Some are so tiny that they can be concealed in the palm of a hand.  But, nonetheless, they have the power to connect inmates to the outside world, enabling them to stay tied to the criminal activities they were involved in or relay information to external sources that could jeopardize the security of the facility.  With no real system in place for detecting cell phones in the nation's prisons, they present a true threat to the institutional security and society as a whole.

Companies, like EVI Technology, are hard at work developing solutions to the problem of cell phone use in prisons.  Since there are federal regulations against cell phone jamming, or preventing cell phones from working in certain areas, the weight has fallen upon the shoulders of technology companies to create a tool to aid corrections agencies in determining when and where cell phones are being used in their facilities.

Having been affected by the problem and recognizing that cell phones are increasingly an issue for all correctional systems, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is pitching in to help solve the problem. 

Soon, the agency will team-up with the Maryland-based EVI to test out its cell phone detection technology in a real life prison.  The goal of the partnership is to work out the kinks in existing cell phone detection devices and improve them to better meet the needs of corrections agencies.

"The state of Maryland is willing to assist [in] any way we can to develop the technology," said W.L. "Nick" Nicol, Technology Manager for the Maryland DPSCS.  "Inmates can use their cell phones to do anything.  It's becoming a larger problem day-by-day."

Nicol said he was approached by EVI to see if Maryland would be interested in trying out the cell phone detection technology that it had originally designed for the United States Department of Defense.  The technology offers live detection of cell phones, but is not yet set up to provide prisons and jails with real-time feedback about their locations.  Corrections staff need that kind of instant information from the devices in order to confiscate the phones from inmates before they have time to circulate them around the facility, Nicol said.

"When it happens we need to see it," he said.

But, Maryland agreed to try out the technology at one of its prisons anyway, to at least determine where cell phone use is prominent.  Upon final approval from the agency's legal department, EVI will install the technology at a facility in Jessup, Nicol said.

The devices, which contain smart cards, are going to be velcroed to some of the prison's the pipe chases.  After about a month, the smart cards and the information inside them will be removed.  That data captured by reading the cell phone frequencies will be combined with a computer-assisted drawing of the facility to show the department exactly where cell phones were turned on in the facility.

"[The information] would be delayed, but [we] would be able to see any cell phones [that were] turned on," Nicol said.  "[The project] is not going to cost us any money; we're just sort-of going to be part of the ground floor of this."

As the capabilities of the technology grow, Nicol envisions a system that will notify corrections officers working on cell blocks instantaneously if a cell phone has been turned on in the facility.

"I was thinking of setting it up with a logic control through the logic control system," Nicol said.  "Whenever a cell phone is turned on, a screen in the master control [room] would pop up and say we have a cell phone being activated there, right now."

After reading the smart card, the computer screen shows clouds of light in the area where cell phone activity is detected, with a blue cross marking the exact locations of phones.  With those indicators, Nicol said, officers could lock down the tier where the system showed a cell phone in use and search for it.  Even if the inmates had time to pass the phone around before the tier was shut down, officers would still find the phone during their search, he said.

"By shutting down the tier, we can search all the cells," Nicol said.  "[And] hopefully remove the cell phone from the institution."

With EVI's current technology that is slated for testing by the Maryland DPSCS, however, chances of facility staff finding cell phones after their use is recorded by the smart card is not expected.  After weeks, or even days pass, the inmates may succeed in passing cell phones to different areas of the facility.

But that is why the state is testing the technology, Nicol said.  Maryland wants to lend a helping hand in the development of cell phone detection technology so it can be tailored to the needs of corrections.

"The technology is there, but it's not been refined.  The whole point is to get it so you can see the cell phone being operated in real time," Nicol said.  "Once you get that, then it will be a fantastic tool for corrections."

Resources:

Nicol (301) 729-7405