S.C. Prisons to Test Jamming Cell Phone Equipment

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina prison officials say they will test equipment that can jam cellphone signals for inmates using contraband phones next month.

But state Corrections Director Bryan Stirling on Thursday told a committee of lawmakers reviewing spending on permanent projects that technology isn't the only thing he needs.

Stirling is installing 50-foot (15-meter) high netting to prevent drugs, phones and other contraband from being thrown over fences and hopes it is high enough to stop T-shirt guns too.

Stirling says he needs money to install systems that can detect radio signals used by drones because people outside can now fly them right over the fence to an individual prisoner.

The jamming equipment will be tested at Lee Correctional Institution, where seven inmates died in a riot in April.