Dogs Sniff Out Prisoner Cell Phones

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-07-27 15:30:00 UTC
Topics:

We already know that dogs can sniff out drugs, bombs, cancer and bedbugs. Now there's one more to add to the list: cell phones. No, the cell-phone-sniffing canines aren't being used to patrol high schools (at least not yet); these dogs are the latest tool to root out prison contraband.

Prisoner  access to cell phones is a controversial topic in the world of criminal justice. Many inmates smuggle in cell phones to stay in touch with their families, since the cost of using the prison phones can be prohibitive. The problem is that not every inmate is using them to phone home. Instead, phones can be a way to conduct criminal activity from within their cells. According to The Tennessean, cell phones have been used to plan prison breaks, including an escape in Mississippi last year where a corrections officer was shot. The warden at one of Tennessee's maximum security institutions says they also get reports "pretty often" from citizens who received threatening calls from within prison walls.

Whether inmate access to cell phones should be restricted across the board, or only when it comes to the most likely offenders, this is just one more way that dogs can help fight crime. And most working dogs love their jobs.

The Tennessee Department of Corrections plans to train three of their drug-sniffers to also catch the scent of cell phones. Rhode Island already has cell phone dogs and says they're working out well. However, at $7,000 per dog for training, it's not cheap (working dogs never are). But if the dogs are multi-tasking, looking for drugs and phones, then that probably makes it a little easier to justify their ongoing line-item in the budget. After confiscating 1,684 cell phones across 12 state prisons last year, Tennessee officials are hoping the investment will pay off.

A working dog's sense of smell can be several million times stronger than a human's sense. It's unknown exactly how the dogs detect cell phones, but their handlers believe it has to do with the battery. It seems like there's no limit to what a dog's nose can know.

Photo credit: JoshuaDavisPhotography

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Has the Animal Rights Movement Gone Too Far?
NEXT STORY:
Super Bowl Countdown: 5 Actions in 5 Days to Protest Skechers' Dog Racing Ad

COMMENTS (1)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.