S.C. Prisons to proceed with purchase device that helps locate contraband cell phones

The Department of Corrections was given approval to proceed with a project to buy and install a system that allows correctional officers to find unauthorized cell phones within the state’s prisons.

Members of the State Fiscal Accountability Authority approved SCDC’s $20,490 request to begin the process of installing the system, which makes it harder for inmates to use smuggled-in cell phones.

The agency has struggled to control the flow of contraband cell phones for years. Agency Director Bryan Stirling has said the installation of the devices will be phased into three state prisons first. The total cost of the project is estimated at $1.4 million.

Gov. Nikki Haley called contraband cell phones a “real big problem” after the accountability authority approved the money to continue forward, and said she’d continue to be supportive of Stirling’s efforts to curtail the use of smuggled-in cell phones.

“It’s terrible when you allow the inmates to have this much control,” Haley said.

This story was originally published September 20, 2016 at 10:57 AM with the headline "S.C. Prisons to proceed with purchase device that helps locate contraband cell phones."