Innovation, especially technology innovation, requires a willingness to challenge accepted approaches to problems as well as entrenched industry “truths”. This nontraditional thinking is best captured by a quote from hockey great Wayne Gretzky, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” Back in June of 2011, we issued a press release announcing the introduction of the meshDETECT Secure Prison Cell Phone Solution. In the press release we said, […]
prison cell phone
13 posts
A Texas Tribune investigation has found that few inmates or correctional officers face legal consequences for smuggling cellphones even as prison officials have intensified efforts to keep the devices out of prisons. Just 5 percent of cellphone smuggling cases investigated by the Criminal Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General from 2009 to 2013 resulted in a criminal sentence, according to documents obtained from the office through a public information request. Some notable excerpts from the […]
The Justice Department will require Federal Bureau of Prison halfway houses to boost services for inmates prior to release. The new rules also instruct federal work release facilities to provide cell phone access in order to help inmates seek employment opportunities. Once fully implemented, these services will be available to every single one of the approximately 30,000 inmates who are released through halfway houses each year. Several other modifications are being made to the standard […]
Correctional officers find eight phones at the CDCR’s Norco facility – one of them was tucked in a shoe. It was originally hidden in a deodorant container in an attempt to throw off the dogs’ scent. The canines are able to sniff through that. Inmates have tried to mask the scent of their phone with coffee, spices – even peanut butter – but the dogs keep finding their cell phones. Dogs Trained to Sniff Out […]
This article provides an update on contraband prison cell phone legislation in California. According to the article smuggled cell phone usage in state prisons has recently exploded. Nearly 11,000 cell phones were found in state prisons in 2010, compared to 261 in 2006. The phones can fetch up to $1,000 each in prison. A bill aimed at curbing widespread cell phone proliferation in state prisons is on its way to the state Assembly after clearing […]
Here is a video report on the problems with contraband prison cell phones smuggled into Texas jails:
Contraband prison cell phones in the Bahamas. It is a problem there, as it is globally. Prison officials confiscated 240 cell phones from inmates at Her Majesty’s Prisons between January to May despite best efforts to block the use of the contraband material. The Ministry of National Security plans to soon install a system to stop mobile phone signals without disrupting cellular service to surrounding neighbourhoods. “The unauthorised use of cell phones within prisons continues […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
