New Counter-drone Partnership Fights Prison Contraband

A Texas-based public-safety company is teaming up with a counter-drone firm to stop prison contraband drops via drone.

Securus Technologies announced last week the selection of AeroDefense as a provider of drone-detection solutions.

New Jersey-based AeroDefense will deploy its AirWarden Radio-Frequency-based drone and pilot detection, location and alert system across client correctional facilities.

“Contraband delivery via drones is a threat to both corrections staff and inmate safety,” a Securus spokesperson stated in a press release, adding:

“In response to our customers’ needs to mitigate this threat, we conducted an exhaustive market review of available drone detection technologies and determined AeroDefense‘s RF drone and pilot detection system is the most effective, affordable solution available. Combined with our market-tested Wireless Containment Solution, we offer a thorough deterrent to the introduction of contraband cellphones into the prisons we serve.”

Rogue drones are fast replacing the old-school, Shawshank-style fixers who can sneak drugs, weapons and cell phones into the hands of inmates.

For example:

• In 2017, a lifer prisoner in South Carolina allegedly used a drone to deliver toolshe used in a Fourth of July escape attempt.
• In 2016, the Cayman Islands Prison Service launched a drone trainingprogram to patrol prison facilities in search of would-be smugglers. Local UAV firm AirVu now provides imagery quadcopters along with intensive training to prison guards in an attempt to quell a common problem in the island’s prison system– drug smuggling.
• A drone delivered a packet of drugs to an Ohio prison in 2015 including almost a quarter-ounce of heroin, more than 2 ounces of marijuana and more than 5 ounces of tobacco.

“To ensure the AirWarden product was effective, legal and proven before entering the market, over the past two years we focused on developing drone detection technology based on Internet security techniques,” AeroDefense founder and CEO Linda Ziemba said.

An early adopter of Securus’ anti-drone efforts was the Georgia Department of Corrections – the department deployed AeroDefense last year.

A spokesperson notes:

“Out of numerous tests with other drone detection equipment from virtually all the big companies that have drone detection technologies, AeroDefense stands apart from others. It’s also one of the few that has completed extensive testing with government entities and with many different drones. The system always detects and never fails.”

AirWarden alerts security officers of nearby errant drone activity and can track UAV flights as well as the user’s location.