According to the Minister of Justice, 19.9 million euros will be allocated in 2019 to the jamming of cell phones in prison (against 14.7 million euros for the year 2018).
The Guard of the Seals explains especially that the cell phone jammer are present present only “in 60% of the housing stock” of the prison administration. “The neutralization of illegal communications in detention is extremely complex,” admits the Minister of Justice.
At issue: “the speed of equipment obsolescence”, but also “the specificity of the prison architecture [which] thwarts the efficiency of the signal emitted by the jamming systems: reinforced concrete walls, grilles, barricades and, in general, the passive security devices of penitentiary institutions disturb the diffusion of the waves of the jamming systems “.
A contract was concluded at the end of 2017 to install jammers “covering all commercial frequencies in the future” in certain “priority establishments”. The prisons of Paris-la-Santé, Osny and Vendin-le-Vieil should be equipped “early 2019”.