TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Department of Corrections Commissioner George
Hayman have written to the leaders of the
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science
and Transportation, urging Senate support
for a bill that would allow states, with permission
from the Federal Communications Commission,
to install devices that would prevent or interfere
with cell phone communications within specific
correctional facilities.
The
letter was sent July 27 to the committee’s
chairman, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, and
the ranking committee member, Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison. In the letter, Attorney General
Milgram and Commissioner Hayman explain that
as we work to remove violent gang offenders
from our state’s communities, our efforts
are undermined by the fact that imprisoned
gang members can use illegal cell phones to
communicate with gang members outside the
prison in order to direct gang activities,
intimidate witnesses or even plan escapes.
They cite one example where a conference call
was intercepted involving two inmates in different
prisons and a third inmate in a county jail
who were plotting retaliation against another
gang member.
Attorney
General Milgram remarked with regard to the
letter: “We are working cooperatively
across all levels of law enforcement in New
Jersey to target the command structures of
violent street gangs. By locking up gang leaders,
we have been able to disrupt their criminal
enterprises and substantially reduce the drug
trafficking and gun violence in our communities.
However, it is essential to our continued
success that we prevent these leaders from
using contraband cell phones to conduct business
as usual from behind bars. This federal legislation
is critical.”
Commissioner
Hayman remarked: “The ability to monitor
and completely control inmate communications
with others both inside and outside the correctional
facility is one of the most important security
tools at our disposal. While nothing will
replace good correctional management and trained
professional staff, additional technological
support is needed to combat this challenge.
The use of cell phone jamming technology is
a cost-effective way to solve this problem.
As I indicated in my letters to the Congressional
Delegation in April, I look forward to working
with you and your colleagues to permit the
FCC, upon request, to grant waivers of subsection
(a) of the Communications Act and allow for
the use of cell phone jamming devices at our
prisons and jails.”
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