Warning over drone security threat to prisons
There were nine attempts to use drones to infiltrate prisons in England and Wales in the first five months of 2015, according to the Ministry of Justice.
Among them was a drone carrying mobile phones and drugs that was intercepted by guards at Bedford Prison in March.
The use of drones is an “emerging threat”, Eve Richard from the National Offender Management Service told a defence and security conference in London, the Independent reported.
There were four known attempts in 2014.
Even the highest security prisons are vulnerable to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the newspaper quoted intelligence analyst Ms Richard as saying.
There is no evidence that drones have been used to successfully smuggle contraband items into prisons, but there is potential for it to happen in the future, she reportedly told a briefing at the Defence and Security Equipment International exhibition in London.
“In a nutshell, our intelligence suggests that the use of UAVs to release items into our prisons is an emerging threat. It’s not a huge issue at the moment but there is the potential for it to increase and become more of an issue,” the Independent quoted her as saying.
In August, a drone was found in the grounds of Norwich prison, while another was found caught in fencing at Liverpool prison recently.
‘Organised gangs’
Mark Icke, vice-president of the Prison Governors Association, said he believed the drones were mostly being used to try to smuggle drugs into prisons.
“What we’ve got happening in the prison system at the moment is that we have younger more advanced criminal networks operating in and around prison systems,” he said.
“We’re talking about big, organised gangs, and they’re not about disorder, they’re about making money. There is a huge mark up on drugs in prison..
He said the use of drones was “an emerging threat and something we’re concerned about”, but that prison guards had limited control over preventing them.
Security caging around windows and overhead netting in prison yards, similar to that used in high security prisons, would help reduce the threat, he said.
