New Talks Starting on Preventing Contraband Cellphones in Prisons
CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association will meet Monday as planned with technology providers and federal and state corrections officials to open the next round of discussions on contraband cellphones in prisons, industry and government officials told us. The closed-door meeting in Washington is expected to be the first of several and follows one at the FCC in February led by Chairman Ajit Pai. He wants more action on devices smuggled into prisons and in 2016 held a field hearing in South Carolina with then-Gov. Nikki Haley (R) (see 1604060058).
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“The illegal use of wireless devices in prisons is a major threat to the safety and welfare of correctional facility employees, other inmates and the public,” an FCC spokesman said Friday. Pai “recognizes this must change, and fast,” the spokesman said. “He continues to press the wireless industry to work with government officials to come up with technological solutions.”
“Contraband cellphones have no place in prisons,” a CTIA spokesman said Friday. “We welcome the FCC’s continued focus on this problem and we remain committed to working with the corrections community to enable workable solutions. Most immediately, we look forward to engaging constructively with corrections officials from across the country at the task force meeting we are hosting in Washington on Monday.”
A big question remains whether the FCC may allow jamming -- which is opposed by carriers. Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, NTIA and the FCC cooperated on a test of micro-jamming technology at a federal correctional institution at Cumberland, Maryland (see 1801180054).
Contraband cellphones emerged as an issue again this month in South Carolina when they allegedly played a role in a deadly prison riot at the maximum security Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville. Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Beth Drake announced indictment and arrest of 14 former employees of the South Carolina Department of Corrections on federal charges of accepting bribes and bringing contraband into prisons, including contraband cellphones. A spokesman for the department declined to comment Friday.
“The purpose behind a prison is to isolate prisoners from society,” said Duffie Stone, the prosecuting attorney in Charleston, South Carolina, in an interview. “Before the prevalence of cellphones, that was simply locking them up. You didn’t have to worry about them organizing gang activity while they were in prison. You didn’t have to think about the kind of white-collar crime that could be committed.” Now, prisoners are using their cellphones to organize riots and hits on correctional officers, Stone said. “They are running gangs inside prison and out on the street,” he said. “They are using the cellphones for scams … while they’re serving a sentence.” Doing more to block cellphones in prisons is critical, he said. Contraband cellphones “defeat the very purpose of a prison,” he said. Stone is a board member of the National District Attorneys Association.
“The FCC has been searching for a workable, affordable solution to the epidemic of contraband cellphones for almost 10 years,” said Jamie Barnett, a lawyer at Venable. Pai “seems more open to finding a way to shoehorn jamming into a legal solution even though it is unlawful, and we are seeing jamming experiments and demonstrations in prisons,” Barnett said. “The FCC doesn’t seem very cognizant of jamming systems installed in prisons in other countries that have failed. Other technologies exist that are much more promising.” Though they're part of the discussions, “the carriers cannot be very happy about the prospect of legal jammers coming into the U.S.,” Barnett told us.
“Jamming is a notoriously crude weapon to combat contraband cellphones,” said Roger Entner of Recon Analytics, author of a recent 5G report for CTIA. “For every illegal phone, it disables tens if not hundreds are disabled as well. In order to combat illegal phones, a two-pronged approach of catching and prosecuting phone smugglers and better location technology to pin point the location of the devices. If Uber can find you with pinpoint accuracy, why can't corrections officers?” CCA didn’t comment, nor did groups representing corrections officials.