Cell Phones in Jail?

[gaffa]

@Little_Nemo

Our phone system is open to competitive bidding from private companies as directed by law. If companies don’t want to offer lower prices how are we supposed to make them do it?

From one of my links:

These Louisiana rates include “commissions” (a.k.a. kickbacks) negotiated during the contracting process and paid to state prison operators as a percentage of prison phone revenues. Eager to win lucrative contracts competing phone companies in the U.S. sweeten their bids by offering generous kickbacks, some as high as 65%.
So no, it’s not really an open or competitive bidding process, it’s corrupted by bribery. Arrest the officials demanding the “commissions” for corruption, and change the law so the service is provided at a fixed percentage above market price for the consumer service.

[DrDeth]

@gotpasswords

That’s hard enough to do in new construction to be essentially impossible as a retrofit. Prisons tend to be some variation of pre-cast concrete panels or blocks with a steel frame - not much opportunity to install shielding and protect it from damage - it’ll either be on the outside of the building, exposed to weather, or on the inside, and subject to abuse and tampering by the occupants.

And then, there’s still the issue of needing to allow legitimate radio traffic for the staff.

I thought there was some sort of paint that worked to block cell phones?

[DrDeth]

@HorseloverFat

You can sneak them in via RC helicopter too.

FWIW, the FCC bans use of cell phone jammers that are common in Europe and Asia. A recent attempt to put in jammers met with resistance from the FCC.

*“The FCC says it also rejected the request for a temporary waiver of the agency’s rules because DC didn’t provide any details about the experiment, such as on which frequency the jamming would happen, the level of power that would be used, the location of antennas, or orientation and gain.”

[Kevbo]

@rbroome

apparently cell phone use in prisons is against the rules-and widely done. There was one funny story (sorry, no cite) about a warden in Texas who got a phone call from an irate mother who was upset that her son’s cell had poor cell phone reception. She wanted him moved so that he could use his cell (ha-a pun!) more conveniently. I don’t think she got the result she was looking for.

You need to cross post that comment to the “Helicopter Parents” thread!

[joebuck20]

Of course, you could always sneak them in by shoving them up your ass.

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

@joebuck20

Of course, you could always sneak them in by shoving them up your ass.

Believe me, it’s been done. Anally, vaginally, skin folds, even in wounds and surgical pockets. Inside ostomies too, or ostomy bags. Including urostomy bags.

[gaffa]

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

Believe me, it’s been done. Anally, vaginally, skin folds, even in wounds and surgical pockets. Inside ostomies too, or ostomy bags. Including urostomy bags.

Wow. Would have been much more difficult back in the 80s.