Acting Assistant Commissioner (Security and Intelligence) Angie West from Corrective Services NSW said efforts to detect and remove mobile phones from the jail have been “ramped up” since the detection of a mobile phone in the library of the High Risk Management Correctional Centre (Supermax) on September 15.

“The team launched a search on a cell at the Supermax on September 29 after a hand-held mobile phone detector picked up mobile signals,” Ms West said.

“When officers entered the cell, the inmate attempted to flush the phone down the toilet but this was swiftly prevented and the phone secured.

“Staff approached the cell by stealth, which caught the inmate off guard. All staff involved in this operation are to be congratulated for their hard work in removing a significant security threat from the centre.”

Ms West said prisoners would go to extraordinary lengths to introduce contraband and an inmate mostly likely introduced the miniature phone to the centre through “internal secretion methods.”

“Inmates who gain access to contraband when housed at other correctional centres have been known to secrete items internally and our staff cannot undertake internal searches,” Ms West said.

She said. mobile phones posed a significant challenge to correctional officers across the globe. 

“Staff must remain vigilant and keep a few steps ahead of the inmates to successfully eradicate mobile phones from correctional centres. This includes using new technology when it is proven to be effective,” she said. 

Ms West said Corrective Services NSW was working on a procurement plan to commence mobile phone jamming at Goulburn Correctional Complex, following a successful trial at Lithgow Correctional Centre.

“We have been working with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to finalise the technology that will be introduced at Goulburn,” Ms West said.

“With funding now available to extend that Lithgow trial to Goulburn and approval from ACMA, inmates will soon not have the same incentives to smuggle mobile phones into the centre.”