Tom Adams, Director of Public Safety, DroneShield explores why drone detection systems are essential for the correctional facility.
In recent years, the rise of commercial drones has revolutionized industries ranging from agriculture to infrastructure inspection. Drones are also a vital tool for public safety.
Yet as drone technology becomes more accessible and sophisticated, it has also introduced serious security challenges, particularly for the correctional facility.
Across the globe, prisons have become increasingly vulnerable to unauthorized drone activities that threaten the safety of inmates, staff and the public.
The key focus of the correctional facility sector has been the acquisition and use of technologies that can disable, disrupt or destroy a drone, otherwise known as drone defeat technologies.
While drone defeat technologies can and should be part of a layered security approach, the use of these technologies is heavily regulated or restricted in many countries.
In the US, for example, only the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Defense and Energy currently have legislative authority to use drone defeat systems.
The legal limitations have frustrated many correctional facility administrators, and rightfully so.
At a hearing in May before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Florida Department of Corrections Secretary and American Correctional Association (ACA) President Ricky D. Dixon commented: “These drones are no longer just a nuisance, they are sophisticated weapons for organized crime.
“We do not have the tools or the legal authority to stop them.”
While correctional facilities wait for the legal authority to use drone defeat technologies in the US, it is critical to highlight the importance of drone detection systems in the layered physical security approach.
Many would argue that they are the foundational layer of an agency’s counter- unmanned aircraft system (UAS) program.
The restrictions on these types of technologies can sometimes be confusing, but they can be narrowed down into five main issues that are currently impacting deployment:
All these major concerns are valid and should not be dismissed, but these issues can be overcome with training, certification, policies and logical oversight at the federal level.
Most prisons were not designed with airspace security in mind.
Perimeter fences, guard towers, motion sensors and controlled access points are highly effective against terrestrial threats – but they do little to stop a small drone flying overhead in the middle of the night.
Furthermore, detecting drones with the human eye, especially at night, is unreliable.
Drones are often small, quiet and fast, especially when flying at higher altitudes, and are difficult to hear.
By the time a drone is noticed, its mission – be it contraband delivery or reconnaissance – may already be complete.
This gap in correctinal facility and prison security creates an urgent need for technological solutions that can monitor and protect airspace 24/7.
Drone detection systems use a combination of technologies to detect, track, identify and alert authorities of drone activity in real-time.
Some of the most common components include:
All drone detection (and defeat) technologies have strengths and limitations.
When combined as part of a layered approach, the correctional facility sector has a greater chance of detecting and assessing threats to the airspace around facilities.
Prisons are designed to keep people in and threats out, but modern drone technology has exposed a significant vulnerability: the airspace above.
Drone detection systems fill a critical gap in correctional facility and prison security by providing early warnings, supporting interdiction efforts and helping authorities build safer environments for inmates and staff.
Here’s a quick overview on how drone detection technologies deliver value in a correctional facility setting:
As drone technology continues to evolve – becoming quieter, faster and more autonomous – the risks to the correctional facility and prison sector will also increase.
Smugglers within the correctional facility are already experimenting with pre-programmed, GPS-guided drones that don’t emit traditional radio signals, making them harder to detect.
To stay ahead of the threat curve, drone detection systems must continue to advance.
As this technology evolves, AI, machine learning and threat analysis will play a growing role in enhancing the precision and speed of these tools.
A correctional facility that adopts drone detection now will be much better positioned to adjust to the addition of defeat technologies in the future.
The drone detection technology will provide security personnel with information about what is in the airspace in the vicinity of the facility and provide them with key information to assess and respond to the threat, which will hopefully include the option of mitigation technologies sooner rather than later.
In today’s environment, where the threats posed by drones are real, persistent and growing – drone detection isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.
This article was originally published in the September edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.