SOUTH CAROLINA (WSPA) — The effort to block contraband cellphones in South Carolina prisons and jails could move forward next month.
In a Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 photo, is photographed against the outer fence of the Lee Correctional Institution, in Bishopville, S.C.,, where he was in charge of preventing contraband from entering the facility before an attempt on his life that was planned with a smuggled cell phone. (AP Photo/Brett Flashnick)
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr announced Wednesday that the commission will vote Nov. 19 on final rules allowing state prisons and jails to jam cellphone signals.
Federal prisons are already authorized to use the technology.
The South Carolina Department of Corrections has pushed for years to implement signal-jamming technology, particularly after a contraband cellphone was used to arrange a hit on Capt. Robert Johnson in 2010.
Johnson, a contraband captain at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, was shot six times at his home but survived. He continues to receive medical treatment related to the attack.
SCDC said cellphone-blocking tests were conducted at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia in 2019 and again several months ago.
South Carolina Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling holds up a cell phone while discussing contraband cell phones outside of Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, S.C., Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Stirling and other law enforcement authorities gathered to discuss a federal indictment of 40 alleged members and associates of a South Carolina gang on racketeering charges ranging from drug and firearm charges to those related to a murder, a kidnapping and two drive-by shootings. (AP Photo/Michelle Liu)
According to the agency, both tests showed the technology worked without interfering with cellphone signals outside prison grounds.
SCDC Director Joel Anderson said the state plans to begin implementing the technology if the commission approves the rules Nov. 19.
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