Oklahoma Prisons Try To Stop Influx Of Cell Phones To Inmates

Oklahoma prison officials are using new technology and a new strike force in an effort to stop the rapidly increasing number of cellphones smuggled to inmates.

The Department of Corrections reports 7,705 cellphones were seized during 2015 -- a seven-fold increase over the 1,070 seized in 2010.

Contraband strike force director Lance Hetmer told The Oklahoman that some inmates use the phones to contact crime victims or to orchestrate additional criminal activity.

The agency is also using 7-foot-tall mobile devices called Cellsense towers to can perform a full body scan that Hetmer says can detect a cellphone hidden inside a person.

Hetmer says phones and other contraband are smuggled in by visitors, inmates working outside prison, packages thrown onto prison grounds and even prison staff will bring contraband to inmates.