Why do prisons install GPS jammer to prevent prisoners from using smart devices? The prisoner's cellphone allows him to communicate with outside partners to coordinate escape plans, creating a life-threatening situation for the guards and the public in the area. Prison reports are more likely to suggest that hidden cellphones are used to harass victims of crime, or that prisoners repeatedly intimidate victims to persuade them to drop the allegation or alter the story to raise suspicion about the testimony.
Many prisoners continue to organize illegal drug trafficking within prison walls. For the police, wifi jammers are an important tool to maintain the operation and control of drug organizations. Prisoners can arrange for the transfer of drugs and drug paraphernalia by contacting visitors so that they can continue to perpetuate prisoners' illegal habits. When family members realize that it is better for loved ones to be imprisoned, they are often harassed by their imprisoned relatives and released on bail.
Rosenstein cited a preliminary ruling that the BKA confiscated more than 5,000 cell phones from 185,000 inmates in 2016, but that number has risen over the past year. The acting vice president explained that his office recently followed a case involving prisoners in Tennessee in which contraband cell phones were used to download and broadcast child pornography. In another case, a North Carolina gang member attacked a child with a cell phone to issue orders to the prosecutor's father.
Of course, drone jammers must also be used in prisons. Since 2005, authorities in 55 North Carolina jails have seized more than 6,000 cell phones, including 443 this year. That number steadily increased until 2012, when authorities instituted airport-like immigration procedures, including metal detectors, X-ray scanners and well-trained dogs, in heavily guarded prisons. Authorities said after Jensen's kidnapping, a state law was passed criminalizing the provision of cellphones to prisoners and serving as a deterrent. Some facilities use managed access, an expensive system that in some prisons can block unauthorized cell signals.