"Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" - Page 18

Osem · 11-02-2010, 11:07

Quote:

Thirty Facebook pages have been taken down because prisoners were using them to taunt their victims...

Via smuggled-in mobile phones and even during 'closely supervised' internet access:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...nts-jack-straw

Derek · 11-02-2010, 11:18

I still don't understand why they don't install mobile phone jammers inside jails. I'm sure they could be sited to avoid issues with surrounding houses.

Osem · 11-02-2010, 11:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek S

I still don't understand why they don't install mobile phone jammers inside jails. I'm sure they could be sited to avoid issues with surrounding houses.

Perhaps the tough talking but ineffectual Jack Straw could explain...

Russ · 11-02-2010, 11:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek S

I still don't understand why they don't install mobile phone jammers inside jails. I'm sure they could be sited to avoid issues with surrounding houses.

The cost?

Derek · 11-02-2010, 11:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Osem

Perhaps the tough talking but ineffectual Jack Straw could explain...

I can understand they can't just blanket the area with jammers seeing so many jails have housing nearby but I can't accept its not possible to jam at least the majority of the cells.

Jammers aren't exactly the most expensive pieces of kit and would at a stroke turn most of the smuggled in phones into expensive suppositories.

---------- Post added at 11:26 ---------- Previous post was at 11:22 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

The cost?

Don't think so. You can pick them up fairly cheaply.

http://www.direct-gadget.com/Scripts...p?idproduct=20

$99 for the first link on google, I'm pretty sure even with the deeply useless public service contract negotiations they could get a similar or cheaper price for buying in bulk.

Russ · 11-02-2010, 11:27

Could they affect the prison service's own security though? I know you guys use mobiles a lot, do the guards have a similar system?

Derek · 11-02-2010, 11:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

Could they affect the prison service's own security though? I know you guys use mobiles a lot, do the guards have a similar system?

Police radios work on a different frequency to mobiles. No idea about prison radios. I would imagine they would be well away from the mobile phone frequencies as well.

Russ · 11-02-2010, 11:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek S

Police radios work on a different frequency to mobiles. No idea about prison radios. I would imagine they would be well away from the mobile phone frequencies as well.

What I mean is the police around here use mobiles as well as radios, just wondering if the prison service use them too. Maybe some prisons are close to public buildings and areas where mobile signal blockers could affect civvies too?

Derek · 11-02-2010, 11:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

What I mean is the police around here use mobiles as well as radios, just wondering if the prison service use them too. Maybe some prisons are close to public buildings and areas where mobile signal blockers could affect civvies too?

Certainly Barlinnie and Greenock prison are right next to housing and I'd imagine others are as well. Even so I think they could arrange the jammers in such a way as to avoid leakage outwith the walls of the prison. Even if not all the cells were covered having the majority jammed would be better than nothing.

We don't really use mobile for work purposes but I have seen other forces using them. Dunno about the prison service but I can't think of any reason why a prison guard would need them. Having a radio with one button to press seems far safer than typing in a number and waiting for it to ring.

11-02-2010, 11:46

of course they could take mobiles and computers away ,lock them in the cells and maybe treat the place like prison

punky · 11-02-2010, 11:47

Maybe a better way of doing this would be to make the prison a Faraday cage.

That way you don't have to disrupt phone signals for civvies but it means no signals will go in and out of the prison. However it means radios and such will work inside within the prison. How often does a guard need a radio to contact outside the prison? If there are sentrys then they can be hard wired.

There is a cost to this but it means the prisoners can't switch to radios with some guy in the back of a van near the prison receiving the transmissions.

Russ · 11-02-2010, 11:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek S

Certainly Barlinnie and Greenock prison are right next to housing and I'd imagine others are as well. Even so I think they could arrange the jammers in such a way as to avoid leakage outwith the walls of the prison. Even if not all the cells were covered having the majority jammed would be better than nothing.

We don't really use mobile for work purposes but I have seen other forces using them. Dunno about the prison service but I can't think of any reason why a prison guard would need them. Having a radio with one button to press seems far safer than typing in a number and waiting for it to ring.

I just don't get it though, it seems like such a good idea as well as being relatively low-cost, there must be some legit reason why it's not been adopted. I don't see any negative spin the government could put on it.

TheDaddy · 11-02-2010, 11:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyh

of course they could take mobiles and computers away ,lock them in the cells and maybe treat the place like prison

Dont be fooled we do keep the majority locked up and any so called luxuries like tv's in cells are there to keep them quiet due to a lack of staff. Prisons like everything else in this country are done on the cheap.

Tidball told MPs on Wednesday that he and his colleagues will be locking prisoners up "for more hours than they were in 1969".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...nsandprobation

Derek · 11-02-2010, 12:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

I just don't get it though, it seems like such a good idea as well as being relatively low-cost, there must be some legit reason why it's not been adopted. I don't see any negative spin the government could put on it.

No idea. It is currently illegal to operate these devices in the UK but I can't see it being too difficult to find a loophole or amend the law to allow them to be used in prisons and custody suites.

Arthurgray50@blu · 11-02-2010, 12:57

The way to beat all this problem. is to take away ALL computors and mobiles from prison, and if these computors have to be used for classes for example, then get in a wizard on computors to block anything like facebook etc.

In prisons up and down the ground, they are like holiday camps, when you go prison, it is for punishment of the crime, not go to Butlins.