What Are the Main Drone Threats Faced by Correctional Facilities?
Prisons are not typically built with flying threats in mind. For most of history, prisoners couldn’t take advantage of airborne technologies to help them acquire contraband.
But times have changed.
Drones are prolific. Prisons and correctional facilities face challenges from smugglers using UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), sometimes also known as UASs (Unmanned Aerial Systems), to deliver dangerous contraband like cell phones and drugs to inmates. These contraband drops disrupt the airspace around jails and compromise both security and rehabilitation.
Many prisons are already overcrowded and understaffed. A small amount of contraband, just a few prohibited tools in the wrong hands, can do a lot of damage in counteracting rehabilitation efforts, facilitating escape attempts, and increasing the chance of violence within correctional facilities. Reliable CUAS (Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems) technologies can greatly reduce the liabilities associated with contraband coming into prisons. The obstacle is finding CUAS systems that are both affordable and reliable.
Without these technologies, there is little that most prison personnel can do about the current problem. Reliable drone detection methods are highly expensive, often costing more per year than the annual salary of multiple prison guards. As a result of this cost barrier, most prisons lack the resources they need to detect drones, "down" or otherwise mitigate them, find and interdict the drones outside the prison walls, find and confront criminal drone pilots, or conduct enough in-prison searches to recover the drone-delivered contraband. Or, as one contributor to forbes.com, Walter Pavlo, whose similar work has appeared in Rand Corporation publications, has said: "...the BOP (Federal Bureau of Prisons) faces a number of challenges, most notably a shortage of staff, to address the extra duty associated with tracking and intercepting drones."
Spotter Global offers a cost-efficient, under $10k, solution for detecting FAA-compliant drones and their pilots. Learn more about Remote Drone ID™ (RDID™) here. Spotter Global also offers a higher-cost solution for detecting dark drones in the airspace surrounding at-risk properties. Learn more about AX250 Dome Detection here.
Understanding Unauthorized Drone Activity in Prisons
How do drone smuggling operations begin?
Inmates, even within prison walls, aren't entirely without means of communication. Some prisoners have email and phone call privileges, hidden cell phones, the chance to mail letters, the ability to pass communications through prison staff members, etc. What's more, some prisoners have, (either inside the prison or on the outside througn partners and associates) access to money, money that can be used to purchase favors from the outside—favors like drone deliveries.
Willing participants are found and requests are made. Money is transferred, sometimes through digital apps and sometimes in cash. Instructions are given and then the delivery is attempted.
There is risk involved. An individual who is caught smuggling contraband into prisons can face hefty legal repercussions, fines, and maybe significant jail time of their own. But prisoners are willing to pay top dollar for many items, even thousands of dollars, which is often enough to tempt confident smugglers into taking the risk.
Unfortunately, smugglers have some reason to be confident. Based on the amount of contraband found in prisons, many smuggling operations succeed. And the more success drone operators have in smuggling contraband, the more their efforts are likely to be repeated and replicated by more perpetrators.
Robust smuggling rings and operations exist inside prisons and the profit margins for participants can be significant. In one publicized example, a prisoner bought prohibited packs of cigarettes through a prison guard for $100 per pack and then sold those packs to fellow inmates for $350 per pack. In another incident, a prison guard sold 25 cell phones to an inmate for $500 each. The cell phones were then sold to other inmates for $900 each. Big profits like that encourage more smuggling.
The US Bureau of Prisons is aware of these threats and has enacted laws restricting drone flights over prisons and, according to dronelife, the UK has established similar laws. The US Secretary of Transportation is also involved, as 6 USC 124n outlines specific measures for addressing drone incidents around correctional facilities.
However, when laws go unenforced, criminals just keep breaking them. Many worry that Congress doesn’t seem to understand the gravity of the issue enough yet to prioritize the needed enforcement solutions including increasing budgets enough so prisons can afford the needed CUAS systems.
Unfortunately, it's not just a matter of installing one-size-fits-all solutions for all correctional facilities. Drone technology presents a unique challenge to traditional security measures and mitigation methods are still evolving. Using reasonable force against contraband via drone operations is legally and technically complicated and will require multi-layered solutions customized to the unique terrain and needs of particular sites.
The Risk of Contraband Delivery via Drones
Officials are right to fear the weaponization of drones. Recorded incidents of drones smuggling contraband onto facility grounds are rapidly increasing and as the trend goes unchecked, smugglers are likely to become more brazen in the contents and frequency of their deliveries.
Graph Information Source: https://lnkd.in/eTgY8-iW
Apart from the previously mentioned negative effects of drone smuggling into prisons, it’s important to note that the consequences of these drone operations may extend far beyond the realm of correctional facilities. This area of drone smuggling is fast teaching criminals how drones can be used to thwart the law, which will only encourage the development of other criminal drone uses including possible drone-launched cyber attacks, illegal surveillance activities, border smuggling, attacks on critical infrastructure, the terrorism of at peace environments, and more.
In one recent article, featuring the state of Georgia's attempts to track and mitigate drones smuggling contraband into prisons, it was said in an interview that nearly 7 million dollars worth of contraband has been intercepted. Criminals are getting a lot of practice using drones to break the law.
Federal laws are being scrutinized by the Department of Justice and the Federal Aviation Administration to address the risks posed by unmanned systems. However, given the breadth of these problems, to many, it seems the bureaucratic process isn't moving fast enough. Despite years of escalation on the topic of illegal drone activity, the legal red tape around drone mitigation remains robust. The drone flyover protection methods available are still at odds with authorities who are trying to define what using “reasonable force” to interfere with these operations looks like.
Identifying Malicious Drone Incidents at Correctional Facilities
Too many jail operators are sitting defenseless against those using drones to compromise their facilities. Solutions are needed as soon as possible.
Mitigation can only begin once there is detection.
After that, possible actions may include downing the drone with "hard" or "soft" kill methods (the American Jail Association president has mentioned the possible use of net guns), tracking the drone to its delivery point and confiscating the contraband, finding, warning, or even arresting the drone operator, and otherwise using reasonable force to mitigate risks.
How Does Drone Detection Technology Work in Prisons?
Key Features of Modern Drone Detection Systems
Modern systems for detecting drones must be capable of identifying a drone’s presence across all terrain types and all weather conditions. They must also be able to detect and track both commercial, regulatory-compliant drones as well as non-compliant "dark" drones.
To detect and track FAA-compliant drones, a system must be able to pick up on and read the Remote ID signature broadcasted by the drone. One advantage to these systems is that they can often provide the drone registration number and pilot location as well as the drone location, enabling law enforcement to respond quickly to drone activity, find and appropriately deal with the individual in control of the drone, and, even if the drone pilot escapes, pursue subsequent investigative and legal action by identifying the name of the drone owner through the FAA drone registration database.
Devices such as Spotter Global's RDID can detect FAA-compliant drone activity and their pilots over a wide radius. This device can be easily removed/reinstalled in new locations to protect against newly emerged threats/new patterns of drone activity, a feature that administrators of urgent-need and temporary locations will appreciate.
As stealth drone operations become more and more common in areas of armed conflict (such as in the Ukraine-Russia conflict) prison security teams and local law enforcement agencies are also increasingly concerned about "dark drones". These drones emit no Remote ID or radio broadcast signature, navigating instead through autonomous navigation systems, fiber optic spools, or other means that allow them to avoid both radio detection and radio jamming.
Instead of detecting radio broadcasts then, dark drone detection systems must use other means. Spotter Global's AX250 uses precise radio waves to detect the physical body of drones as they fly. This ensures dark drone detection in all radio and EM (electromagnetic) environments, low-light hours, and obscuring weather conditions, frustrating their ability to carry out stealth missions.
As for mitigation, the most common method is radio jamming. Radio jammers can effectively disrupt incoming UAS units by interfering with their radio communications with their pilot. As soon as a drone is detected in an at-risk area, radio frequency jamming or direct contact with the pilot are usually the best means of getting the drone to land. Hard kill methods, while less likely to be approved, do exist and only future legislation will tell whether prisons will be allowed to use them.
Note also that hard kill methods require more precise tracking. A radio jammer can jam any drone within its range, not requiring any precise coordinates or aiming. The direction of detections matters for hard kill solutions however with precise tracking information required to have a chance of succeeding in mitigation.
Challenges in Implementing Drone Detection Technology
One of the key challenges in rapidly mitigating UAS activity in restricted areas, again lies in the limited range of mitigation methods legally allowed. Most drone interdiction methods including radio frequency jamming are restricted by law to very few authorized personnel and locations.
Costs can be prohibitive as well. Both drone detection and drone mitigation technologies are still fairly new and can be expensive to purchase, install, and maintain. Consultation with industry experts is recommended to find the most cost-effective and compatible options for individual sites.
Note that Spotter Global perimeter security solutions routinely reduce security costs by 20-60%. Spotter Global products include robust integration capacities and high reliability. Spotter Global's industry-leading solution for standard (FAA-compliant) drone intrusions, the Remote Drone ID (RDID), is one of the lowest-cost solutions on the market.
Integrating Drone Detection with Existing Security Measures
Neal Parsons, a research forensic scientist with the Criminal Justice Testing and Evaluation Consortium, has said, “No one drone detection technology is a panacea; they all have their strengths and limitations...The most promising strategy against illicit drone activity is a multilayered approach that merges sensor capabilities to overcome the performance gaps of an individual technology. This is especially important given the high variability in drone designs and functionality."
Integration is crucial for maximal security system effectiveness as well as overall system cost-effectiveness. The better the pieces of the system work together, the less energy and resources are wasted trying to bridge their incompatibilities and the faster and more reliably the system can take care of threats. See a full list of Spotter Global's integration partners, including PTZ Camera and VMS system manufacturers, here.
What Counter Drone Solutions Are Available for Prisons?
Exploring Active and Passive Counter-Drone Technologies
Prisons can't afford to simply monitor the contraband-carrying drones intruding into their site and do nothing else. For the protection of prison staff, inmates, and the surrounding community, illegal drone threats need to be mitigated.
Passive security systems record intrusions and gather data on incidents, but otherwise, they don't do much to support real-time responses to ongoing drone intrusions. Active systems on the other hand detect threats early and, when threats cross preset thresholds (either by appearing in the system's monitoring area at all or intruding into customer-set alarm zones), alert the appropriate personnel or law enforcement, trigger automated deterrence and defense measures, etc.
Radar systems, especially when integrated with a site's other security measures through software like NetworkedIO™, can monitor wide areas, track targets over a map of site-specific customer-set alarm zones, trigger deterrence measures, alert vital personnel, and more, turning a passive security system into an active one.
How Can Prisons Improve Their Protection Against Drone Threats?
Enhancing Perimeter Security to Prevent Drone Intrusion
A drone security system with at least one reliable detection technology and one mitigation method is good. A system with multiple layers of detection, deterrence, and mitigation is better. A custom-built security design, made for the unique needs of the site in question, that includes the best technologies for the site's needs, custom alarm zones, and protocols prepared for the most-likely and worst-case security scenarios is best.
Prison security managers should work with experienced security systems integrators and security technology technicians to ensure the best perimeter security system for their site. For the sake of both overall cost and security, priority should be given to force-multiplying security measures, including command and control technologies, like Spotter Global's NetworkedIO (NIO), and highly-integratable technologies.
Spotter Global radars when linked to NIO can integrate with most security cameras, VMS systems, as well as various deterrence measures such as floodlights, auditory alarms, hyperspikes, etc.
Training Security Personnel to Handle Drone Incidents
Whichever security monitoring and response technologies are employed at a corrections facility, all prison security personnel should be trained to:
- Expect drone perimeter breaches
- Use all security interfaces, enabling them to collect and gain access to as much real-time information as possible on live drone perimeter breaches
- Know what mitigation and response measures are allowed and how to easily execute all approved measures as quickly as possible
- Coordinate with local law enforcement, including how to contact and best collaborate with law enforcement personnel during both active mitigation efforts and investigation efforts
- How to approach and best confront one who has been caught using UASs to deliver drugs
- How to appropriately collect and preserve physical evidence relating to drone contraband smuggling so as to support investigations
What Are the Future Trends in Drone Detection Technology for Prisons?
Predicting the Future of Drone Threats in Correctional Facilities
As correctional facilities grapple with emerging threats, predicting the future of drone use is crucial. With about 1.2 million individuals incarcerated in the U.S. and the drone market growing rapidly by the year, the potential for the further escalation of drones smuggling contraband into correctional facilities is alarming.
Drone technology is evolving rapidly, and much of the challenge for future prison security teams will be staying ahead of those advancements. Or at least catching up as soon as they can, hopefully with the support they need from legislators and regulators.
Until then, be sure that the thing being much discussed on the Spotter blog will be Preventing Harm™ to prison guards, inmates, citizens, soldiers, and anyone else we can reach with our security solutions. So if you enjoy reading various articles on drone security and intrusion detection, stop by the Spotter Global blog again soon!