Selfies of criminals using cannabis, videos of street gang members partying behind bars… More and more inmates are posting content on social networks, despite the efforts of the authorities to curb this scourge. A record amount of cell phones were seized in 2021, according to data obtained from The print.
Delivered by drones, sometimes to the window, cell phones flow like hot cakes behind bars, where they are strictly prohibited. Quebec jailers seize a hundred cell phones a month in prison, more than double the amount before the pandemic.
Prison officers seized 959 mobile phones in 2021. A record that should be broken in 2022: in the first nine months of 2022, almost 1,000 mobile phones were seized in pre-trial detention, according to data from the Ministry of Public Security obtained from The print.
It has become quite common for an inmate to post on Instagram or Snapchat, call his accomplices on the street or even respond to insults from his enemies on social networks.
Imprisoned criminals expose themselves with total impunity. They don’t seem to be limited in their communications in prison and feed their social networks by posting videos from their cells.
PHOTO THE PRESS
Contents of a drone discovered by correctional officers in a Montreal jail. He you can see drugs and cell phones there.
In just an hour of browsing Instagram and Snapchat, The print he was able to view a dozen videos and photos published from inside a prison.
“Free me”, “I’m going out soon”, “Free the gang”: the ” selfies prison” have become the new normal.
SCREENSHOTS THE PRESS
Photo taken in prison and posted on social media
Selling cell phones in prison is obviously a lucrative market. In early 2020, prices could range from $500 to $1000. The amounts you have to pay to get a cell phone have increased during the pandemic. Two sources said The print paying $2,500 for a cell phone; they shared their precious device with other prisoners to cut costs.
Everyone wants a cell in Bordeaux. The boys get together to buy some. Want to keep in touch with your friends, read the news, see what’s going on during [que tu es incarcéré].
One of the sources that has a telephone in Bordeaux
Using a cell phone in prison provides an opportunity to feed your subscribers from falling into oblivion, but it could also allow for the perpetuation or even escalation of conflicts. “It allows you to be aware of what is happening [dans la rue]. And if someone provokes you, fight back. »
Disk passed
“What we grasp is the tip of the iceberg,” says Mathieu Lavoie, president of the Syndicat des agent de la paix en services correctionnels du Québec. “It is a scourge for the safety of the agents”, the union leader alarmed in an interview.
Over the past decade, 400 to 500 cell phones have been seized each year by provincial prison officials, according to data released during the National Assembly’s appropriations study.
Like drugs and medications, cell phones are a highly prized commodity for inmates. “It allows them to continue their criminal activities, to carry out banking transactions, to communicate externally with their criminal affiliations. It has a hefty price tag within the walls, $500 to $1,000,” explains Mathieu Lavoie.
A phone also allows criminals to maintain their stature on social networks. Some even post photos for sheer bravado.
It has become a challenge to say, “You see, I’m in prison.” Some have been seen photographing themselves with bottles of alcohol in prison or with bladed weapons.
Mathieu Lavoie, president of the Union of peace officers in the prison services of Quebec
But Mathieu Lavoie does not link this increase in seizures to the pandemic. He speculates, however, that the many stints in prison due to COVID-19 may have facilitated the kidnappings, as inmates had a harder time hiding their phones.
The Ministry of Public Security explains the explosion of kidnappings with the use of “dynamic searches” by agents, with the improvement of search techniques and the development of correctional sources. Phone tracking is a “priority” issue for the Ministry, said spokeswoman Louise Quintin, as possession of a device allows detainees to continue their criminal activities, intimidate a witness or contact a victim. and.
SCREENSHOTS THE PRESS
Photo taken in prison and posted on social media
Delivered to window
Almost all mobile phones are delivered by drone, a scourge that puts the prison system in difficulty, especially in the Montreal (Bordeaux) establishment and in the Rivière-des-Prairies prison. “It’s definitely daily, even multiple times in the same day. And these are ever larger quantities, ”conflicts Mathieu Lavoie.
PHOTO THE PRESS
Cell window changed to allow drone delivery
Some inmates even get the royal treatment: cell phones and drugs delivered by drones right to their cell window. Photos obtained from The print shows how inmates manage to modify their cell windows to receive flying parcels.
“In Bordeaux, we have a considerable number of unusable cells because the windows are broken,” laments Mathieu Lavoie.
PHOTO THE PRESS
Cell window changed to allow drone delivery
Over the past year, nearly two drones have been sighted every day near Quebec prisons on the island of Montreal. This is nearly three times as high as in 2019-2020, when 225 drones were sighted, according to data made public during the National Assembly’s study of appropriations.
In 2021, of the 689 drones spotted by fixes, around 400 managed to deliver a package. Of the number, 86% were recovered by agents, indicates the Ministry of Public Security. However, this seizure rate has dropped to 78% in 2022. There has also been a decrease in the number of drones sighted monthly over the past year (48 in 2022 versus 57 in 2021).
The Correctional Officers Union estimates that less than a third of drones are detected due to a lack of technological tools. Despite the explosion of the problem, detection devices faster or capable of preventing drones from flying over prisons have not been used, laments union president Mathieu Lavoie.
In contrast, the Ministry of Public Security boasts that it has implemented mobile drone detection technologies in some prisons since October 2018 and has secured 21 outdoor courtyards, as well as securing windows. The Ministry ensures that initiatives are underway for the installation of new systems in three plants to which it gives priority.
