Summary: Drone jail threats include contraband drops, surveillance, cyber risks, and IEDs—detection systems are key to protecting personnel and facilities while reducing violence, escapes, and future drone-borne contraband deliveries.

Concerned about drones over your jail, prison or other correctional facility? 

The rapid rise of drone contraband in correctional facilities has exposed serious blind spots in traditional prison security measures, making early detection critical.

While contraband delivery is the most common reason jails are worried about drones, there are other risks too which can impact staff or inmate safety. 

Here are three drone threats to consider at your jail.

1. Drone Jail Contraband Delivery

Officers have recovered contraband, including tools like wire cutters that could be used for escape.

Many jails are battling an influx of contraband thanks to drones. 

Smugglers often use drones in coordinated flights to deliver the following to jail inmates:

• Drugs – which can cause riots and present a safety risk.
• Phones – that allow inmates to coordinate activities with each other and with the outside world.
• Tools – like the wire cutters used to escape a South Carolina prison in 2017.
• Weapons – that pose an immediate threat to both prison staff and inmate safety.

Without the ability to detect and identify drones in real time, facilities remain vulnerable to drone-enabled contraband delivery that can escalate quickly and repeatedly.

2. Drone Jail Unauthorized Surveillance

Using a drone, bad actors can observe if, and how quickly, you can respond to an incident.

The latest high resolution drone cameras have a 30x zoom or more lens that can read license plates and name tags. So watching the movement of your security staff will seem easy in comparison. Bad actors can use drones to see your security routes and response times, giving them all the information they need to plan future activities.

In addition, nefarious actors could view:

• The location and direction of jail security cameras
• Identifying marks, brands or serials on your physical security equipment, which may include gates, locks, and access control systems
• Staff entering a code or PIN number into an access control panel

Nefarious actors could use this information to gain unauthorized access to any jail not paying attention.

Further, they could also record activity within your jail and send it to the media or post it on social media, sparking a negative public response.

3. Drone Jail Unauthorized Access

If someone flies a drone over an electronic physical security measure, such as a gate, they could attach an electronic device to open it.

Not only can a drone gather all the data about your physical security needed to plan for unauthorized access, it can also give bad actors a way to gain access. This could be from the outside, by using a drone to open electronically controlled security barriers, like gates. Or, it could be from the inside. A drone can deliver the right tools to inmates so they can access areas of your facility. For example, a rope ladder (true story) inmates could use to reach roof deliveries.

The Solution for Drone Jail Airspace Awareness

The AirWarden® drone detection system detects drones as they enter your airspace and locates both the drone and the pilot/controller. Once detected, the system sends alerts to security personnel via command console, text, or email. It can also notify local law enforcement for a coordinated response.

In addition, replays of a detection event can show you the best places to look for evidence to help build your case. And experience has shown that installation of a jails drone detection system can actually reduce contraband delivery attempts.