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Tests of gear to curb smuggled phones successful, Texas prison officials say

Prison officials plan to move forward with possibly buying CellAntenna cell phone location technology

From the Austin American-Statesman

BEAUMONT, Texas -- Conceptual tests at a Beaumont prison of high-tech gear’s effectiveness in curbing smuggled cellphones were successful, and officials said Thursday that they expect to move ahead to consider possibly buying the technology.

After a convict used a smuggled phone to orchestrate his escape earlier this month, prison officials arranged for the demonstration — the first conducted in a Texas prison — at the Stiles Unit as a prelude to possibly purchasing phone-detecting gear or managed-access equipment.

Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said this afternoon that CellAntenna officials demonstrated equipment that can pinpoint the location of cellphones in prisons.

They also discussed cellphone jamming technology and so-called managed access equipment that intercepts outgoing calls and only allows incoming calls from approved numbers.

Read more at Statesman.com.