Razor Dog Will Sniff Out Banned Cell Phones in FL Prisons

By Editor Wireless and Mobile News on October 3, 2008 12:34 PM

Cell phones smugglers in Florida prisons may end up spending up to five years in one under a new law enacted October 1, 2008 that makes the introduction of cell phones into prison a third degree felony.

Cell phones smuggled into Florida prisons help inmates with everything from dealing drugs to plotting escapes. To sniff out the contraband devices, Florida has a special dog on duty.

"Just like a drug dog is trained to smell drugs, Razor is trained to smell cell phones," Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said.

Razor, a 14-month-old Malinois (Belgian Shepard), was donated to the Department of Corrections by the Animal Welfare Foundation of Winter Garden. Razor is Florida Department of Correction's first cell phone detecting dog.

“Cell phones in prison pose a significant threat to prison security, because they are used by inmates to coordinate escape attempts, intimidate witnesses, introduce contraband like drugs and weapons into the prison and engage in numerous other illegal activities,” said Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil. “This legislation is a good first step in reducing those problems within our institutions.”

In the fiscal year 2007-08, 336 cell phones were confiscated from Florida’s prison population. As cell phone technology improves and they become smaller and easier to hide, the problem has become a prison security concern nationwide.

Because cell phones keep getting smaller they are easy to hide in thing like the slipper shown at left.

Editors Note: The cell phone in the shoe appears to be a the Motorola, prepaid phone, the Go Phone Motorola C168i. We’re wondering if Razor finds MotoRAZRs faster. Because he’s dog, he probably doesn’t mind that his name is spelled differently