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cutting edge digital forensic lab to tackle crime
behind bars
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specialist staff to boost fight against dark web
gangsters
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part of £100 million package to bolster prison
security
A new digital forensics unit and expanded digital
investigations team will crack down on criminal activity
involving devices smuggled into jails, Prisons Minister,
announced today (28
October 2019).
The state-of-the-art lab will be equipped with cutting-edge
technology to analyse the growing number of mobile phones
seized in prisons.
With strengthened security leading to a rise in contraband
seizures, there is increasing evidence that prisoners are
using advanced technology to access the dark web, encrypt
their messages and use social media in jail.
Staffed by specialist digital experts, the unit will
investigate offenders carrying out illicit communications to
further their criminal operations from inside prison walls.
The new unit is part of the government’s £100 million
investment in prison security, with tough airport-style
security and phone-blocking technology to clampdown on
violence, self-harm and crime behind bars.
Prisons Minister, said:
We know that the ways in which criminals conduct their
business is advancing – with prisoners harnessing new
technology and the dark web to further their operations
behind bars.
Bolstering our powers to detect and disrupt this kind of
crime is a key element of our £100 million investment in
prison security. Alongside airport-style scanners, metal
detectors and phone blockers, we will crack down on those
who continue to commit crime and wreak havoc in our jails.
The new technology will identify perpetrators more quickly
and produce improved digital evidence that is more likely to
bring a successful prosecution in court.
It will also offer opportunities to gather intelligence on
how phones are being used to commit crime and detect and
disrupt criminal activity in the wider community.
The specialist digital forensics team is being funded from
the government’s previously announced £2.75 billion package
to transform the prison estate. This includes:
- £100 million to bolster prison security – with the new
digital forensics facility, alongside tough airport-style
security and phone-blocking technology to clampdown on
violence, self-harm and crime behind bars.
- £2.5 billion to provide 10,000 additional prison places
and create modern, efficient jails that rehabilitate
offenders, reduce reoffending and keep the public safe.
- £156 million for pressing maintenance to create safe and
decent conditions for offender rehabilitation.
Notes to editors
- More than 20,000 mobile devices and SIM cards are seized
in prisons each year. The number of smartphones seized is
also growing – with 1 in 3 phones examined by the Prison
Service now having these capabilities.