KEY POINTS:
Corrections Department head Barry Matthews is confident that new cellphone-blocking technology will silence inmates making illegal calls from behind bars.
In what is claimed as a world first, the technology will be installed in prisons under a $5 million deal signed by Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor with telecommunications
companies Telecom and Vodafone
Other measures, such as detection devices, will be used in prisons which are located too close to members of the public legitimately using cellphones.
Cellphones are already banned in prisons, but their prevalence has been rising in recent years - confiscations of phones and components rose from 250 in 2003 to 1047 in 2005.
The issue came to light again in the past week when it was revealed a Rimutaka Prison inmate used his cellphone to organise the importation of methamphetamine with a street value of $1 million from Thailand.
National Party law and order spokesman Simon Power said the case showed the Government had been too slow to tackle the cellphone scourge.
He said the announcement of the programme was a desperate measure to deflect attention from several mini scandals in recent days, such as the disclosure of the drugs ring.
Others included revelations of a $1 million annual bill for vandalism in prisons, Corrections estimating a $1.2 billion bill to upgrade prisons over the next seven years and street gang members in prison in Auckland posting cellphone pictures of themselves on the internet.
"That's a bad few days that are not going to be wallpapered over by action to block cellphones that is many, many months overdue," Mr Power said.
He questioned whether the crackdown would be effective in prisons in built-up areas.
Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews said all prison sites would be covered.
"I am confident that regardless of the site, including those in urban areas such as Mt Eden, Corrections has a mix of solutions to prevent the use of cell phones by prisoners or any other person within the prison confines," he said. "In the case of Mt Eden this includes jamming and hard wire detectors."
Mr O'Connor said the Corrections Department had been working for the past four years on ways to quash cellphone use in prisons, and spent the past year testing about 30 options.
It was the first time in the world cellphone blocking technology had been used in this way to tackle crime.
The department was also working toward stricter security and a single point of entry in all prison sites.
In June, Mr O'Connor announced amendments to the Corrections Act which would boost search powers and stiffen penalties for people bringing communications devices into prisons.
Under the amendment, any inmate, staff member or contractor found with a cellphone inside prison parameters would face a prison term of up to one year, or fine of up to $5000.
The new laws were needed as cellphone technology changed and the phones became smaller, making them easier to smuggle into prisons, Mr O'Connor said.
Corrections staff were not allowed to do cavity searches of people entering prisons, although if they suspected someone was smuggling a phone in internally, they could contact police.
Mr Power said there were "significant holes" in the technology and it would be "nowhere near as effective" as the public had been led to believe.
- NZPA
