Cell phone-sniffing dogs used to crack down on NJ prisoners orchestrating ...
18.05.12
TRENTON — His name is Ernie.
In his job at the Department of Corrections, Ernie and eight co-workers are hailed as unsung heroes in the fight to keep prisoners from ordering hits or running drug gangs from behind bars.
Ernie is a cell phone-sniffing dog.
The 4-year-old yellow Labrador and other members of his canine team are responsible for finding about 85 percent of the cell phones confiscated from prisoners, corrections officials say.
He is part of the state’s stepped-up effort to crack down on cell phone use. For the fiscal year that ended in June, the number of smuggled cell phones confiscated from state prisoners dropped 20 percent after rising sharply in recent years, new figures show.
"Cell phones are particularly dangerous because of the connection to the outside world and some of the really terrible things that have been done with them," said state Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan. "They’ve ordered hits from inside the jail. They’ve intimidated witnesses … (while) continuing to run drug operations, gang operations from behind prison. It undermines the whole credibility of the criminal justice system."
Source: The Star-Ledger - NJ.com