Pubdate: Sun, 14 Sep 2014
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Author: Jim Bronskill
Page: A6

PRISON CELLPHONE SEIZURES RISING AS CANADIAN OFFICIALS SEEK SOLUTION

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 2008-09 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: Matt