Corrections leaders worldwide face a number of serious challenges stemming from the overwhelming number of contraband phones flowing into correctional facilities.

Phones smuggled into prisons provide the means for inmates to conduct criminal activities both inside and outside of prison walls, and they stand at the heart of violent crimes being perpetrated against correctional employees, other inmates, and those in outside communities.

Managers need to take bold steps now to meet the bigger challenge of diminishing the impact of contraband phones in their facilities. And while transitioning to a new strategy that leverages technology to take advantage of data collected from phones takes time, the positive effects will be felt almost immediately.

Choosing the right partner to help in pre-deployment, during deployment, and post-deployment is also key in getting the most out of your investment and helping to overcome today’s corrections challenges that include:

  • An inability to put data to work from the thousands of mobile devices in your possession
  • No system to prioritize phones based on gang significance or person of interest
  • Investigations are siloed and data is inaccessible to other departments
  • Extracted data from cell phones is not being combined with current systems’ data to get the full intelligence picture
  • Many facilities lack a central intelligence hub
  • An inability to build criminal profiles
  • No clear path to connect criminal activity inside and outside facilities

To help meet these challenges and curb the contraband cell phone dilemma, corrections leaders need a strategy that will turn the tables on those using these phones by leveraging the information stored on them to:

  • Prevent harm to facilities’ staff and other inmates by identifying threats and disrupting activities being conducted by inmates inside prison walls and in the outside communities from which they came.
  • Pull together data into a manageable solution that breaks down silos and integrates information from existing systems across facilities and divisions to expedite the dismantling of criminal networks.
  • Partner with local law enforcement agencies to share intelligence and stop crimes that could potentially affect millions of residents.

1.   SET A CONTRABAND PHONE STRATEGY

Developing a plan to fight the contraband phone problem starts with self-evaluation. What are your goals? How do you intend to utilize technology to find actionable intelligence that can disrupt criminal networks and reduce violent crimes both inside and outside of your facilities’ walls? What kinds of Digital Intelligence solutions does your present infrastructure offer and how might it be supplemented to provide a comprehensive solution to the contraband phone dilemma?

Digital Intelligence is the data collected and preserved from digital sources and data types (smartphones, computers, and the Cloud) and the process by which agencies collect, review, analyze, manage, and obtain insights from this data to run investigations more efficiently.

Key Benefit: Adopting a Digital Intelligence strategy sets up the entire end-to-end workflow.

Collect and preserve data from any digital source, making it accessible to anyone who needs it, the moment they need it.

Review data in formats that are easy-to-comprehend, targeted and actionable

Analyze and process data quickly to find and validate key pieces of evidence, that resolve cases faster.

Manage and safeguard digital evidence and assets in a collaborative way that breaks down silos, allowing teams to reach maximum efficiency while ensuring privacy and chain of evidence protocols.

2.   ADOPT A DIGITAL PLATFORM SOLUTION

Moving to a comprehensive Digital Intelligence platform allows your team to succeed, providing them with the solutions, training, and support to:

Key Benefit: Empowers your connected teams to dismantle networks and disrupt criminal activities both within your facility and in outside communities.

Control the Data Sources

Automate Data Processing

Visualize Networks

Share Data

3.   CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLATFORM AND PARTNER TO MEET YOUR GOALS

Moving to a comprehensive Digital Intelligence platform empowers each facility to:

  • Collect all relevant data
  • Identify the intelligence within information.
  • Control and share the data in and across agencies.
  • Turn collected data into a complete picture.
  • Provide a deterrent by presence.
  • Administer shared access to a centralized evidence-analysis database.
  • Enable intelligence collaboration between corrections entities (investigative offices, corrections officers, task forces, etc.) and outside agencies.
  • Simplify evidence analysis with the use of artificial intelligence and link-analysis capabilities.
  • Control access to all evidence by limiting it to only the appropriate personnel.
  • Simplify training requirements for rotating resources.
  • Reduce storage inefficiencies.
  • Allow integration with existing systems.

Choosing the right partner to guide you through your digital transformation is equally important. Cellebrite is the global leader in partnering with public and private organizations to transform how they manage Digital Intelligence in investigations to protect and save lives, accelerate justice, and ensure data privacy.

We aid organizations in mastering the complexities of legally sanctioned digital investigations with an award-winning Digital Intelligence Investigative Platform, training, and services to unify the investigative lifecycle and manage digital evidence.

Key Benefit: With the right platform in place, investigative workflows will be able to run far more effectively and efficiently, allowing you to begin disrupting criminal networks that perpetrate violence inside and outside of your facilities.

4.   MAKE TRAINING A KEY PART OF YOUR PLAN

The best solutions are only as good as those tasked with implementing them, which is why training in the latest DI solutions is critical to winning the cell phone battle. A well-trained staff allows investigations to run more smoothly and efficiently. Staff confidence will rise and you can begin to take a more proactive approach to the contraband cell phone problem.

All of our solutions are backed up by expert training in a wide choice of instruction options to fit your budget and staff’s educational needs.

Key Benefit: A well-trained staff is an effective staff, which is key to running investigations confidently and efficiently.

Our solutions, services, and training are built and designed to help our customers improve public safety and uncover the truth buried within each investigation. And our Digital Intelligence workshops can help you get started right now.

To find out more about how our solutions can help combat the contraband phone problem and reduce violent crimes, speak to your local Cellebrite representative or click here for more information.

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