphones into California prisons continues, even as the legislation to criminalize contraband cell phone smuggling moves forward in the legislature. Staff at Avenal State Prison last week found cellphones, cellphone batteries and chargers and tobacco after a sergeant noticed a security fence breach on the south of the facility. The discovery on Friday came one day after a key legislative committee approved Senate Bill 26, which would criminalize smuggling wireless devices into […]
The Washington State Department of corrections has asked Facebook to remove inmate Facebook pages. It joins California in trying to stop the social media activity of prisoners. Internet access on smuggled cell phones is not thought to be a major contributor to the problem, but over time this will change. Facebook, which has become the ultimate time killer, will likely no longer be permitted for people serving time. The Washington state Department of Corrections (DOC) […]
Even a person with a long history of crimes committed wants to keep in touch with and talk to her children. This person paid to use a smuggled cell phone to call family members. Now due to being caught with the contraband cell phone, she will spend more time in prison. There is a legitimate need for meshDETECT’s secure cell phone service in prisons. A woman serving time in the Accomack County jail who was […]
The following article discusses the contraband cell phone legislation now moving through the California legislature. According to the article, a guard who was caught smuggling cell phones into prison, “boasted that he made more than $100,000 a year selling mobile devices to inmates.” A typical guard makes $60,000 per year in salary. A phone can net up to $1,000 on the prison black market and 6,000 were been found during the first five months of […]
This editorial on the increase in prisoner call rates in Michigan in order to fund jammers to block smuggled contraband cell phones contains some interesting statistics. Michigan’s 44,000 prisoners make 13 million phone calls — nearly 300 per inmate. It also points out that prisoners cannot receive incoming calls. With the meshDETECT secure cell phone service, they are able to receive calls from loved ones, while reducing the contraband value of smuggled cell phones. The […]
This article on the trial of five prison escapees raises the issue of whether a contraband prison cell phone can be considered dangerous contraband. Certainly a smuggled cell phone can be used to plan crimes or harass witnesses, but is the contraband cell phone, in and off itself, dangerous? The defense attorney states, “a cell phone, something that you give your children, something that our middle schools are filled with, is not in it of […]
A new study uses – for the first time – recorded jailhouse telephone conversations between men charged with felony domestic violence and their victims to help reveal why some victims decide not to follow through on the charges. Researchers listened to telephone conversations between 17 accused male abusers in a Washington state detention facility and their female victims, all of whom decided to withdraw their accusations of abuse. For each of the couples, the researchers […]
Its not just contraband cell phones that are smuggled into prisons. This article describes the many contraband items found in jail and the methods used to smuggle them in. Suboxone strips hidden under stamps or in the seal of an envelope. Necklaces made out of garbage bags. Toothbrushes and plastic spoons sharpened into weapons. Tobacco or drugs smuggled in bodily cavities, thrown over the prison fence, or left at a public location where prisoners can […]
Apparently, contraband cell phones are a problem even in Saudi Arabia. Cell phone jammers are being installed in all the prisons there to eliminate cell phone smuggling Jeddah: Prison authorities plan to install cell phone jammers in all jails in the Kingdom, an official said “The move aims to stop attempts by inmates to illegally communicate with outsiders to carry out criminal activities that would be harmful to other inmates,” assistant spokesman of the directorate […]
This recent editorial on contraband cell phones from the LA Times advocates making the penalties for smuggling cell phones into prisons harsher. And perhaps tougher penalties for those guards and prison staff who are caught smuggling prison cell phones would act as deterrence for some. But with over 10,000 cell phones confiscated in California jails last year alone, it is unlikely a new law will significantly stem the tide of smuggled wireless phones into prisons. […]
This article is a good overview of the revenue generated by prison payphone and prepaid calling cards. This quote from the article, “When you are an inmate, the only connection to the outside world is by phone” highlights the importance of prison telephone services to the inmates. The meshDETECT secure cell phone service is a great way to increase prisoners’ connection to their families by offering more frequent, more convenient and more private conversation with […]
This is an article on contraband prison cell phones is an interesting analysis of the impact smuggled cell phones have had on the revenue from prison payphones. In a quote from the article, a prisoner states, “The prison system is mad because nobody uses the phones on the wall anymore.” In California, as in other states, there has been a big drop in the number of prison phone calls made as illegal cell phones have […]
An interesting article on the use of electronic devices to aid in managing and controlling prisoners. According to the prison warden, “It’s a way of managing them. When an inmate gets idle, they start fighting. Allowing prisoners to own entertainment devices gives the guards something to take away if a prisoner misbehaves. If there’s a rule violation, the first thing we do is take away their property.” Given that most prisoners seek contraband cell phones […]
This article is about yet another prison guard caught smuggling a contraband cell phone into jail. Given the high price paid by inmates for an illegal cell phone, the corruption of prison guards has become all to commonplace. A reduction of the contraband value of smuggled cell phones through the deployment of the meshDETECT secure prison cell phone solution will change the economics of this problem and reduce prison cell phone smuggling without the high […]
A series of video news reports on the problem of smuggled prison cell phones in California. This report includes an interesting interview with a prisoner (via his contraband phone!) claiming that most of the contraband cell phones come from the prison guards and that most of the prisoners use the phones to stay in contact with friends and family rather than to plan crimes.
An article about a prison in Australia highlighting the problem of contraband technology being smuggled into prisons. It is not just contraband prison cell phones which are a problem in this particular facility. Prisoners in one of Victoria’s most secure jails have been using webcams and wireless internet devices to enjoy freedom on the outside world. The Herald Sun can reveal two cameras, a wireless USB internet stick and several USBs containing data were found […]