This is an official announcement from Attorney General Chris Carr’s office.
Attorney General Chris Carr is urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take immediate action to allow the use of cell phone jammers in state prisons and local jails. The FCC currently prohibits the use of cell phone “jammers,” a prohibition that extends to state and local governments. Yet, in prisons and jails across the country, contraband cell phones are being used to plan and organize violent attacks and other criminal activity, posing a real and significant safety risk to correctional officers, visitors, inmates, and the public at large.
“The simplest way to protect the public from the dangers of contraband cell phones is to allow the use of cell phone jamming technology in prisons and jails, but the FCC continues to thwart our efforts,” Carr said. "This outdated guidance limits legitimate law enforcement tools, creates dangerous conditions for correctional officers, and allows for the expansion of criminal networks inside and outside of prisons. We are committed to fighting violent crime wherever it occurs, which is why we continue to call on the federal government to remove this huge barrier to public safety."
In Georgia alone, 8,074 contraband cell phones were confiscated in 2023, and 5,482 have been confiscated so far in 2024. Recently, an incarcerated leader of the notorious street gang "Yves Saint Laurent Squad" used a contraband cell phone to order the stabbing of an 88-year-old Georgia veteran. A North Carolina gang leader was able to order the kidnapping of a prosecutor's father from his cell phone while in prison. In California, prison gangs use contraband cell phones to order murders and drug trafficking within the prison system.
“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 correspondence, Carr indicated that the policy of the FCC is rooted in a statute that was established in the early 1990s, a time before prison inmates began to use contraband cell phones to strategize and participate in illegal and hazardous endeavors.
Carr also remarked that 47 USC § 333 does not restrict the FCC from changing its position to permit state agencies to use cell phone jammers in prisons. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has acknowledged the potential utility of these signal jammers and has been authorized to implement them in several federal prisons, with at least one located in Georgia.