Outlawed, Cell Phones Are Thriving In Prison

[no_hypocrisy]

Technology is changing life inside prisons across the country at the same rapid-fire pace it is changing life outside. A smartphone hidden under a mattress is the modern-day file inside a cake.

“This kind of thing was bound to happen,” said Martin F. Horn, a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction who teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “The physical boundaries that we thought protected us no longer work.”

Although prison officials have long battled illegal cellphones, smartphones have changed the game. With Internet access, a prisoner can call up phone directories, maps and photographs for criminal purposes, corrections officials and prison security experts say. Gang violence and drug trafficking, they say, are increasingly being orchestrated online, allowing inmates to keep up criminal behavior even as they serve time.

“The smartphone is the most lethal weapon you can get inside a prison,” said Terry L. Bittner, director of security products with the ITT Corporation, one of a handful of companies that create cellphone-detection systems for prisons. “The smartphone is the equivalent of the old Swiss Army knife. You can do a lot of other things with it.”

-snip-

Even closely watched prisoners are sneaking phones in. Last month, California prison guards said they had found a flip phone under Charles Manson’s mattress.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/us/03prisoners.html?hp

[itsrobert]

1. Isn't there signal blockers and disrupters that make these devices useless?

I don't see why they aren't implemented.

[Statistical]

7. Cellphone carriers sued.

Technically they have an exclusive license to operate on their frequency. Nobody else can broadcast on their given frequency.

Jammers/blockers essentially work by broadcasting noise into the frequency used by the cellphone. And act which is prohibited by their exclusive licenses.

I remember one prison tried to do that and was sued by all the major carriers.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. Was that recently?

I was in a training session last year at a hotel and we all noticed that our cell phones didn't work in the hotel meeting room where we were. We had to go outside to make calls. One of the people in our group finally asked a hotel employee what was up and he said the meeting rooms had cell phone blockers because the companies that rented them wanted rooms where the attendees wouldn't be distracted by cell phones.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

29. That could be a Faraday cage instead of an active device. -nt

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. Illegal on a Federal level

They also would interfere with staff phones and in urban areas, the neighbors

[Ian David]

2. There's a real niche market for some iPhone apps there. n/t

[Gman]

3. Yup, there's an app for that

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

4. Why not install cell phone repeaters or block reception altogether?

Most prisons are in the middle of nowhere and all the guards should have hand radios for communication if needed.
Either shut down general cell phone service or install repeaters to monitor all information.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

5. How are they charging these phones?

Do they have live electrical outlets in thier cells?

[Gin]

6. signals can be blocked.....seems like an easy fix...(IMHO)

question about electrical outlets...wonder if they have them

[Statistical]

8. Signals can't legally be blocked in the US.

Congress needs to write a "security" exception.

As currently written carriers own an exclusive license. They can seek damages from any entity which broadcasts into their "owned" frequency.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. Actively blocking/jammed is illegal. Passive blocking like shielding is OK

[Statistical]

16. Correct. However passively shielding something like a prison is prohibitively expensive.

Also it wouldn't work in outdoor areas. Even areas with window facing towards the signal source would be able to link to the tower.

IMHO laws need to be updated. Prisons and other secure facilities should be given a geo-limited license to block signals.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. That it is.

Windows can be blocked with mesh grids, but that is even more expensive.

The real problem is that unless the prison is a long way away from anything else, jammers will interfere with legitimate use, and that trumps (or should) the prison.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

20. By their programming, cell phones generally link up to the most powerful signal.

This is how a third party can (usually ilegally) intercept texts and calls. Install a prison operated cell phone repeater service. Service to any number that is not on an approved list (guards, contractors, social workers, etc...) gets squelched. It's like a giant firewall for cell phone service.

This is not jamming at all... it's call screening and should be 100% allowed in controlled areas.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

22. That is a good approach that could work in rural areas.

However in urban areas, it could block legitimate users outside of the prison.

[greyl]

28. There are also legitimate users inside the prison, including the prison itself. nt

[Gin]

19. signals around the rally in DC were blocked....we were all talking about

that...and testing our cell phones...no service..so I figured it was possible other places.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

24. Blocked or overloaded?

Hard to tell the difference from the handset...no bars?

[jdlh8894]

9. If they can get a phone in

wouldn't be to hard to get a replacement battery.

[itsrobert]

14. Hooked up to USB ports on their I-Pads

most likely.

[LAGC]

26. Yes, most cells have electrical outlets in them.

How do you think inmates watch T.V. or operate their fans or "hot-pots" to boil water for their coffee/soups?

[no_hypocrisy]

12. Outlawed, Cellphones Are Thriving in Prisons

Technology is changing life inside prisons across the country at the same rapid-fire pace it is changing life outside. A smartphone hidden under a mattress is the modern-day file inside a cake.

“This kind of thing was bound to happen,” said Martin F. Horn, a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction who teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “The physical boundaries that we thought protected us no longer work.”

Although prison officials have long battled illegal cellphones, smartphones have changed the game. With Internet access, a prisoner can call up phone directories, maps and photographs for criminal purposes, corrections officials and prison security experts say. Gang violence and drug trafficking, they say, are increasingly being orchestrated online, allowing inmates to keep up criminal behavior even as they serve time.

“The smartphone is the most lethal weapon you can get inside a prison,” said Terry L. Bittner, director of security products with the ITT Corporation, one of a handful of companies that create cellphone-detection systems for prisons. “The smartphone is the equivalent of the old Swiss Army knife. You can do a lot of other things with it.”

-snip-

Even closely watched prisoners are sneaking phones in. Last month, California prison guards said they had found a flip phone under Charles Manson’s mattress.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/us/03prisoners.html?hp

[Obamanaut]

13. One might disagree with "...Even closely watched prisoners are sneaking phones in..."

The "closely watched prisoners" are more likely receiving the phones via contact visits by friends and relatives who are not being adequately searched OR EVEN corrupt staff members.

[Moostache]

15. Gotta love "for profit" prisons...

What do people expect when the wages of the guards are a FRACTION of the bribes that are available for allowing something as seemingly harmless as a phone to an inmate? The idea that EVERYTHING is ideally done only by turning to the profit motive is clearly a factor in this kind of thing - even if all of the occurrences happen in state-run facilities. The reason is that as more and more private prisons come online, with their draconian treatment of the inmates and their slave-labor wage scale for the guards and administrations, then the more and more price pressure and political pressure is put on the state-run facilities.

This is very simple - either at your core you believe that somethings the government must do (and do properly regardless of cost for the betterment of society in general); or you believe that the almighty dollar is king and that principles like a stable society or a well-educated populace are niceties that we can just make do without...

I just get a little more sick to my stomach every time I see stories about this stuff - and the accompanying trumpeting from the right about "investigations" and "most liberal presidency EVER". The larger messaging battle is lost so badly right now that I despair for the future of the nation as a result. WHY CAN'T DEMOCRATS TALK ABOUT THESE ISSUES IN STARK CONTRAST TO THE REPUBLICAN TALKING POINTS WITHOUT LOSING THEIR SPINES????

[bbgrunt]

18. great point. When will people say enough to everything for sale?

[underpants]

23. Porn is on cell phones now

there are three industries that sieze upon any new technology, from printing to radio to TV (VCR's especially), internet, and now cell phones

Porn
Wrestling
Religion

[ProgressiveProfessor]

25. Coming soon to an Xbox/Kinect near you soon

[Blue-Jay]

27. Has anyone combined those three?

Religious wrestling porn?

[KillCapitalism]

30. You can get anything in prison that you can get on the streets.

They've caught people in prison with laptop PC's who hacked into prison wi-fi networks. Some inmates have been caught with Playstations.

These guys getting caught with this shit need to go to a more harsh type of prison like the ADMAX in Florence, Colorado. Charles Manson deserves to be in a place similar to what Abu Gharib was like.