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Technology in Corrections - Drones

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    Drones and Corrections

    This website is a great resource for recent news about the use of drones to get contraband into prisons and jails by dropping it into exercise yards and other exterior areas. Proposed and current legislation regarding drones is covered, as is use of drones by correctional agencies.

  • FAA UAS DRONE LE Reference Card

    Basic Law Enforcement Response D.R.O.N.E. & FAA drone incident reporting cheat sheets.

  • Airmail via Drones Is Vexing for Prisons (2015)

    "BISHOPVILLE, S.C. - During the graveyard shift at 1:44 a.m., security cameras at the prison here picked up the blinking lights of an unidentified flying object approaching the facility’s fence. A corrections officer was dispatched to investigate, but by the time she got there, all she could see was a man running away into the dense forest that surrounds the prison."

  • Feds Seek Ways To Protect Prisons From Drones (2015)

    "Legal drone delivery may still be a ways off, but quadcopters have been smuggling contraband into prisons for years now. Quadcopters are cheap enough and powerful enough to carry a few pounds of goods, like cigarettes, knives, cell phones, or drugs over a prison fence, and they're sometimes even recovered from the drop to do it again. Prisons, which understandably don’t want drones to do this, are now looking for ways to keep the robots out."

  • Correctional Agencies’ Response to Drone Intrusions (2016)

    "Creating change in the criminal justice field does not often go over well. But, like life, change in law enforcement is inevitable. Both crime and crime-prevention strategies are always evolving in response to technological advances. One of the more recent and highly prolific technological developments involves unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), more commonly known as drones. These airborne devices have quickly become an effective tool for criminal activity. Drones are currently being exploited to commit criminal acts and law enforcement agencies must acquire countermeasures to minimize how drones are being used to facilitate illegal activities."

  • The Threat of Drones to Secure Facilities (2016)

    "In March, an inmate in Maryland was convicted of conspiring with two other men to fly drugs and other contraband into a maximum-security prison aboard a drone, reported the Baltimore Sun. The men were attempting to use the drone to drop packages of prescription narcotics, synthetic marijuana, pornography videos, tobacco and a cell phone."

  • How to catch drones smuggling drugs into prison (2016)

    "It was your usual stockpile of prison contraband: six tightly wrapped packages filled with drugs, tobacco, rolling papers, and porn. But instead of smuggling them into prison the traditional ways (employees, visitors, baked goods), Maryland inmate Charles Brooks arranged to have a drone fly the cargo over a 12-foot barbed-wire fence and drop them in the yard. Drone smuggling operations are an increasing nuisance to correctional facilities around the world. Most prisons are fortified with spotlights, armed guards, and cameras, but have don't have the technology to detect unmanned aerial vehicles."

  • Minnesota Department of Corrections - Policies, Directives and Instructions Manual - Perimeter Management (2016)

    Minnesota Department Of Corrections - Policy and procedures on the management of drones.

  • FAA - Law Enforcement Guidance For Suspected Unauthorized UAS Operations (2016)

    "There is evidence of a considerable increase in the unauthorized use of small, inexpensive Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS or “drones”) by individuals and organizations, including companies. The FAA retains the responsibility for enforcing Federal Aviation Regulations, including those applicable to the use of UAS. The agency recognizes though that State and local Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) are often in the best position to deter, detect, immediately investigate, 1 and, as appropriate, 2 pursue enforcement actions to stop unauthorized or unsafe UAS operations. The information provided below is intended to
    support the partnership between the FAA and LEAs in addressing these...

  • Prison and Jail Officials Face New Challenge: Drones Used to Smuggle Contraband (2016)

    "Drones are increasingly being used in attempts to smuggle drugs and other contraband into prisons worldwide. Previously, smugglers had to bribe guards, use their body cavities or have accomplices sneak forbidden items through prison visitation. All of that is now changing with the availability of commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones."

  • Prisons try to stop drones from delivering drugs, porn and cellphones to inmates (2016)

    "Prison inmates, a remarkably ingenious bunch, are disrupting long-standing methods of smuggling drugs, porn and cellphones the same way online retailers hope to one day deliver socks and underwear to American homes - through the air, with drones."

  • 2016 Virtual Conference - Drones: Implications for Corrections Transcript

    "Hello and welcome to Drones, Implications for Corrections. My name is Marybeth and I will be in the background answering any WebEx technical questions. If you experience technical difficulty at any time during this event please submit your issue in the chat panel and I will assist you. You may also contact WebEx technical support at (866)779-3239. All attendees will be in a listen only mode throughout the duration of today's call. As a reminder today's call is being recorded. To ask a question in the chat simply click on the chat bubble at the top right hand side of...

  • NIC Virtual Conference November 9, 2016 - Drones: Implications of Unmanned Aircraft

    "A Panel Discussion in Three Parts
    • Law Enforcement Applications
    • Threats to Secure Facilities
    • Drone Law"