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In This Issue
Contraband Cell Phones
Information Technology
Electronic Monitoring
Green Technology
Drug and Alcohol
General
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Welcome to the October, 2012 issue of the Corrections Technology Center of Excellence monthly Newsletter. 


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Contraband Cell Phones 

  

According to this article in the  Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that it is  not a crime under state law for a county jail inmate to possess a cell phone.  Current state law prohibits all prisoners, including county jail inmates, from possessing "any key, lock, bolt cutters, saw, digging tool, rope, ladder, hook or ladder" or other tools that could be used for the purpose of escaping.  The Supreme Court ruled that a cell phone is not an escape tool. Another state law prohibits prison inmates from possessing "a portable telecommunications device," but that prohibition does not apply to the inmates of county jails.


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According to this article from  CBS - San Francisco, contraband cell phone use remains a major problem in California prisons.  The article notes that a California Office of Inspector General report found that 20 correctional staff recently lost their jobs for smuggling cell phones.  The use of canines is reported to be successful with over 3,000 cell phone recoveries in the past year and a half.

  

 

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The  Associated Press reports that a managed access system to defeat contraband cell phones will be installed in the first California prison this month.  Avenal State Prison is the first installation and all of the state's 33 prisons will be outfitted within three years. 

 

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According to this Fox News report, prison officials in Pakistan recovered a satellite phone from Dr. Shakil Afridi, who was imprisoned for the leading a fake vaccination campaign to help the CIA locate Osama Bin Laden.  Interesting back story aside, satellite phones are one way to circumvent current contraband cell phone defeat technologies in use in the United States.

 

 

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The high price that inmates pay for telephone calls with their families continues to draw scrutiny.

 
The  
Prison Policy Initiative  recently released a report called  "The Price to Call Home: State-sanctioned Monopolization in the Prison Phone Industry" which calls for the Federal Communications Commission to regulate the industry.
 

This Bloomberg News article describe some of the dynamics in play

 

 

This article in the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange speculates that FCC action is imminent.  

 
 

 

Information Technology 

The Wareham Courier reports that a juvenile probation officer in Massachusetts used Facebook to track down a juvenile who had run away to Virginia.  The juvenile was returned to Massachusetts through the Interstate Compact agreement.  The probation officer used her home computer to conduct the investigation because officers in her jurisdiction currently do not have access to the Internet on agency computers.  

 

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Budget cuts are forcing the Nassau County Probation Department (NY) to make some difficult choices.  Among the changes are the elimination of a telephone reporting system for non-violent offenders who now mail in form letters to the Department confirming their status.  Click here for the Newsday article.

 

 

  
Electronic Monitoring

 

According to this  Los Angeles Daily News article, GPS tracking was instrumental in the arrest of a California sex offender who is charged with allegedly exposing himself to a 12 year old girl.  

 

  

 

GPS was key in another California case.  This Contra Costa Times article describes how a sex offender's tracking device helped get him arrested on a new burglary charge.

 

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Police in Washington D.C. allege that a probationer supervised by the District's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services let the battery drain on his court ordered GPS tracking device in an effort to elude authorities prior to fatally shooting a man less than an hour later.  The Washington Times article indicates that the probationer has a history of  tampering with his electronic monitoring devices and that Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency personnel noted that he had previously covered his tracking device with aluminum foil.

 

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A performance audit of Tennessee's Board of Probation and Parole cited numerous problems including a conclusion that 80% of GPS-monitored offenders' alarms appeared to be unmonitored.  Click here for the article that appeared in The Tennessean.

 

 

To view the full audit  click here:

 
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The University of Manitoba recently completed an evaluation of the use of GPS on high risk car thieves to address Winnipeg's high auto theft rate.  This Winnipeg Free Press article describes some of the finding of the study.

 

To view full report on line, click here.

 

  

green bulb 
Green Technology

 

A report in a recent edition of County News, a publication of the National Association of Counties (NACO), describes a number of sustainability initiatives going on in jails across the country.

 

Drug and Alcohol

The 24/7 Sobriety Program which mandates twice daily alcohol tests for DUI offenders has been so successful in South Dakota, where it originated, that it's being adopted by other states as well.  This  Billings Gazette article describes the experience in Yellowstone County, Montana.  

 

 

 

General
 
The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) has developed a Technology Decision Tool to help agencies make safe and sound acquisitions.  NLECTC developed the tool with input from technology experts from both large and small agencies who have first-hand experience in successfully evaluating and implementing technology projects. It guides agencies through a customized cost/benefit analysis exercise to help them make the best decisions for their officers and their communities, and directs decision-making based on needs, availability of technology and life-cycle costs of products and training.