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State Prison Officials Blame An Escape On Drones And Cellphones (usatoday.com)
An anonymous reader quotes USA Today:
A fugitive South Carolina inmate recaptured in Texas this week had chopped his way through a prison fence using wire cutters apparently dropped by a drone, prison officials said Friday. Jimmy Causey, 46, fled the Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, S.C., on the evening of July 4th after leaving a paper mache doll in his bed to fool guards into thinking he was asleep. He was not discovered missing until Wednesday afternoon. Causey was captured early Friday 1,200 miles away in a motel in Austin by Texas Rangers acting on a tip, WLTX-TV reported... "We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allow(ed) him to escape," South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said...
Stirling said prison officials are investigating the performance by prison guards that night but pointed to cellphones and drones as the main problem. The director said he and other officials have sought federal help for years to combat the use of drones to drop contraband into prison. "It's a simple fix," Stirling said. "Allow us to block the signal... They are physically incarcerated, but they are not virtually incarcerated."
It's the second time the same convict escaped from South Carolina's maximum security prison -- albeit the first time he's (allegedly) used a drone. The state's Law Enforcement Division Chief also complains that the federal government still prohibits state corrections officials from blocking cellphones, and "as long as cellphones continue to be utilized by inmates in prisons we're going to have things like this -- we're going to have very well-planned escapes..."
Stirling said prison officials are investigating the performance by prison guards that night but pointed to cellphones and drones as the main problem. The director said he and other officials have sought federal help for years to combat the use of drones to drop contraband into prison. "It's a simple fix," Stirling said. "Allow us to block the signal... They are physically incarcerated, but they are not virtually incarcerated."
It's the second time the same convict escaped from South Carolina's maximum security prison -- albeit the first time he's (allegedly) used a drone. The state's Law Enforcement Division Chief also complains that the federal government still prohibits state corrections officials from blocking cellphones, and "as long as cellphones continue to be utilized by inmates in prisons we're going to have things like this -- we're going to have very well-planned escapes..."
Prisons are such a money sink already.
When someone can escape a prison with a pair of wire cutters, a drone is not the problem. How did he get access to the fence? Why does it only take the possession of a pair of wire cutters to escape the prison?
This is a "think about the children" moment where the signal blocking technology is what they want, but not the problem.
If the prison pays for all outgoing and incoming calls, then they may block cellphone calls.
Prisons have instituted ridiculously expensive phone plans to help pay for their costs.
This is wrong, placing an undue burden on both the families and the prisoners. Wealthy prisoners should not be allowed to buy a better prison experience, which means you can not overcharge prisoners for so called luxuries.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Turn prisons back to prisons instead of making them profit centers for the private prison complex and you'll not only see cheaper but also better run prisons.
Seriously, I've seen what prisons cost in the US and ... let's put it that way, for that per-capita price I'd expect to see those prison bars be made of solid gold.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
At this point, premade UAVs can easily be reprogrammed to be fully autonomous (with minimal skill) and microwave jamming won't do anything to stop it. What's really needed here is for the prison guards to actually... guard the prison. -_-
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
That really sucks, I had missed that bit of news.
No excuse for that.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I think there are already plans afoot to get rid of private prisons in this country. Private prisons are being phased out... at least for now, unless Trump or a later President decides to reverse that decision.
Are you nuts? While it's not really true Jeff sessions owns private prisons it most certainly is true private prisons lobbied trump lavishly, and he accepted the money including over 250k usd for just the inauguration. Further Trumps cleansing of America of immigrants requires a detainment period at, you guessed it, prison of which many are private. It's no wonder Sessions is bringing back 1960s hystaria around marijuana and minor offenses either, the shitshow of how private prisons are run in the USA needs to end but is instead expanding.
Why not just put a net over the whole place?
Far cheaper. You can't possibly block every single signal that could be used to operate a drone. That's just asking for homemade solutions to get around that.
If only there was a way to put a small cell tower inside a prison and watch what calls were being made.
Some sort of triangulation device might be useful, too.
No sig today...
Of course not, because the problem with drugs is that they are illegal. Drug prohibition is the stupidest policy in the Western world.
Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.