This article discusses the legislative initiative to make it a felony in Idaho to smuggle contraband such as cell phones into prison. One interesting fact is that the Idaho Department of Corrections confiscated a cell phone that had been used over 33,000 times in six months. As we have written before, wireless is the new prison currency, and it’s likely that some of this cell phone’s airtime was traded to other prisoners for favors and […]
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This article about contraband cell phones in the West Virginia prison system begins, “The latest iPhone won’t be among the items in any West Virginia prison’s commissary. In fact, no cellphones will be there.” What’s interesting is that there really is no reason why cell phones shouldn’t be a commissary item. As long as it a secure prison cell phone with all the controls and security offered by the traditional prison wall phones now used […]
An article discussing the steps the Mississippi DOC is taking to address the supply of contraband cell phones in its prisons. According the Department of Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps, “Cell phones are the biggest contraband items that we have. It’s a national problem in corrections.” The article also discuss the managed access wireless signal jammer installed at the Parchman facility. The system has blocked about 1.8 million illegal cell phone calls and text messages. The […]
Another story about a prisoner using a contraband cell phone to post photos on Facebook. This one is from the UK. We have written about the posting of pictures to Facebook before (here and here). This is a significant issue for prison officials and crime victims alike, caused by the growing problem of smuggled cell phones in prison. Posing for a secret camera in a jail cell packed with goodies, this is teenage murderer Liam […]
An article highlighting the money to be made by corrupt prison employees meeting the demand for contraband prison cell phones. This also highlights the need for a demand-side strategy to the problem of smuggled cell phones in prison. A federal grand jury has indicted a California prison worker on charges that he accepted bribes from prisoners in exchange for cell phones and cigarettes. U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy says medical office technician David Zamudio has been […]
The following is a description of how a contraband cell phone was smuggled into the Delaware County, IN jail by using a string to bring it in through a window! The methods used to smuggle cell phones into prison seem to be endless. The inmate stated that the reason he smuggled the phone is because he was unable to access a jail phone. As is frequently the case, the main demand driving cell phone smuggling […]
Deputies in South Carolina say a woman used two hollowed-out Bibles to try to smuggle drugs, a cell phone and weapons to a prison inmate. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition? Sheriff Barry Faile said Monday authorities began investigating 28-year-old Shareca Latoya Jones earlier this month after a package mailed to Lieber Correctional Institution was returned to a post office in Lancaster. Inside the package were two Bibles containing razor knives, a cell phone, […]
Contraband cell phones are a problem in Canada as well as the US. As this article describes, one method of getting the contraband into a prison is to throw it over the prison fence. Staff at a federal prison in central Alberta have intercepted a package of illegal drugs and contraband cellphones intended for inmates inside. Correctional officers at Bowden Institution, 40 kilometres south of Red Deer, found the contraband during a perimeter check about […]
An interesting look at prison life in Massachusetts. The article states that there are only three inmate phones for over 800 prisoners. By providing a secure cell phone solution such as meshDETECT, the prison can significantly increase detainee access to their families while limiting the safety risks of the prisoner movement necessary to get the prisoners to the pay phones. It’s where no one wants to go. The shower floors are scarred from the blades […]
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 […]