An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) carrying marijuana, tobacco, and several cell phones crashed into the prison yard of the Washington State Prison in Georgia on Monday at 10.45 p.m. The delivery of this contraband was not immediately connected to any particular inmate, according to the New York Post.
Like clockwork, once per month (at least), reports surface of prison authorities and corrections officers encountering unwelcome drones at their facilities. Cell phones and porn have been a popular order by inmates, as well as prison-break materials or drugs. Drones have simply become too affordable and practical for this not to become a smart, modern way of transporting materials in and out of places.
The Department of Corrections would be wise to consult professionals in the drone industry in all aspects the anti-drone field. Perhaps stricter geofencing could help, as well as training prison guards how to operate drone guns. Also, surveillance on all sides of these facilities needs to be improved, if drones have been casually whizzing around them for months. It’s a complex problem with no simple solution, but it seems to be high time to pay strict attention to this now.
According to the Post, a UAV recently dropped contraband into another prison yard in Ohio, which caused a riot to break out amongst prisoners. With as much violence as exists already in prisons, drones should not become the new reason for it. We’ll keep you posted on this next month, when the next incident occurs and, perhaps, some concrete plans to combat these moments have been hashed out.