(Trinidad Express) Cellphone jammers inside the country’s prisons are not enough to stop criminals behind bars from sending messages to others on the outside.
This is the view of senior prison officials who tell the Sunday Express that even though the jammers (which they say are operational) are used to block signals from cellphones within the prisons, other interception technologies are needed for the system to be effective.
“Cellphone jammers are being used. But they need to be in use with other technologies like Wi-Fi jammers to be truly effective. We can see this in other jurisdictions. But it’s yet to be properly utilised here.
“So you will have prisoners with cellphones and tablets who cannot make calls. But they can use either the phone’s data, or if they have access to a hot-spot device or a Wi-Fi box, they will be able to make calls via social media apps. These include things like WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. So there is still the issue of communication with the outside world. Communication is still being made.
“In other jurisdictions, you will see the cellphone jammers being used with other interception devices to determine the frequencies used by these devices, and then target those specific frequencies. If this is not done, then it’s almost like spinning top in mud,” a senior source in the Prison Service explained yesterday.
Furthermore, despite the jammers being used and operated within the grounds of the Prison Service, they are managed by a third party, the Sunday Express was told.
Acting Prisons Commissioner Deopersad Ramoutar did not directly answer questions recently put to him on the functionality of the cellphone jammers, saying this was privileged information and that it did not fall within the purview of the Prison Service.
Other senior officials told the Sunday Express they remain operational.
On July 5, a Wi-Fi box was among several contraband items found and seized at the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca.
The officers received information which led them to cells in the B Division of the prison.
Searches were conducted and in one cell, near the toilet area, police found and seized a bag containing 53 grammes of marijuana, cellphones and the Wi-Fi box.
In another cell, police found and seized a bag containing 104 packs of cigarettes and marijuana, which had a total weight of 241 grammes.
Two prisoners said they owned the items seized.
On Friday, prison officers expressed concerns about the use of drones over prisons, with a senior officer saying it was a “ticking time bomb” issue that needed to be addressed.
“All it takes is one drone, one drone that we don’t catch, which may drop knives or even guns, and we can have a very serious situation on our hands. So far, everything we’ve seized has been contraband items—cigarettes, weed, phones, chargers and so on. But if we miss even one, it can be a very dangerous situation in the prison and for the country,” the Sunday Express was told.
Ramoutar said the Prison Service had noted an increase in the number of drones being used around prisons, especially over the last year, and had taken action.
He said with the aid of various arms of the National Security portfolio, most of the items dropped over prison walls were seized before they could reach inmates.
