Mobile phones are increasingly penetrating, almost every corner of the globe. Mobile phones are now accepted as a normal part of daily life. The cellphone has become such an integral part of all our lives that the little handsets are being used more and more as pivotal plot-moving tools in movies, TV shows, and even novels. Is it any wonder that incarcerated criminals keep trying to smuggle mobile phones into prisons?
Mobile phones are being used by nefarious, red-handed types to coordinate drug deals, prison escapes, and even harassing snitches on the “outside.” So much so that Florida prisons had confiscated 336 cellphones from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2007. These cellphones were making their way in to the prison system through handset smugglers visiting the jail under false pretenses.
Meet Razor, the cellphone sniffing dog
But, Florida law made no provisions for punishing these cellphone smugglers nor the inmates that tried to use their mobile phones within prison walls. Smugglers would merely be banned from ever visiting the jail and inmates would be placed in confinement. That is, until Wednesday.
A new piece of legislation went into effect Wednesday that makes the introduction of cellphones into the prison system a bona fide felony. Bringing a mobile phone into a jail is now a third-degree felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison. Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil says, “This legislation is a good first step in reducing those problems within our institutions.”
To that end, the Florida Department of Corrections has enlisted the help of a 14-month old Malinois dog. “Razor” will help sniff out cellphones within prisons in an effort to finally put the lid on cellphone smuggling schemes within prisons. “Just like a drug dog is trained to smell drugs, Razor is trained to smell cell phones,” Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said.
Razor, said to be worth $6,500, will be the first dog to ever sniff its way around Florida prison in sole search of cellphones. Go get ’em, Razor!
[Via: TampaTribune]