Drones and Prisons: How New Tech Led to a New Problem

Drones have become more and more affordable for the public to use. While this may be a good thing for recreational users who long for cheaper drones, it can be quite a menacing tool in the wrong hands. Anyone can purchase a drone these days. Drones with cameras and 10+ minutes of flight time can be bought at most tech stores for under $100. Some even go as low as under $50, especially during sales.

Prison Posing Problems

The problem with more drone availability is that anyone can simply purchase a drone for his or her own personal needs. This is the case in prisons, where a growing problem may soon require stricter drone regulations. It seems it can be fairly easy for inmates inside prisons (US and Ireland had incidents for example) of drones delivering goods. These can be as mundane as takeout food from a nearby shop, to contraband like weapons, phones, and drugs.

Droning in on Delivery

Delivery drones have been a great thing for the speedy arrival of items. Online companies have started opting for delivery drones as their primary methods, with the next few years looking to make it at a grander scale. They can carry small, lightweight items from point A to B at the fraction of the time. With that in mind, inmates use these stealthy, tiny, and hard-to-detect drones to get them items from the outside world.

The only reason they are caught is that they get careless. Security cameras are of course a thing in security prisons. While there are blind spots these prisoners exploit to launch and land drones, the flight itself is visible on camera. These lead to investigations, which in turn lead to capturing of said drones. Tighter security takes effect, but every now and again, a drone gets through their defenses. What would be the end game for this drone warfare in prisons? Is delivering goods to and from inmates and the outside world the end of it all? Or will something more sinister take place?

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON

in

Drones

Leave a Comment