The State Corrections Department issued a press release in which it was said hoped the new technologies would allow mobile phone jammers from residential areas of state prisons and thus put an end to their use for the smuggling.
Correctional Secretary Wendy Kelley said the prisoners were using contraband phones to organize deportations, escapes and criminal activities in the free world.
She added that the prisons seized 1,700 phones last year and 4,500 this year. She said she supports the legislation proposed by Senator Tom Cotton, which would allow state and federal prisons to use cell phone jammer systems. She says they can be configured to block phones in “micro” zones while allowing legitimate calls within one foot of the blocked area.
Prison spokeswoman Dina Tyler said the officers used radios, not phones, to communicate in ways that would not hinder their work. Their personal cell phones would work in corridors outside residential areas, she said.