To-go order

This week on Monitoring Matters, the threat of prison violence delivered hot and ready in 30 minutes or less, or else it’s free.

At least that’s the concern according to a pair of watchdogs keeping tabs on a pair of England high-security prisons. In a report by the BBC, Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor told government officials that weapon smuggling using drones was now commonplace thanks to a lax airspace being maintained above the maximum-security facilities.

While the prisons employed countermeasures in the form of CCTV and anti-drone netting, they had failed to deter the influx of drones that were able to distribute camouflaged contraband for prisoners to pick up during litter patrols. Taylor ventured so far as to say that the deliveries have become so regular that guns could be smuggled into prison.

As coincidence would have it, I just recently finished writing about the threats of drones in the new year, courtesy of some insights provided by Dedrone’s Mary-Lou Smulders. “As departments recognize their effectiveness in various scenarios, the perception of drones will shift, and they will be integrated into core operational frameworks alongside traditional assets like patrol cars while replacing helicopters as a cost-effective and versatile alternative,” she said.

Well, certainly that is proving to be the case already, for the bad guys at least.

Those same watchdogs also warned that if more isn’t done to combat this recent behavior, they believe in the future, that drones may be used to extricate prisoners from facilities. It seems like it’s time for prison officials in England to step up and either counter the technology or put it to use for themselves, or risk incarceration appeal becoming a literal crane game.

Although I have to say, UFOs catching a criminal out of prison sounds like a Christopher Reeve-era Superman plot by Lex Luthor.