"Agents are drowning in a flood of meaningless data, masking alarms that could signal real danger"

"Electronic monitoring (EM) looms high on the list of alternatives to incarceration for corrections officials seeking solutions to overcrowded prisons and budget deficits. First used in 1983, today some 200,000 people in the United States wear some sort of electronic monitor, typically an ankle bracelet required as a condition of probation, parole, bail or house arrest."

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

"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.

"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."

"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."

"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.

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

"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.

"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."