Carr pushes to combat contraband cell phones in prisons - ValdostaToday.com

ATLANTA – The Attorney General is urges Congressional leaders to walk national authorities to combat contraband compartment phones successful prisons.

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Attorney General Chris Carr, on with 21 different attorneys general, is urging Congressional leaders to pass authorities that would let states to instrumentality a compartment telephone jamming strategy successful correctional facilities. Right now, national instrumentality prohibits the usage of jamming technology, including the jamming of compartment phones. Meanwhile, contraband cellphones are being utilized successful prisons crossed the country, with nary mode to artifact them.

“Our Gang Prosecution Unit and the Georgia Department of Corrections are moving unneurotic to place and prosecute those who are utilizing contraband compartment phones to prosecute successful transgression enactment portion down bars,” said Carr. “It is captious that Congress articulation successful this combat by removing a important obstruction that is simply allowing those wrong the situation walls to proceed committing crimes that negatively interaction our communities. This is simply a nationwide contented that poses a important hazard to our correctional officers and the nationalist astatine large, and we indispensable bash each we tin to guarantee that convulsive offenders person nary method for causing further harm from wrong a situation cell.”

In November 2022, Carr announced the indictment of 17 alleged members of the 183 Gangster Bloods (1-8 Trey Bloods) successful Barrow County. Two of those indicted are presently incarcerated successful New York and Georgia and are alleged to beryllium nationalist and statewide leaders of the gang. While incarcerated, these 2 individuals are alleged to person engaged successful physics communications with different defendants and to person encouraged those defendants to enactment successful transgression enactment successful furtherance of the 183 Gangster Bloods enterprise. The defendants are further alleged to person engaged successful discussions regarding the packaging and shipping of contraband items into a Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) facility, arsenic good arsenic the merchantability and organisation of controlled substances successful Hays State Prison. This indictment was obtained by the Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit pursuing a large-scale probe conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Gang Task Force and GDC’s Office of Professional Standards Investigative Division and Security Threat Group Unit.

“Cell phones successful the hands of offenders is an ongoing information concern, not lone for Georgia, but for correctional agencies crossed the country,” said GDC Commissioner Tyrone Oliver. “We admit Attorney General Carr for his enactment successful moving to find solutions to this issue, which is paramount successful our committedness to nationalist safety.”

As of Jan. 1, 2023, GDC has conducted 126 afloat installation shakedowns, resulting successful the removal of much than 23,000 contraband items. This includes 8,074 contraband cellphones confiscated past twelvemonth alone.

In a missive sent connected Jan. 25, 2023, the attorneys wide outline the nationwide challenges associated with contraband compartment phones.

The missive reads, successful part: “[I]nmate usage of contraband compartment phones is 1 of the astir superior issues facing situation administrators today. Inmates usage contraband compartment phones to signifier murders, riots, cause deals, fraud, and overmuch more. By utilizing contraband compartment phones, inmates are easy capable to proceed their transgression activities from wrong prison.”

Bills person been filed to code this contented successful erstwhile sessions, including H.R. 1954 successful the 116th Congress and H.R. 864 and S. 4699 successful the 117th Congress. However, these bills person not seen immoderate question and ne'er received a vote.

In summation to Carr, the pursuing states person besides joined successful signing the letter: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

Find a transcript of the letter  here .