An interesting article tackling the contentious issue of prison telephone systems vendors paying per minute commissions to jails and prisons. In Louisiana, as in other states, the rate can be as high as 55% of the per minute cost of the call. According to the article, phone commissions are an important source of revenue, state corrections officials say. The challenge is to balance the need to find sources of prison revenue to fund operations in […]
cell phone service
30 posts
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 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. […]
The National Geographic’s Hard Time TV series most recent episode is about smuggled prison cell phones. It’s called Cellphone War and below are some facts from the show. The meshDETECT secure cell phone service addresses the legitimate inmate desire for family contact and therefore reduces the contraband value of smuggled prison cell phones. CELL PHONE WAR FACTS: Did you know that the ownership of a cell phone behind bars is prohibited in both state and […]
This article is a discussion of the problem of contraband cell phones in Ohio prisons. Same issues as everywhere else with the same lack of solutions. However, a secure cell phone service is a solution to the contraband prison cell phone problem. With meshDETECT, the demand for illegal wireless devices is reduced, thereby reducing the contraband value of smuggled cell phones for those who supply them. That means less reward for the same risk and […]
This decision is interesting for a number of reasons. First, it acknowledges that implementing in prison the technologies that are in common use outside of prison can reduce contraband, improve detainee behavior and guard safety; all while raising revenue for the DOC. We believe the meshDETECT secure cell phone service will accomplish the same goals. However, using our secure cell phones to access email or MP3s is operationally much more efficient and cost effective by […]
This article discusses the methods by which prisoners can currently make telephone calls in a Dayton, OH county jail. An interesting quote from the article is, “Monies made from jail commissary sales, including calling cards, are utilized to support the current jail inmate population.” The meshDETECT secure prison cell phone service is another means by which prisoners can stay in contact with friends and family. It also provides a revenue stream for cash-strapped prison systems […]
Here are two great insights into the demand for contraband prison cell phones and the desire for communication via telephone service in general in the nation’s State prisons. The meshDETECT secure cell phone service is a solution that reduces the contraband value of smuggled cell phones while improving detainees’ ability to communicate with family and friends: Securus Technologies, an inmate telephone service provider, recently stated that the company “now completes over 120 million calls from […]
This article looks at the impact incarceration and separation has on the children of prisoners. The article states, “Sending a copy of the school report to the prison, for example, or arranging a phone call with a jailed parent, can help prisoners remain engaged with their child’s progress at school.” One of the great features of the meshDETECT secure prison cell phone service is the ability for prisoners to receive inbound phone calls in jail. […]
An article discussing a New Zealand prison’s plans to install landlines in each prisoner’s cell, similar to what has been done in two British prisons. The reason it is being considered is because, according to the article, “Evidence shows that prisoners are less likely to re-offend if they keep in touch with their families and have good family support when they are released.” Wouldn’t a secure prison cell phone service like meshDETECT be a simpler […]
This article on California’s contraband prison cell phone problem speaks for itself…But a key statement is, “Both prison officials and inmates we spoke with agreed that a large majority of inmates are using the phones to stay in contact with loved ones.” A secure prison cell phone service will reduce the contraband value of smuggled cell phones and allow detainees to keep in contact with loved ones. The smuggling of cell phones into California’s state […]
This article regarding the rate increase for Michigan’s state prisoner telephone services offers the following insight, “Criminologists report that prisoners with strong social bonds are less likely to re-offend or exhibit anti-social behavior. Prisoners able to talk more with their families display the higher signs of rehabilitation than prisoners who converse less frequently.” A secure prison cell phone service would increase the ability of prisoners to communicate with their families while reducing the contraband value […]
Contraband cell phones in prison are on a par with drugs in terms of the ability to corrupt guards. Prison guards who smuggle contraband cell phones into jails do so because of the high price placed on smuggled wireless phones. Reducing the contraband value of cell phones by offering a secure prison cell phone service minimizes the temptation to smuggle in the first place. The Fulton County Sheriff expects more arrests of his staff before […]
The smuggling and illegal use of contraband cell phones in prisons in the United States has corrections administrators and officers at a disadvantage as wireless detection technologies have not kept pace with the surge in illegal cell phones in prisons. It is estimated that over 10,000 illegal cell phones were seized during 2010 in California state prisons alone. Signal jamming technologies are proving to be too expensive, and the time and cost demands on prison […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]