Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill has announced that in the coming weeks a pilot program to test cell phone jammer in Scottish prisons will be launched in two prisons.
Cell phones are full duplex devices, which means they use two different frequencies, one for talking and the other for simultaneous listening. Some wave jammers only block one of the frequencies used by the phone and therefore block both frequencies at the same time. The phone was tricked into thinking that there was no service because it could only receive one of the frequencies.
MacAskill is visiting HMP Shotts, one of the prisons chosen for the pilots to learn about installing the technology, and said the plan would be approved in a matter of weeks. The other prison on trial is HMP Glenochil.
People fear that although some prisoners may use the crowds to keep in touch with family and friends, cell phones are still barred from entering the prison, but people are still using other phones for criminal activity. Mobile use is linked to gang activity and organized crime, as well as the harassment of victims and the supply of drugs to prisons.
Scotland has passed laws that allow prison staff to use jammers to block wireless signals in their prisons to prevent prisoners from communicating with the outside world.
The Minister of Justice said: “The current government has criminalized the possession of cell phones by prisoners. The Scottish Prison Service has invested a lot of money in using technology and intelligence capabilities to detect and prevent the use of cell phones in our prisons. " mentionned.
“This new legislation will allow SPS to further expand its technology to disrupt the use of cell phones by prisoners, and it is expected to be operational in a few weeks. "
Prisons in the rest of Blighty may have to wait a while before using similar jammers, as the Justice Department says blocking signals in all prisons will be "very expensive."