Correctional service tries to tackle ‘evolving threat’ of drone smugglers
The Correctional Service of Canada says it’s taking steps to combat the “evolving threat” of drones that drop contraband into prisons after B.C. guards held a rally to call attention to violence that they say is fuelled by the smuggling.
The correctional service said in a statement Thursday that it’s using a “layered approach” to respond to the smugglers by procuring drone detection equipment and piloting a program using cellphone detection technology.
Other measures include using body scanners, dogs trained to find electronic devices, and “infrastructure enhancements” at prisons, the service said.
Corrections officials said they’re confident that the measures coupled with efforts of front-line prison staff will help curb contraband smuggled into prisons.
The correctional service says it currently lacks “legal authority” to use drone-jamming technology, but is exploring both the “legal processes and feasibility” of eventually using the tech.
The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers held a protest in Abbotsford on Thursday to highlight what it says is a wave of violence driven by drone drops of drugs and weapons, with violent incidents in the 2022-23 fiscal year up 45 per cent from a year earlier.
John Randle, a regional president with the union, said Wednesday that a variety of anti-drone technology is “readily available,” but has yet to make it into the country’s prisons, where drones dropping contraband have contributed to the deteriorating situation “almost on a daily basis.”
Randle said he recently attended a trade show for drone technology, where he saw radar detection systems, futuristiclooking rifles that fire pulses to disable drones, and tech that allows guards to take control of drones mid-air if they enter prison airspace.
Canada’s prison watchdog has also suggested that prisons employ new technology in the battle against drone smugglers.
In his 2021/2022 report, correctional investigator Ivan Zinger wrote that implementing “more sophisticated drone detection systems will assist in reducing the presence of drugs within correctional facilities.”
Zinger’s report said there was a “recent and dramatic upsurge” in inmates failing drug tests, indicating “the insatiable demand for drugs behind bars.”
Prisons elsewhere in the world have been dealing with drone smuggling for years, and the U.K. government announced a new law in January prohibiting drones from flying within 400 metres of prisons.
But not all smugglers have gone high-tech.
Early last year, Randle highlighted two incidents of carrier pigeons fitted with tiny backpacks filled with drugs that were found at Matsqui prison and Pacific Institution in the Fraser Valley.