Pubdate: Mon, 15 Sep 2014
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network
Contact:  http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Jim Bronskill
Page: A10

CELLPHONE SEIZURES IN PRISONS ON THE RISE

Officials Seek Ways to Stem Criminal Activity

OTTAWA - Annual seizures of mobile phones from federal prisoners have 
more than doubled in recent years as correctional officials try to 
prevent their clandestine use in drug trafficking and organized crime.

Officials confiscated 137 phones from inmates across the country 
through the first 10 months of the 2013-14 fiscal year, according to 
the latest numbers from the Correctional Service of Canada.

That's up from 51 phones in 200809 and 94 devices in 2009-10, figures 
released under the Access to Information Act show.

Officials are grappling with how to keep the phones out of 
institutions and stop inmates from using the devices that do slip behind bars.

"Worldwide, prisons are struggling to deal with the problem of how to 
keep cellphones out of the hands of inmates," says an internal 
briefing note prepared for senior Public Safety officials.

New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, France and Mexico are using jamming 
technology in some prisons, says the March 2012 note, disclosed under 
the access law. The United States introduced legislation in 2009 to 
allow jamming in institutions, though the bill died the following year.

"As you are aware, access to a cellphone provided inmates the 
continuous potential to be involved in criminal activities outside 
the institution - including drug trafficking and organized crime 
activities - from within an institution," the note says.

Controlling and monitoring inmate communication is necessary in order 
to maintain a secure facility and to allow for measures that 
encourage rehabilitation, the note adds. "All other types of 'outside 
access' have necessary limits."

Court records show that at the Mission Institution in British 
Columbia a cellphone was seized in 2011 from an inmate who was 
heavily involved in the prison's drug subculture and who had 
continued to foster links with organized crime.

Correctional Service spokeswoman Veronique Rioux said in an emailed 
response to questions that the prison service continues to work with 
phone-service providers and other criminal justice system partners to 
"monitor advancements in the field of detection of illicit cellphone usage."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom