US Senator James Lankford urged the use of cell phone jammer technology in prisons in Oklahoma and across the country. But he said that he was overthrown by powerful mobile lobbyists.
Thousands of mobile phones sneak into Oklahoma state prisons every year. Gangs use them to organize violent attacks outside the prison walls, drug dealers use them to do business in cells, criminals use them to intimidate witnesses or threaten proofreaders, and children who rob children use robbers to talk to children. Since 2011, DOC officials have revealed 9 boxes of nearly 50,000 phones to the News, which have been confiscated from prisoners in Oklahoma. They were taken into the prison kitchen, thrown on the fence, sneaked in during visits, and smuggled by unethical proofreaders and prison staff.
Senator Lankford raised this issue in the Senate this week. The senator said: “A person who was a murderer in the state used a stern mobile phone smuggling and instructed others to distribute methamphetamine to him in northeastern Oklahoma. He had a cell phone in the prison. Base ring,” Lankford. There are technologies for portable jammer to block cell phone signals in prisons, but federal law does not allow this. Lankford said, on the contrary, the FCC only does one study at a time.
Senator Lankford said: “Do you want to know the summary of the research recently released and blocked on mobile phones in prison? The research basically says that we need to do more research on this issue.” Oklahoma Justice Department Director Joe Alberg said that he had gone to Washington many times to persuade lawmakers to allow nuisance devices in prisons, but he said lawmakers are often at the mercy of mobile lobbyists. He said that this technology limits the chaos to prisons and will not affect nearby houses and businesses. Albo said: “Most people don’t live next to prisons. Most of our facilities are in the countryside.” “Even here in Oklahoma, we have lost enough officials across the country to use cell phones. I want to stop this situation.”