Federal, state officials join in Little Rock to announce national program to jam contraband prison cell phones

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Officials joined together in the Little Rock Justice Building on Friday to call for approval of a program to jam contraband prison cell phones.

Attorney General Tim Griffin was joined by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), FCC Chair Brendan Carr, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and members of the state Board of Corrections and law enforcement officials, including the head of the National Sheriff’s Association, in announcing the program.

Carr said this is the first time the FCC would vote to allow prisons to jam phones. This is a break from FCC policy that has consistently voted to prevent jamming, since it interferes with broadcast signals.

Carr, along with Cotton and Griffin, toured Varner prison prior to the announcement, the site of the Arkansas death row for men. While there, they were shown confiscated cell phones.

“Today’s tour of Varner Prison in Arkansas reaffirmed what we’ve long known—contraband cellphones are a real and ongoing problem in our correctional system,” Cotton said. These phones are a security risk that allow criminals to coordinate crimes while sitting behind bars.”

Cotton had previously introduced legislation for cell phone jamming in prisons with Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN).

“Public safety is government’s first priority, and the evidence clearly shows that contraband cell phones pose a direct threat to Arkansans’ security,” Sanders said. “President Trump is restoring order and delivering on his promises to the American people by empowering the men and women of law enforcement to do what they selflessly signed up to do – protect and serve.”

The Varner tour was followed by a roundtable in Griffin’s office on the issue, which included Department of Corrections Secretary Lindsay Wallace.

“Thousands of contraband cellphones have poured into prisons across the country, and inmates have been using them to plan further criminal activity, including assault, murder, and aiding criminal enterprises,” Griffin said. “I applaud Chairman Carr and the FCC for moving forward with a rule that would allow correctional facilities to use jamming solutions to combat contraband cellphones, and I appreciate the leadership of Senator Cotton and Congressman David Kustoff (R-TN) on this issue.”