An attempt to deliver drugs and cell phones via drone to inmates happened at Lewis Prison in Buckeye, Arizona. The attempt was unsuccessful, the drone crashed into an area only accessible to corrections officers. Prison guards were able to retrieve the drone and package. The package contained two cellphones and several freezer bags filled with marijuana.
This is the first known incident involving a drone delivering contraband into an Arizona state prison. State and federal prison facilities across the nation have experienced an increase in the number of drone encounters. Drones are a real security challenge for prison officials when drones smuggle weapons, drugs, cell phones or other contraband into prisons. Prison officials expressed an interest in improving their technological defenses, especially as criminals start to use more advanced technology.
An ideal solution would be to jam the radio frequencies that drones use. Due to FCC rules jamming radio frequencies requires special permission and is currently not legal in most places. Jamming can interfere with the bandwidths used by other aircraft or communications systems.
Drone detection companies, such as Airsight, are staying ahead of security challenges by offering various drone countermeasures. We use RF technology, sensors, video/audio feeds and triangulation to detect drones, track their flight path and locate the drone pilot. These countermeasures can integrate into your existing security infrastructure.