NCJ Number
226695
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2009 Pages: 32,34-36,37
Date Published
March 2009
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article explores the use of cell phone contraband by inmates.
Abstract
Cell phones are the “new cash” inside prisons and their rampant use among inmates poses new problems for officials and the public. Using contraband cell phones, convicts manage to continue an active role in gangs and illegal activities; make threatening calls to victims, prosecutors, State lawmakers; coordinate successful escapes; and in one documented case, an inmate on death row made threatening phone calls to the governor of Texas (2008). The combination of the cellular phone with convict entrepreneurship poses such a threat to public safety that technological individuals, correctional administration, and governmental individuals alike are all examining resolutions for the problem. Because cell phones can be secreted and hidden in ways that make them very difficult to detect, prison officials have shown an interest in jamming signals inside prison perimeters, currently a violation of the Communications Act of 1934. Prison officials consider jamming the radio signals to be a lucrative and attractive solution; if illegal cell phone communications continue, concern for the staff, the public, and law enforcement continues. On January 14 of this year, a bill was introduced to Congress, titled “The Safe Prisons Act: To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit targeted interference with mobile radio services within prison facilities” (H.R. 560 or S.251). It hopes to create a common sense and narrow exception that allows State law enforcement to petition the FCC for a waiver to block those signals.