Thanks for the suggestion, but I really don’t need to watch The Shawshank Redemption for insights on how prisons work.
Umm.. Are we talking stomas that have been co-opted? Or ‘orifices’ intentionally created for smuggling contraband?
Every year or so I hear about requests for exceptions for prisons and other restricted areas. I understand it would be problematic to set up a jamming system that wouldn’t significantly impact an area surrounding the facility. I’d like to see some of the feasibility studies though.
That’s surprising/interesting. Why is it a serious offense for a staffer to have one, besides fear that they’ll give it to a prisoner? (I mean, the guards carry weapons too but they aren’t afraid that they’ll hand those over to prisoners, are they?)
No, actually, they don’t carry weapons in most prisons, because they are afraid the prisoners will end up with them (not that they’ll hand them over voluntarily, of course). Weapons are restricted to perimeter patrol, guard towers, and other areas where prisoners can’t go.
Well, do faraday cages count as “jamming” signals? They merely block signals going into and out of the area they cover. If cell phones aren’t allowed for anyone, I don’t see how those would be a problem for covering a prison. I just looked up copper mesh wire, and it looks like to cover a 1200’x1200’ area would cost about $30,000 for the number of rolls it would take. Of course that’s just the one raw material, and the mesh would have to be covered to protect it, add in contractors and some sheet-rock and roofing cover, it seems it could be done for, what, $50,000 or so? Seems like a bargain to me if it works, even at twice that number if I’m really far off.
You may want to recheck your math. This website has the cheapest price for copper mesh at $4.22/sq ft. For a 1200 x 1200 area, you’d need 1.4 million square ft, at a cost of 6 million dollars.
That doesn’t count things like doors as well - Faraday cage doors are a pain in the ass to maintain. Plus it will block TV & radio signals, which as I understand it are popular for prisoners, and taking them away will make the guards job much harder.
Heh. “Cell phones.”
Carry on…
There other methods besides crude jamming that can make a cell phone inoperable, and it can be done at an incredibly local level. This is why I wonder why it is not done.
And I gave Attica as just an example. New York has about seventy prisons, each of which would require its own multi-million dollar cage.
It took 27 posts!
Yeesh. I really shouldn’t attempt something I’m so bad at under good conditions, when the hours are wee and im tired.
Yeah, but how much does it cost to build, maintain and RUN those prisons. Sure millions of dollars sounds like a big deal, but if its a small fraction of the budget it isnt (assuming keeping cell phones from working is a worthy goal).