Regina/CMEDIA: Aiming to reduce reportedly the rise in drugs and weapons being dropped by drones into prison yards right to an inmate’s cell window Saskatchewan would reportedly test the technology that detects drones smuggling drugs into prisons.
Jake Suelzle, who represents prison guards on the Prairies, said in an interview and added methamphetamine, ceramic blades and cellphones, and other contraband are being delivered into the prisons ‘almost like Uber Eats.’ .
Some have been dropped in prison recreation yards or common areas outside, said Suelzle, while other times as packages were dropped outside their cell windows, ordered from prohibited cellphones like a door-to-door delivery service.
“The technology and how specific these drones are to the locations they drop is quite amazing,” Suelzle, the president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers for the Prairie region, said in an interview Monday.
“We are in desperate need of help with this. The institutions are literally flooded with narcotics.”
He cited a recent case in Alberta where more than $900,000 worth of methamphetamine was caught at a prison.
Earlier this year trafficking charges were laid against a Calgary man by Manitoba RCMP for delivering drugs via drone to the Stony Mountain Institution.
The Community Safety Ministry of Saskatchewan says it’s going to test out technology that aims to detect unauthorized drones that are flying around correctional facilities.
“While unauthorized drone activity around facilities is currently not a significant issue in the province, it has emerged as a concern in other provinces,” the ministry said in a statement. “This pilot project reflects a proactive approach.”
With the goal to improve security, allowing guards to quickly intervene when unassuming aircraft are identified, the province did not disclose details of how the technology will be deployed or how it works.
Although some federal prisons adopted technology to try and detect drones, Suelzle said their systems have quickly become obsolete.
It’s then up to guards to do more patrolling, he added, but recent cuts to staffing will only make their jobs more difficult.
“We only know what we catch. We have no idea what we don’t catch,” he said.
“Now we have fewer officers being able to respond to those overdoses, which is going to mean that our fatality rate in overdosing is only going to go up,” Suelzle said.
Correctional Service Canada said in a statement it’s monitoring the increase in drones smuggling. It’s also working to implement new security measures to address rapidly changing threats, and added,
“CSC continues to invest in intelligence capabilities to disrupt drone networks and reduce the introduction of contraband into federal institutions…includes the ongoing expansion of drone‑detection systems, body scanners, and other digital technologies to strengthen institutional safety and support front-line staff in maintaining secure environments.”
Suelzle said he’s optimistic about Saskatchewan’s plan.
“Procurement is a long process,” he said. “Anything we can get on the technological front, if we’re able to stay on the forefront of that, it would be more than welcome.”
