By C1 Staff
ATLANTA — Georgia prison officials seeking a solution to their contraband cell phone problem are hoping the FCC will be willing to bend on the ban of cell phone jamming.
The Federal Communications Commission is visiting a large state prison this Thursday, which officials are hoping is a sign of good things to come, according to WSBTV.
“Hopefully, we can just kind of shed some light on that, kind of explain the issues and the problems as we see it and hopefully create a dialogue,” Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Homer Bryson said. “There’s where we can start working together to try and come up with a solution.”
The FCC bans the use of cell phone jammers as they have the potential to “prevent 911 and other emergency phone calls made by the public from getting through to first responders or interfere with police and other law enforcement communications that are critical to the carrying out of law enforcement missions,” according to a statement they released.
A state official also acknowledged that jamming is not ideal, as it may interfere with correctional officers’ radios.
One particular suggestion the FCC has made is managed access, which would allow the DOC to control which cell phone signals are allowed in or out of a facility.
So far this year, authorities have confiscated roughly 8,000 cell phones inside state prison walls.