Prison drones tech outdated
THE Prison Service spent hundreds of thousands of euro on ‘interceptor’ drones that are now lying unused in boxes, it has emerged.
The came as Irish Prison Service boss Caron McCaffrey insisted in an interview with us today that the organisation is cracking down on the gangs smuggling huge quantities of drugs into our jails system.
The Star has learned that a number of drones, purchased by the
IPS for an estimated six figure sum, now sit idle in unopened boxes.
The drones were meant to be flown by trained prison officers in an effort to detect drones dropping drugs and illegal phones inside but a decision was then made after the fact that the tech was outdated.
Karl Dalton, General Secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: “Those responsible for failing to deliver a fully functioning drone technology should be held responsible. The market is awash with such tech. It is not acceptable our members are still grappling with this smuggling problem on the ground, without the necessary support.”
In an interview at the POA conference, Ms McCaffrey revealed recent high profile meetings with gardai and prison heads in a bid to identify and crack down on the criminals smuggling the drugs in.
Context
But she added: “We need to put the drone thing in context. So Mountjoy, for example, we’ve had two drone incursions in the last eight weeks.”
She said it is a “concern” but insisted if there is a drop of drugs, CCTV should be “examined” and “the people picking up” isolated “to limit the ability for them to get those drugs into the landing”, and they’re “dealt with appropriately through discipline”.