While announcing a statewide operation against the Nuestra Familia prison gang at the end of August, Attorney General (and gubernatorial candidate) Jerry Brown advocated cellphone jamming technology in California prison facilities to prevent inmates from communicating with the outside world.
According to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, high-ranking members of NF incarcerated in the Secure Housing Unit at Pelican Bay State Prison were smuggling messages to their underlings in less secure units. In turn, they would disseminate their orders via cellphone, written messages or word of mouth to NF sets across the state.
As Rina reported last month, CDCR’s effort to restrict the ability of prison gangs to communicate also involved further restrictions on visits, mail and access to bank accounts. While cellphone jamming would require a change in federal law, prison officials at a minimum-security facility in Kern County have already banned physical contact between inmates and visits.
Regardless of the restrictions imposed on inmates, CDCR might want to take a closer look at its own staff. According to a January report by the National Gang Intelligence Center on gang infiltration of law enforcement, CDCR has a significant problem with gangs holding sway over certain prison guards, who smuggle in goods, give incarcerated gang members unwarranted privileges and conceal their activities. Continue reading
