Prisoners' cell phone use a growing Nevada concern

Thirty years ago this month, when Charles Manson, one of the most violent and depraved mass murderers in U.S. history was sentenced to life in a California penitentiary, Americans thought they had heard the last of him.

But they were wrong.

Now 78, Manson is once again in the news, having been caught with a smuggled cell phone, a crime that is escalating nationwide and creating concern in Nevada as well.

Nevada, like most states, has a law that prohibits prisoners from possessing cell phones. Passed by the Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Jim Gibbons in 2007, the legislation laid out in Nevada Revised Statue 212.65 states that prisoners in Nevada institutions may not "carry into, possess, or have in their custody or control a portable communications device" or cell phone and that those who violate this law "are guilty of a Category D felony."

Despite the law, however, state penal officials say attempts still are being made by prisoners and their accomplices to sneak cell phones into Nevada's eight prisons and nine correction camps that currently house more than 14,000 inmates.

Before his retirement two months ago and following the escape of an inmate who had been smuggled a cell phone by a prison dental assistant, Nevada Corrections Department Director Howard Skolnik added to his staff a dog trained to sniff out the contraband phones, which are becoming increasingly small and lightweight, can be hidden in body cavities, and have been used to transmit both audio and data including written messages and streaming video.

Prisoners today are using the phones to plot escapes, create disturbances and coordinate other criminal activities with street gangs, warned Skolnik, who recommended before he left office that further legislation be added to the existing law in order to quell the cell phone usage.

That new legislation is now making its way through the 2011 Legislature following last week's approval by the Assembly Judiciary Committee of AB 11 that would add the Correction Department's investigators and its inspector general to a list of peace officers who would be permitted to use "trap" or trace devices to ferret out the illegal cell phones used by prisoners, their accomplices or prison escapees.

Following his testimony in support of the bill before the Assembly Judiciary Committee, current prison chief Greg Cox said that "cell phone use by inmates is a nationwide concern" and its prevention "is also a growing problem in Nevada."

Also supporting the bill is committee member Kelly Kite, R-Minden, who represents portions of Carson City, Douglas and Washoe counties.

Kite said that unauthorized use of cell phones by prisoners is a "growing problem" as evidenced by the escape of the felon who had been given the phone by a prison dental employee, the increasing abilities of prisoners to secret smaller and more technologically advanced phones on their persons, and the realization of the prison director that the problem is so acute that he ordered a phone-sniffing canine drafted into service.

"Prisoners have a lot of spare time on their hands and are always trying to find ways to beat the system. We must find ways to challenge the offenders and stop the smuggling before it becomes a major statewide problem," Kite added.

Committee Chairman William Horne and Vice Chairman James H. Ohrenschall, both attorneys and Las Vegas Democrats, agreed with Kite's assessment of the problem.

Horne said, "Most of our prisons are double-fenced and visitors are thoroughly searched, but cell phones sometimes are smuggled inside. The 2007 bill cracked down on the problem but today we need new measures."

Ohrenschall added, "It has been coming to light how widespread the smuggling problem is, and I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues on how to address it."

The problem also has been addressed at the national level.

Last July, Congress passed a bill prohibiting inmates from using cell phones in federal prisons and it was signed into law the following month by President Barack Obama. The measure also mandates up to a year in prison for individuals attempting to smuggle the phones to federal prisoners.

A separate bill, not yet passed, would allow federal and state prison officials to apply to the FCC for permission to jam cell phone signals in correctional facilities. The measure, though, faces opposition from cell phone company officials who say the jamming would disrupt telephone conversations by innocent individuals using the phones near penal institutions.