Guards at the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, S.C., afresh begin 17 actionable cellphones in one inmate’s corpuscle — all of them (according to a address in the New York Times) banned in application drones.
In Mansfield, Ohio, a bombinate supply of tobacco and drugs acquired a abreast anarchism in a bastille backyard as inmates fought over the payload. In Cumberland, Md., admiral had bigger luck, arresting two men in a car alfresco the Maryland accompaniment bastille there. In the car were tobacco, pornography, and drugs — and a drone.
Similar letters accept arise in from Oklahoma and Georgia, as able-bodied as places alfresco the U.S., including Canada and Russia.
Breaking into jail
The point is that these unmanned aircraft systems are acutely able of carrying banned over bastille walls. Furthermore, it’s harder to atom them, abundant beneath acquisition out who is authoritative them.
Worse, if it comes to policing the botheration at federal prisons, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BoP) is acutely handcuffed. Despite accepting bags of shotgun-armed guards at its prisons, the bureau can’t artlessly shoot down any bombinate that happens to arise abreast a prison; the Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t acquiesce it.
Guards can’t bang drones with radio after-effects to baffle with the ascendancy signals from their operators either: Intentional arrest of that array is illegal, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
All of which is why the BoP has issued an RFI (request for information) searching for a solution.
The RFI — a basic footfall afore the bureau in fact hires anyone to apparatus a band-aid — is soliciting account that will advice the BoP ascertain and abrogate drones aggravating either to conduct surveillance of prisons and the areas about them or to bear banned (such as weapons, drugs, or pornography).
(While the BoP has administration over federal prisons only, the solutions it finds should aswell be accessible eventually to accompaniment and bounded facilities.)
Unfortunately for the BoP, added federal government agencies aren’t getting decidedly helpful. The FAA would not altercate the issue, except to say that if anyone were to bead something into a prison, that being would be accusable of actionable the law. The Department of Justice would not altercate the affair of drones on the record, except to say that Yahoo Tech should acquaintance the FAA. The FCC did not acknowledge to requests for comments.
Complicating matters, the BoP’s RFI seems to be alluring little interest. So far, alone one catechism has been acquaint apropos the issue, and that was to acquisition out whether the BoP will armamentarium research. (It won’t.)
Detection and registration
Still, the bureau does accept some options. The law does not prohibit the deployment of sensors at prisons to active guards that a bombinate is approaching. Nor does it prohibit sensors that would ascertain a bombinate barrage at its source. This could acquiesce law administration to get to the website of the bombinate barrage and arrest those involved.
And, it should be stated, sending a bombinate into a bastille does breach a continued account of federal laws and, if it’s a accompaniment prison, accompaniment laws as well.
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