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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..."
Trust me on this, if you've ever been to a SC prison, you know the guards are the real problem. They're paid shit and are often just ghetto thugs themselves. This is the perfect formula for guards willing to look the other way or even help for a small bribe. There have been numerous escapes in recent years where it was later revealed that the guards themselves had smuggled in handcuff keys and bolt-cutters to help in escapes.
Bryan Sterling was a pure political appointee who wants to distract from the real problem by blaming drones, cellphones and other bullshit excuses so he can continue to insist that his agency doesn't need additional funding to hire decent guards and staff. He and other directors were under direct orders from Nikki Haley to never ask for a budget increase, and I suspect he's still under similar orders from Henry McMaster. It's an ongoing problem in a state where the Republican status quo is to continuously cut taxes to appease their political benefactors, no matter the consequences.
He wouldn't HAVE the wire cutters if someone didn't fly them in on a drone. The drone is very much a problem in this case.
NO, the drone is a result of real problems, such as lax security and protocols. Most likely, the guards weren't being paid to look the other way when inmates have cell phones and there weren't adequate measures in place to prevent an inmate from being in an escape position with a pair of wire cutters.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law - Aleister Crowley
Many areas use fencing with few if any escapes. usually two layers of fencing with sensors to report contact with (cimbing) and cutting of the fencing with motion sensors in between the two fences, as well as cameras and... Wait for it, a most radical idea: Guards who watch the fences and warn prisoners to stay away from them.
Evidently SC prisons lack all these high falutin technologicnal type features. So a prisoner can walk up to the fence and cut a hole in it and wander off without anyone realizing what has happened until they realize the "body" in his bed hasn't moved in a couple days.
The Drone is the least of their problems. Though it's also a simple problem. Tell the guards, any drone that approaches the fence-line is a skeet target. No more drone problems.
I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
They should NOT be permitted any outgoing calls except to their legal representation.
Blocking all calls to friends and family could be considered a violation of the 8th amendment (cruel and unusual punishment). I don't think blocking communication with what may be the more stable elements in a prisoner's life to be a good step in reducing reoffending rates.
If they don't talk to the outside, they talk to the inside.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
If a drone can fly over the fence and drop tools to a prisoner, how intrinsically different is that than basically THROWING the tools over the fence?
Sure the drone is a lot more accurate, but heck of a lot noisier too.
I smell excuse-hunting here; this guy already escaped them once (how is it that every jackass with a DWI can get an ankle monitor, yet a prisoner IDENTIFIED as a successful escapee doesn't have one?). On the second escape, they're looking harder to CYA than to find him.
-Styopa
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...