Prison officials support cell jammers

CARLISLE, Ind. (WTHI) - News 10 has told you about the issue of cell phones in prisons , and talked with an inmate that had one , but how are Officials planning on dealing with the problem?

They get in in ways that are hard to imagine, and once they're inside, they're hard to track. Prison official Robbie Marshall knows that first hand.

He works at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle. It's one of his jobs to track cell phones, but he said his job could be a lot easier with one change.

"Well, I mean the obvious solution is to put cell phone blockers or jammers at each facility or each penal location," Marshall said.

He's talking about devices that cancel cell signals, basically rendering the phones useless. It seems like a quick fix, but right now, he can't use them.

"It's prohibited by federal law to have a jammer at any location. So, that's preventing us from keeping the cell phones out of our population right now," Marshall said.

It's pretty complicated, but it has to do with the Communications Act of 1934.

That federal ruling officially outlawed the blocking of any radio signal without specific FCC allowance. That includes prison facilities.

Marshall said the law is outdated. However, he thinks there is a reason to be optimistic.
"From what I understand, they're going to assess the Communication Act of 1934 and possibly redirect that particular law," Marshall said.

In the meantime, he said his prison is doing its best with the current resources.