In the previous article, IG (prison) mentioned: the signal jammer has been fixed, and since officials at the South Carolina Department of Corrections are dealing with another death in prison with seven inmates at the Lee Correctional Institution on Sunday evening, the call buzzes cell phone signals in prison to jam again.
DOC officials have been lobbying the FCC for years to allow them to reverse policies that prevent states from using technology to block cell signals. Correction Director Bryan Stirling, former DOC director Jon Ozmint, governor Henry McMaster, former governor Mark Sanford, Senator Lindsey Graham and Sen. Tim Scott were all part of this lobby work.
After the Lee Correctional incident, Stirling specifically pointed to cell phones as one of the main causes of the deadly uprising.
“These people are fighting over real money and real territory while they’re locked up,” Stirling said. “And you’ve heard we keep talking about it. These people argue about real money and real territory while they’re locked up.”
But Stirling said South Carolina is not the only state to deal with congestion problems.
“It’s not a South Carolina problem, it’s a national problem,” said Stirling. “Until the industry takes this seriously, it will continue to do so.”
McMaster has welcomed Stirling’s nationwide efforts to resolve the issue.
“I know prisons all over this country that would be safer if this interference were allowed,” said McMaster.
But the problems with cell phones in prisons go even further than just on Sunday evenings.
Last July, Juppy Causey, a prisoner from Lieber, 46, escaped from prison thanks to a cell phone, DOC investigators reported. In a press conference following his capture, Stirling again accused the cell phones.
“We believe a cell phone was used to give this inmate the means to escape,” said Stirling.
Cell phone problems go back even further. Former prison officer Capt. Robert Johnson was at home and shot six times after investigators decided that a prisoner at Lee prison had ordered a blow to him.
“[Inmates] are doing things they have never done before. This cell phone technology opens up a new dimension of criminal activity,” said Johnson.
Legislators across the country are working to push bills that make it a crime to have a cell phone in state prisons. State senators are adamant that the stricter punishment effectively prevents smuggled cell phones from getting into prisons.
“It will be a crime. It will be a charge. It is really a more severe punishment. It will send a strong message that you do not want to do it,” said Senator Katrina Shealy (R-Lexington).
The Democrats of the Democrats also presented their own plans, including increasing funds for prison officers and general reform efforts.
“It’s not just in our society for people who get a sentence to face this kind of action as a result – to die in prison while serving a 10-year sentence or a 15-year sentence,” said the MP Will Wheeler. “It’s just not how the system is supposed to work.”
State DOC officials are still trying other ways to fix the cell phone problem. DOC is working on a $ 1.5 million contract with a Maryland-based company to install a system that “allows approved calls but blocks others in a defined destination”. This system will be installed by the end of the month.
“The way this technology is implemented here at SCDC is the best legal alternative to illegal cell phone interference that we have available,” said a DOC statement. “While we believe that it is the best legal form of contraband for contraband, it is very different from blocking, it is less effective, more expensive and uses more internal institutional resources.”