COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Federal officials say they’re encouraged by a test of a jamming technology some hope will help combat the threat posed by inmates with smuggled cellphones.
The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday that they received “promising results” from the test conducted in April at a maximum-security South Carolina prison.
Assistant Attorney General Beth Williams said it was the first time federal officials have collaborated with officials at a state prison for such a test.
The test marked progress on the state level quest to stamp out cellphones, which officials have long said represent the top security threat within their institutions.
Jamming technology was tested last year at a federal prison, but a decades-old law says state or local agencies don’t have the authority to jam the public airwaves.
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