"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.

"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."

"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."

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

"Mobile devices support life-saving counseling and help inmates develop real-world job skills that may decrease recidivism."

"In 2015, the United States Department of Education announced the Second Chance Pell Pilot Program, aimed at supporting postsecondary education programs for people in prison. The success of such programs and the students they serve depends on the quality of partnerships between colleges and corrections agencies. To support the implementation of new partnerships and strengthen new ones, this fact sheet shares lessons learned from the development and implementation of Vera’s Unlocking Potential: Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary Education demonstration project, launched in 2012."

"Thhis month, inmates in more than 100 American penal institutions will begin receiving federal financial aid for higher education for the first time in more than two decades.

Adding Up the True Cost of Tax Breaks for Big Tech’s Data Centers
That’s good news for men and women in prison - 95 percent of whom will be released back into the community at some point. But bringing the benefits of a college degree to the greatest number of incarcerated people will require fundamentally changing how we deliver educational programming to prisoners."

"For most of the developed world, internet access is a given. Google, Amazon, Facebook offer a privileged world of communication, entertainment, shopping and education that many of us take for granted. Unless, that is, you happen to be incarcerated.

"The prison system has been notoriously slow to adopt new technology. That needs to change."

"Clear back on February 4, 2013, I gave some predictions for the coming year. I never finished my thoughts, getting waylaid by co-writing a book on Internet investigations. Sorry about that. One of my last comments was… “what about the remainder of my 2013 predictions, such as sex offender Internet restrictions?” It would obviously be silly to continue on with my Nostradamus imitation this late in the year. But what about my ending comment concerning Internet restrictions? Where are they? As luck would have it we had a lot movement on Internet restrictions that warrant mentioning."