The Urban Institute and our partners—CNA Corporation, Correctional Leaders Association, the American Correctional Association, and criminal justice consultants John Shaffer and Joe Russo—conducted a needs assessment to (1) understand the scope and severity of contraband cell phones in prisons across the country, (2) identify which interdiction technologies and strategies agencies are using, and (3) assess the knowledge gaps related to correctional practice and contraband interdiction.

Why this matters

Correctional agencies around the country consider contraband cell phones a major challenge to institutional safety and security. Yet there is a lack of systematic information on the prevalence of the issue and the strategies used to address it, leaving much to be learned. Without better data, correctional administrators and policymakers must rely on anecdotal evidence pertaining to specific jurisdictions when conceptualizing solutions. This report provides an overview of the scope of contraband cell phones across 20 state departments of corrections, and the practices and strategies they have employed to combat them. In addition, it highlights key knowledge gaps in contraband interdiction identified by correctional administrators.

Key takeaways

Key takeaways from this study include the following:

• Our survey of state correctional administrators revealed that, across 20 states, prison authorities recovered more than 25,000 cell phones in their facilities in 2020.
• Respondents noted that these devices enter prisons through a variety of sources, including staff, incarcerated individuals returning from activities outside prisons, visitors, and other external sources (mail, throwovers, and drones). This has resulted in hundreds of punitive actions taken against these groups, including disciplinary reports, terminations, and arrests and convictions.
• More than 85 percent of survey respondents believe that, once cell phones are inside a facility, they pose serious problems for the overall security of the institution, the introduction of other contraband items, and the safety of staff and incarcerated individuals. Sixty-nine percent perceive contraband cell phones to be a serious threat to members of the public.
• Authorities therefore employ a range of technological strategies (like surveillance cameras, metal detectors, and managed access systems) and nontechnological strategies (like pat searches, cell shakedowns, and K9 units) to detect, disable, and remove cell phones from their prisons.
• Roughly three-quarters of respondents expressed interest in more information about promising practices, selecting strategies, and assessing the effectiveness of these strategies.

How we did it

The project team created a brief survey, distributed in March 2021 to the 50 state departments of corrections. The survey asked about their management of contraband cell phones during calendar year 2020, and strategies and procedures they used to detect, confiscate, or remove these devices from facilities. The research team conducted statistical analysis of survey data from a final sample that represented 40 percent of all state departments of corrections.