Federal Action on Cell Phone Jammers in Prisons

This statement is released by the office of Attorney General Chris Carr.

Attorney General Chris Carr is pressing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take urgent measures to enable the use of cell phone jammers in state prisons and local jails. The FCC currently enforces a ban on cell phone signal jammers, a restriction that applies to state and local entities. Despite this, contraband cell phones are being used in correctional facilities across the nation to plan violent attacks and engage in other criminal activities, which presents a significant safety risk to correctional personnel, visitors, inmates, and the public.

Carr remarked that the easiest method to protect the public from the hazards of contraband cell phones is to permit the deployment of cell phone jamming technology in correctional institutions. However, he expressed concern that the FCC continues to hinder these efforts. He indicated that this obsolete guidance limits crucial law enforcement tools, poses risks to correctional officers, and allows for the expansion of criminal enterprises both inside and outside of prisons. He emphasized their resolve to combat violent crime in all settings, urging the federal government to remove this significant impediment to public safety.

In the year 2023, Georgia authorities confiscated 8,074 contraband cell phones, and in 2024, they have already seized 5,482. A recent case highlighted the misuse of such devices when an incarcerated leader of the "Yves Saint Laurent Squad" directed the stabbing of an 88-year-old veteran from Georgia via a contraband cell phone. Moreover, a gang leader from North Carolina successfully orchestrated the kidnapping of a prosecutor's father from his prison cell using a cell phone. In California, prison gangs are reported to use contraband cell phones to facilitate both murders and drug trafficking within the correctional environment.

“There are hundreds of examples across the country of how contraband cell phones in the hands of inmates have been used as lethal weapons and enabled them to continue their criminal activities. We are outraged that these individuals are continuing these activities and endangering the public,” said Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver. “As attempts to infiltrate our prisons with contraband cell phones continue to evolve, access to jamming technology is critical to our ability to combat these attempts. We thank Attorney General Carr for his support of our ongoing commitment to public safety and safe prison operations.”

In his written communication, Carr remarked that the FCC's policy is derived from a statute that was put into effect in the early 1990s, which predates the use of contraband cell phones by prison inmates to orchestrate and engage in unlawful and dangerous conduct.

Carr further stated that 47 USC § 333 does not impose any restrictions on the FCC regarding the modification of its policy to enable state agencies to employ cell phone jammers in prisons. In reality, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons has acknowledged the potential effectiveness of cell phone jammers and has received authorization to use them in various federal prisons, including one in Georgia.