OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — By the end of September, Oklahoma prisons may have the go-ahead from the Federal Communications Commission to use cell phone jamming technology.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has collected thousands of contraband cell phones in correctional facilities this year alone.
“We’ve confiscated over 4,000 illegal contraband cell phones so far. And the inmates use those sometimes to contact families, but a lot of times to perpetrate more crimes,” said Kay Thompson, the Chief of Public Relations for the ODOC.
The FCC Chairman, Brendan Carr, says the agency authorized a range of solutions for prisons in the past, but it has stopped short of allowing jamming.
Thompson says the DOC has started looking at options if the vote passes.
“We’re already in talks with a few vendors to figure out what’s the most cost-effective and best technology that we can get,” Thompson said. “We would probably take a rolled-out approach. So we would definitely head our larger, higher security facilities first, but then eventually it would get on to all 23 of our facilities around the state.”
The DOC does provide iPads to inmates that can be used to contact family members or access certain materials.
There is some worry surrounding emergency calls not going through if this technology is implemented. We are told DOC employees are not allowed to have personal cellphones or smart watches while inside correctional facilities, so they primarily rely on landlines, intercoms, and two-way radios.
Some of the phones being snuck into correctional facilities are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, Thompson explained that blocking the usability of these contraband cellphones may be the most effective tool they have.
“This is a huge step forward for us. It’s one that a lot of states, probably all states, have wanted for a very long time,” said Thompson.
