State Senator Alex Padilla is hoping the third time is the charm in his effort to criminalize contraband cell phones in California prisons.
“Clearly the problem is growing,” he says. “It’s growing exponentially and [the] bottom line is every cell phone at the hands of a dangerous inmate is a crime waiting to happen.”
Padilla’s proposed legislation, Senate Bill 26, was amended in the Senate Public Safety Committee to make cell phone smuggling and use a misdemeanor, not a felony.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported it confiscated close to 11,000 smuggled cell phones last year. State analysts say the primary source of unauthorized cell phones is the prison employees.
Correctional officers are the only people allowed to enter the prison without being searched.
Padilla proposed prison guards and staff go through metal detectors, but that provision was rejected because of the cost.
Carrie Kahn of National Public Radio quoted prison spokesman Richard Subia as saying, “It’s very frustrating to me that we have people who work for our organization that are willing to risk the lives of their fellow employees.”
One visitor to San Quentin said, “We go through two metal detectors and have everything including our shoes thoroughly searched. So how is it possible for any of us to bring in a cell phone?”
—Aly Tamboura contributed to this story.
