The creativity of prisoners seeking contraband cell phones never disappoints. Perhaps if a secure prison cell phone service was available, these birds would not have been necessary! Brazilian inmates have turned to carrier pigeons in their quest for communication with the outside world. Guards have intercepted two carrier pigeons carrying mobile phones to detainees at a prison in Sorocaba, 62 miles from Sao Paolo, a spokesman for the state penitentiary system said. “Penitentiary agents found […]
This article describes how Federal prison inmates can now use email. It’s a cumbersome process, but it demonstrates how modern communications technology and tools are slowly being adapted for the unique requirements of the corrections marketplace. Eventually, the meshDETECT secure cell phone service will offer secure, controlled email along with phone calls. The Facebook page reads: “We are inmates in the federal system who are looking for someone to talk to. We have e-mail capability […]
A story about the improper use of contraband cell phones in Texas prisons. A death row inmate paid $2100 for the phone. Fourteen death row inmates were found with contraband prison cell phones. Texas State Senator John Whitmire calls it the most unusual phone call of his life. “Nothing shocks me anymore, but this would probably take first prize for the biggest, unbelievable story,” said the Senator from Houston. “No Texan should have to worry […]
Another news item about the use of dogs to find contraband cell phones in prison, this time in Ohio. According to the article, “Policy experts say efforts to reduce the effects of mobile devices in jail are less effective than having good contraband policies in place to reduce them.” We couldn’t agree more. The best way to reduce the contraband value of cell phones in prison is to co-opt the problem by offering a secure […]
Two dogs for the entire State of Florida are not going to be the solution to contraband cell phones. New cell phones will be smuggled in as replacements as soon as they are found… They can be stashed inside a bar of soap or a pair of shower shoes in state prisons. Like weapons and drugs, cellphones hidden by inmates are being found more and more inside correctional facilities around the country, and the penal […]
More of the same. Guards succumbing to bribery to smuggle cell phones into prison. You will never end it, but it can be reduced with a secure prison cell phone solution. A jailer at the Coastal Bend Detention Center in Robstown is facing federal charges for attempting to smuggle a cellphone to a prison gang member imprisoned for previously bribing jailers. Richard Montgomery was released on an unsecured $20,000 bond after he was charged this […]
This editorial makes the case that there should be stiff felony penalties for anyone caught smuggling cell phones into prisons or accepting bribes for cell phones. And that those penalties should be even tougher for prison guards. While tougher penalties may be effective, we believe reducing the contraband value of cell phones in prison will be the most effective way to reduce prison cell phone smuggling. If prisoners no longer need to pay $1000 or […]
This is one of the best articles I have seen that demonstrates the problem of contraband prison cell phones can be solved simply by providing prisoners access to telecommunications services in their prison cells. In the case of this British jail, that access was provided via land-line phones. But wouldn’t a secure prison cell phone service be simpler and less expensive? In the case of this prison, the results of the in-cell telephony experiment were […]
A report on the problems of contraband cell phones in Ohio prisons: The Ohio Department of Corrections is reviewing how best to cope with a problem that is growing nationwide: Prisoners gaining access to cellphones. “They can be used to plan escapes,” says Vinko Kucinic, the department’s investigations coordinator. “They can be used to intimidate witnesses, as well as victims.” An I-Team review of prison records shows that the department has seized 225 cellphones in […]
Officials tasked with controlling the waves of contraband cell phones in prisons are at a disadvantage. Their options include costly new investment in complex jamming technologies, increasing staff, more physical searches, or new processes; all added to an already over burdened work force. In each case, cell phone control will be expensive, and results will be elusive. meshDETECT is a cell phone access and control platform that was developed to satisfy the access control and […]
These searches are necessary because the high contraband value of smuggled prison cell phones has a corrupting influence on guards and staff. With prisoners paying as much as $1000 per contraband cell phone, the temptation to smuggled wireless devices is too much for some prison staff. We beleive part of the solution is to lower the contraband value of the smuggled cell phones by implementing the meshDETECT secure cell phone service solution. Random staff searches […]
The following video is a short news report on the problem of smuggled prison cell phones in New Jersey. The report finds that shows that in the last 4 years, 620 contraband cell phones had been confiscated at one prison in New Jersey called Northern State. That’s more than double the number (295) found in New Jersey’s 12 other prisons combined. A former Northern State inmate says smuggled cell phones are easy to get on […]
This article shows what a business operation the smuggling of cell phones into prison has become. Contraband cell phones have become as desired as drugs in prisons and jails. The contraband value of these smuggled cell phones can be reduced by providing an alternative, prison sanctioned, secure cell phone service. Update (8/9/12): Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced that a former correction officer at Northern State Prison in Newark was sentenced to prison today for […]
At $1000 per smuggled cell phone, more laws aren’t going to stop the contraband cell phones from being smuggled into jails. Only reducing the value of the contraband cell phone will reduce the efforts to sneak them in for prisoners. meshDETECT provides a secure prison cell phone service that manages and controls the use of cell phones in prison. Put criminals in prison, and we’re all safer, right? Not so fast. Here’s the problem. Cell […]
This editorial makes the case that smuggling contraband prison cell phones should be illegal in California. And of course, that is correct. But laws making cell phone smuggling illegal don’t address the demand factors that cause contraband prison cell phones to be so valuable. Providing a controlled and secure prison cell phone service for legitimate prisoner use, much like current prison payphone service works, will go along way to reducing the contraband value of smuggled […]
This article demonstrates that illegal prison cell phones are a problem around the world, with most prison authorities turning to cell phone jammers to block the signals of contraband prison cell phones smuggled into penal institutions. The authorities at Peshawar, Pakistan central jail will soon install jammers to sever cellphone link of hardened criminals and militants with their accomplices outside the facility. “Criminals stay in touch with their accomplices from inside the prisons and issue […]
Of course we know that making it illegal will not stop the demand and therefore not stop contraband cell phones from being smuggled into prisons. Only addressing the demand for prison cell phones by providing a secure prison cell phone service will reduce the contraband value of smuggled cell phones. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is lobbying to revive a bill that would make it illegal to smuggle cellphones into California prisons. Currently, it’s a violation […]
A former guard at the Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing, OK was ordered Monday to stand trial on a charge of bringing two cell phones and several pouches of tobacco into secure areas of the private prison in Cushing. Danny James Galbreath, 24, of Broken Arrow, waived his right Monday to a preliminary hearing on the felony count of bringing cell phones into the prison — which are considered contraband in a penal facility. Galbreath […]
A visit to California State Prison Corcoran was cut short Sunday when investigators smelled marijuana on a woman as she passed through security, a prison spokeswoman said. Tisha Diane Holt was found with more than 2 ounces of concentrated marijuana hidden in her belongings. She consented to a search by prison staff and was arrested when they found the drugs, prison spokeswoman Teresa Cisneros said. Holt, a certified nursing assistant from Los Angeles, was booked […]
This article discusses how as prisons try to block unauthorized cell phone use, companies are developing systems that cost over $1 million to address the problem. This is cost that will be passed on to the taxpayer if prisons adopt this technology. By adopting the meshDETECT secure prison cell phone solution, prisons and taxpayers will avoid this cost and reduce prison cell phone smuggling and the value of contraband prison cell phones. The Bloods street […]
This article demonstrates that contraband prison cell phones are a problem around the world. Also, that jamming prison cell phones can work in tandem with a secure cell phone service by only allowing the authorized prison cell phones to place calls through the jammer. The striking thing about mobile phones in American prisons is not that they exist—though they do, in great numbers—but the ingenuity used to get and keep them. There are the usual […]
This article describes the dangers of not replacing smuggled cell phones in prison with a secure prison cell phone service that records all calls, controls the telephone numbers the cell phone can dial and blocks access to the internet. In most states, if you smuggle a cell phone into a prison, you could end up serving time behind bars yourself. But California has no law to keep contraband cell phones from inmates. A fact that […]
This is another example of the corrosive effects of the demand for contraband prison cell phones. A secure prison cell phone service would eliminate a great deal of the demand for contraband cell phones and allow prisoners to keep in contact with family members, while offering a new source of revenue for prisons. Luis Roman spent 18 years as a corrections officer, but now he could spend 14 years on the other side of the […]
This article discusses the ineffectiveness of a two year formal program to stop contraband prison cell phones. A two-year operation to intercept cell phones being smuggled into state prisons by employees has produced modest results and done little to stem the flow of contraband devices to inmates, according to state data. Since 2009, authorities have seized 432 unauthorized cell phones from employees in random searches at adult prisons across the state. It’s unclear how many […]
This article discusses the abandonment of a potential law to make it illegal to smuggle cell phones into prison in California. It mentions how most smuggled prison cell phones are used by prisoners to keep in touch with their families and the importance of that contact in reducing recidivism. A proposal to make it illegal to smuggle a cell phone into California’s prisons, or be caught with one inside the prison has been dropped – […]
Another example of the corrosive effects of smuggled prison cell phones on prison guards: Three South Texas jailers and two others have been charged with conspiring to bribe public officials to smuggle cell phones into a detention center. Charged in a federal indictment unsealed in Corpus Christi on Wednesday are 47-year-old former Nueces County corrections officer Juanita Mendez, 26-year-old Brooks County corrections officer Jose Martinez and his 18-year-old colleague Juan Munoz. Also charged were two […]
According to this news article, possession of contraband prison cell phones will be a felony in Alabama prisons and prison cell phone detection technology will be allowed if an Alabama bill passes. Rather than spend state funds on prison cell phone jammers, Alabama should consider a secure prison cell phone solution such as meshDETECT. A Senate committee today approved a bill that would give the state Department of Corrections new powers to keep cell phones […]
This article discusses the contraband prison cell phone legislation working its way through the California legislature. It states that a smuggled prison cell phone sells for $1000. Offering inmates a secure prison cell phone service would eliminate the value of the contraband cell phone in prisons. That’s the bad news. The good news is that California State Senator Alex Padilla pushed a bill to punish cellphone smugglers through its first stage of approval yesterday (his […]
This news article discusses the contraband prison cell phone problem in the Florida DOC. Secure prison cell phone service is a solution to this issue. A cell phone can be a lifesaver, but in the hands of a dangerous criminal, it can be used to threaten someone’s life. That’s why cell phones in prison are considered dangerous weapons, but plenty of inmates end up with a cell in their cellblock. Phones are smuggled into prisons […]
This news item highlights the corrosive effects the demand for contraband prison cell phones has on prison guards and other prison employees. Because the demand for illegal cell phones is so high, guards are paid to smuggle the phones into the jails. The demand for contraband prison cell phones would be significantly lessened by the introduction of secure prison cell phones such as those offered by meshDETECT. A former state correction officer from Avenel pleaded […]
Buddy, a playful 1-year-old black lab, strikes fear into the hearts of Maryland’s most dangerous criminals. Dogs like Buddy are in demand worldwide with Maryland taking the lead in teaching law enforcement agencies how canines can detect the new prison contraband: Cell phones. Maryland’s innovative training of cell phone-detection dogs drew K-9 units from law enforcement agencies and correctional institutions from Washington, D.C., Kansas, Pennsylvania, Oregon, South Dakota and New Jersey for a recent three-day […]
The dark gray device used to detect cell phones looks like an oversized walkie-talkie. When Scott Schober, president of a Metuchen technology company, flipped it on in an officer cafeteria at a New Jersey jail several months ago, a warning immediately flashed. “I turned around and walked out and said, ‘You’ve got phones in there,”‘ he said, describing the demonstration he gave for officials. “They basically said, ‘We’re not surprised.”‘ Cell phones are illegal in […]
The “legitimate” use of prison cell phones by prisoners to stay in contact with friends and family is highlighted in this article. Amazingly over 10,000 contraband prison cell phones were confiscated in California prisons in 2010. That is lost revenue the state could have earned by deploying the meshDETECT Secure Prison Cell Phone Solution. Bidders on the upcoming California prisons contract for inmates’ pay phone service will be asked to include equipment to block cellphone […]
This article discusses the problem of illegal prison cell phones in the State of Texas. As with most states, the initial approach to deal with the problem is to try jamming contraband prison cell phones. The cost of this approach has yet to be quantified however. State corrections officials said Friday that a test of cell phone detection technology at a Southeast Texas prison where an inmate used a contraband phone when he escaped last […]
This article on prison cell phones discusses how, despite all the press on the nefarious uses of smuggled prison cell phones, the real driver of prison cell phone smuggling is the desire of inmates to stay in touch with family and friends. A former long-serving federal inmate living in South Florida says the real reason for the proliferation of cell phones in prisons has more to do with privately owned institutions gouging inmates and their […]
This is an excerpt from the FBI report “Cell Phones as Prison Contraband,” from the July 2010 FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. It paints a compelling picture of the problems of contraband cell phones in prisons. The first reaction to a seemingly uncontrollable situation is often an extreme or complicated approach. In the case of contraband prison cell phones, it appears easiest to simply jam and block signals. The success of this approach is limited at […]