Some Texas prisons will soon be equipped with technology that blocks most cell phone calls.
Inmates are not supposed to have cell phones. But officials at the Stiles Prison Unit in Beaumont and the McConnell Unit outside of Corpus Christi say it’s been a challenge to keep them out.
Brad Livingston is the Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He explains the technology limits which calls can be made.
“It allows cell phone signals to be sent successfully only to the extent that the number is pre-programmed in," Livingston says. "All other cell phones are defeated and the call is not connected.”Livingston says the system isn’t being paid for by the state. Instead, TDCJ has modified their contract with the company that runs the prison pay phone system to allow prisoners to use more minutes.
The cell phone blocking technology should be in place by the end of the year.
