Prison cellphone jamming gets its first test in Maryland
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted February 17th 2010 2:09PM
posted February 17th 2010 2:09PM
As we wait for the Safe Prisons Communication Act to pass the House, word comes out of Maryland that FCI Cumberland will begin testing cellphone jamming technology this week. As you well know, critics of the plan have voiced concerns that the technology could interfere with emergency response and legitimate cell phone use near prisons, but the state is determined to put those criticisms to rest -- and to keep inmates from using contraband cellphones for prank calling the warden's wife, sexting folks on the outside, ordering brutal execution-style "hits" on people, and quite frankly bedeviling the law-abiding citizens that prisons are meant to protect. We can't help but wonder how HBO's Oz would have turned out differently if this had happened ten years ago.
Well done on the photochop. I suppose all of us Nexus One owners are criminals eh? :(
(Only kidding!)
@ChazClout Elvis looks happy doing life with his Nexus One, but that other guy looks like he's about to chuck it into the 8th dimension!
What the hell's wrong with that guy's trombone?
@N900
He must be one of the ones with 3g issues. :(
(Thankfully, I have none with mine)
@Smart People Play Tuba It looks like he is checking the King's butt :S
@ChazClout that Nexus is huge, maybe its the NexusPad?
LEAKED PHOTO?!
Start the rumor mill up Johnny! We got a scoop from the king of rock and roll!
@bazookafx3
Can't wait for the nPad!
@ChazClout
WTF?
you telling me I cant get a signal from AT$T if my life depended upon it but prison folks are getting 3G speeds on their iPhones "bars"?
crime pays much?
Quite frankly, if you commit crimes, you have precious few rights left to you. A cell phone is not one of them.
@Abe It's not really the inmates rights they are infringing on, but rather those who live near the prison and guards of the prison.
@YosefLevi
right? FK off - cell usage is a privillage not a right.!!
@YosefLevi
And this has to do with jamming a mobile signal in which way?? My bitch with this is, it may effect those outside the prison. I also feel those like corrections officers who get caught bringing in mobile phones should get a 10 year stint in prison.
@Abe good now do this in movie theaters and we are good to go
@bazookafx3 Because we should be using our cellphones at work
@bazookafx3
If you're a prison guard, you should be doing other things beside talking on a cell phone. The only people who need phones, have land lines in their offices.
@daytripper
This law is for all in a prison ,but it is mostly to keep INMATES from using cell phones. Duh
@Celanor
I think its the bad guys you should keep an eye on not the staff.
Can't you just put a copper mesh around the outside of all the buildings? That should interfere nicely with cell phone signals.
@Prevacator
Copper's as expensive as hell these days, so no.
never thought id read an article here about jamming things in prison
+1
I am not one for jamming cell phones, and I am generally adamantly opposed to it. On the other hand, a prison probably makes sense. As long as it isn't in the visitation areas and is confined only to the areas where they keep the prisoners. I do believe that you forfeit certain rights and opportunities when convicted and I don't see any justification for a prisoner to have a cell phone.
@RandomGuy
Personally I think they shouldn't actively jam, but should actually build a Faraday cage around the prison. It'll block any signal and won't require a power source. Power goes out for 5 minutes by paying off the guard, make the phone call, someone dies.
Yep, I prefer a passive solution.
@Ghen I like Faraday cages, but I think that might go against their objective of ensuring the guards radios continue to work. Plus when we finally start implanting the prisoners with RFID tags and GPS tracking collars, we need the signals to get through. We'll end up having to retrofit the prisons all over again for some simple big brother.
Overall I think they are looking to control ongoing phone calls and subversive communications. If it takes bribing a guard to get a call through then, that is better than the current system. As it is now, not all calls getting through are leading to death, many are just arranging for more contraband to get smuggled in.
Let's block! Every call to be blocked.
Everybody in the whole cell block
was jammin' to the Jailhouse Block.
Now...how is weird uncle Jerry going to let me know when is out cigs?
Side note: maybe it will help reduce of the drug and gang activity or least disrupt their communications to a degree....I highly doubt it though but good on them for trying this. Like the PS.
I think they should have iPhones in their hands instead. They are the ones who need to be Jail Broken from the totalitarian Fruit Party's concentration camps.
Oh, and Engadget, totally unrelated, but tell me if these signal bars look familiar.
http://pocketnow.com/html/portal/news/0000009454//simfi.jpg
@N900 That link totally doesn't work.
@MarcusMaximus ok try this http://pocketnow.com/tech-news/mwc-simfi-brings-mifi-capability-to-all-sim-cards
@N900 Still nope.
Maybe Engadget already took 'em down?
@FallenArms3 Well this is freakin' odd. Just go to pocketnow.com and try the article "MWC: SIMFi Brings MiFi Capability to All SIM Cards". lol.
@N900
It worked fine for me.
@N900
Workin here too!
Ok, well Elvis has it so it's official: The Nexus One is the single coolest phone out there.
Just give them all AT&T phones.. that will stop the inmates from being able to make a call.
J/K... or am I?
@Hazdaz dunno about coverage in Cumberland, but that'd definitely work in a prison in San Fran or NYC!!
@HurricaneDC Western MD so pretty mountainy.
Interfering with emergency response? If that was true, then how did we ever run prisons before cell phones?
Also, I believe the guards use a system of radios and CCTV cameras... I don't think they're "BLEEP BLEEP yo dawg open cell 34 in block c"
@paul34
Emergency response meaning people who live near the prison using cell phones calling 911?
@DoctarPeppar
I highly doubt that the prisons will implement a jammer that goes beyond the walls of the prison.
@DoctarPeppar
I don't think there are too many prisons that are built wall-to-wall with houses. The jamming range won't extend that far.
Prisoners are very resourceful folk...I'm sure they will figure out a way around this; it's a game of cat and mouse and the COs are only playing for 8 hours or so a day...the inmates have all the time in the world to come up with ways to get around stopgaps and safeguards :)
i don't know about America but in our country prisons are made very far away from population, where there is no cell phone coverage anyway.
@mominshahab That would only work in America if the prisoners are using AT&T.
Instead of jamming it - they should broadcast classical music or waves or rain or something. Something that half works is more frustrating than something that doesn't work at all.
@RecycledBottle
If it's supposed to be frustrating, play Lady Gaga over it.
Would it not just be simpler AND cheaper to not have any cell phone towers in range of the prison?
About the same effect as a blanket jamming signal, but LOTS cheaper.
@Xepol You can design a system that would almost only jam the prison area, but a simple "low coverage" would be easy to circumvent and it would be even more annoying for the neighboring area.