The Penal Agency (JVA) Waldeck's radio silence. Reason: Attorney General Katie Hofmeister (CDU) wants to prevent the use of smuggled cell phones for illegal calls in prisons in the country. To this end, the Ministry confirmed to our editorial team that a pilot project was started in Waldeck Prison near Rostock. Over the past few months, several mobile cell phone jammer have been installed to prevent all mobile phones from entering and leaving the prison. For mobile devices that have not yet been registered in the organization, someone recently said: "The person you are currently calling cannot be contacted." The system runs on a computer equipped with special software.
It is still a test run. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesperson Tilo Stolpe said: "At present, the Federal Network Administration only issues a temporary operating license." The final approval requires a trial period of up to one year. It should also be determined whether cell phone jammers are causing interference outside the organization.
Background of the project: Despite strict controls, it is impossible to prevent the smuggling of mobile phones in prisons. Was thrown on the wall at night, hidden in a fish tank, or smuggled into the institution by a lawyer-last year, in prisons in the country, staff fixed 193 mobile phones. There were another 289 mobile phones last year. However, the number of unreported cases may be higher.
Mobile phones are also popular in prisons, but they are expensive. Stolp said: "Illegal mobile phones are a security hazard because prisoners cannot control their contacts with the outside world." Prisoners can use phones to influence witnesses in court proceedings, make escape plans with people outside the organization, or organize drug dealings.
The state budget has been 500,000 euros for Waldeck's project budget. It said that if the assessment is positive, other prisons in the country should also be equipped with blockers. However, this assessment is still in progress. Other federal states have gone a step further. In 2009, the Baden-Württemberg State University Offenburg was the first prison in Germany to install a mobile phone jammer at a price of approximately one million euros.
