MoJ cancels tender for prison mobe detectors
Fails to find suitable provider
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
The Ministry of Justice has cancelled a tender for mobile telephone detection equipment in prisons, having failed to find a suitable vendor.
The ministry advertised a framework contract in June 2007, planned to last four years and estimated to be worth £400,000, to provide "mobile phone detectors to detect the use of all mobile phones within the prison environment" in England and Wales.
But on 8 November 2008, it announced that although it received two offers, it had not awarded the contract, as "no compliant bids (were) received," according to the Official Journal of the European Union.
The ministry said that it plans to place a new advertisement shortly, adding that it already has various measures in place to detect mobile telephones in prisons, such as portable mobile phone blockers and body orifice security scanners, also known as Boss chairs, which will be introduced to all prisons from next year.
"We are also making full use of the new legislative provisions in the Offender Management Act 2007 which makes it a criminal offence for staff, visitors and prisoners to bring mobile phones into a prison, with a maximum penalty of 10 years," said a spokesperson.
"It is important to ensure all equipment is appropriate and good value for money, and we work closely with partners to identify and test developing technologies."
This article was originally published at Kablenet.
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COMMENTS
Is The MoJ Stupid?
"Why don't they just negotiate with Ofcom for a special license to install mobile phone blockers per the successful approach used in some USA jails for many years?"
They don't even need to negotiate with Ofcom, because it's Crown property. They can block phones in prisons, and the technology exists to do so, without blocking civilians living nearby.
There is only one conclusion........
@ First sensible thing...
" they have recently been directed that paperclips must always be recycled"
We weren't allowed to use them when I was a Civil Servant. Too easy for extraneous papers to get caught up in the clip.
So we had to cull the breeding colonies of paperclips on our desks every now and again.
Bad law.
"which makes it a criminal offence for staff, visitors and prisoners to bring mobile phones into a prison, with a maximum penalty of 10 years,"
Right so the next gadget will be outlawed until a new law is specially drafted for it, then the next then the next etc..
Just ban _anything_ being given to prisoners.
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