As we’ve documented in the past, Oklahoma has the world’s highest incarceration rate.
One positive outcome from this is Oklahoma is now home to a booming prison contraband blackmarket, providing jobs and opportunity to anyone who lives inside, or within a drone flight, of any of Oklahoma’s private prisons.
Just like in real life, one of the hottest black market commodities is a good smartphone. Prisoners are people, too, and they also have a chemically-addictive need to waste time on them,
Naturally, the powers at be don’t think this is a good idea. They’re trying to put cell phone jammers in prisons:
Via News 9:
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is asking federal lawmakers to authorize the use of cellphone signal jamming technology.
The DOC says they’ve been bombarded by an overflow of smuggled cell phones which gangs use to commit crimes inside and outside prison. According to the Oklahoman since 2011, the DOC has seized nearly 50,000 prohibited cellphones…
In 2016 alone correctional officers removed a record high of nearly 10,000 phones.
I find it hard to believe that all 10,000 contraband cellphones caught were used for criminal actions. Let me ask the readers this: when is the last time you’ve went to poop without your cellphone in hand in the past decade? Exactly. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume that some of the inmates are using their cellphone to peruse alr-right YouTube clips and look up funny prison memes to share? This is more than likely what I would do if I were a prisoner.
But, let’s be honest, I’d be someone’s bitch first before even thinking about getting a cellphone.
All I’m saying is that I don’t think all of the cellphones were operated by “gangs use to commit crimes inside and outside prison.” Sure, some of them are but not all. Jam the cell service but let them play their games on their phone while they go to the bathroom. Let them send memes to one another in the yard. At least then many of them will be too preoccupied to try anything dangerous.
If the phone comes with pre-installed games, jamming shouldn’t affect their toilet play. Everyone wins!
Seriously though, I worked for DOC for some time and cell phones were a hot commodity. Lots of smuggling them in through visitors and employees. I believe the numbers based on my time there, because it was an average of one employee per month being walked off the yard and fired for bringing in contraband or for inappropriate relationships with an inmate. Smuggle or snuggle you’re gonna get busted!
Nah. I disagree. No reason at all for a prisoner to have a cell phone. A lot of honest, law-abiding, hard-working people can barely afford one. So, it makes zero sense. They’re in prison for a reason. Its not a tropical resort. Do the time, then get out and earn it. Plain and simple. Good Lord, this society is so damn soft.
Brandon is soft on crime. Want a phone – stay out of jail and work to buy one. After all, they are in prison!
Exactly!
About damn time! Easy Fix for a bad problem! They’ve got checkers, chess, cards and barbells…they’re in prison for Gods sake, not in summer camp!
Exactly. What’s next? Ribeye steak for dinner every night?
While I imagine it’d probably wind up being way too costly for any benefit, I have no problems with jamming cell phones in prisons in theory. Yeah, some prisoners might not be doing anything bad on them, but we know that some absolutely are, and that’s enough reason to do it.
Considering how many of the phones are smuggled in. I wouldn’t hold one to my face, and use speakerphone instead.
But it’s prison, so who knows.
In many, many days gone by, those in The State Pen at Granite were actually required to work outside in the elements with a sledge hammer chipping away at the granite “mountain’ in the enclosure. In all likelihood they weren’t up to playing on a cell phone in their cell at nightfall!