William FullamIntro to CorrectionsProfessor PoulsenApril 24, 2011

The Reforms in Intelligence Gathering in Prison Systems

Since September 11, 2001, the need for intelligence gathering has been an ever-increasing

demand in our criminal justice system. With the information derived from such an occupation

could mean the life of death of many of innocent persons. With the ever-increasing populations

in the United States Prison System, this could most likely be the main taproot in a multitude of

different opportunities to gather information on such types of intelligence as; gang affiliations

and internal wars, money laundering, the recruitment of persons into militia groups such as al-

Qaida, and the funding of major crime organizations. The type of intelligence gathering must still

be done as not to violate the prisoners’ civil rights. How much longer can we as a society sit and

wait for major crimes and unnecessary attacks to be taken until our safety is considered. In this

rapidly growing prison system there are hundreds of thousands violent, organized criminals

behind bars, and networking with each other so that their goals and agendas are met. More

inmates are meeting other inmates that have the money, power and the means as to orchestrate

disastrous and heinous crimes. For example, in 2001 Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras was jailed in

a Spanish prison for drug related offences. While imprisoned, Trashorras established regular

contact with Jamal Ahmidan who was serving time for a petty crime. Both individuals embraced

radical Islamic fundamentalist ideas within the prison and were recruited in the Takfir wa al-

Hijra group, a Moroccan terrorist groups linked with al-Qaida [Cuthberson, 2004]. Following

their release, Ahmidan became the leader of the terrorist cell that conducted the Madrid

bombing. In a drugs-for-bombs exchange with a third party, Trashorras provided the cell with

explosives for the 13 backpack bombs that killed 191 people and injured hundreds. It is seen that

there are large criminal organizations in the prison system and they have the resources to fulfill

large-scale terrorist attacks. How do we put a stop to this? In the past corrections officers on the

front line with the inmates have learned and discovered ways to listen and interpret when and

how such activities were going to happen. This has come to a near stop with the education and

experience the criminals of today have gained. There has been formulated ways to speak,

encode, receive and transmit messages. In May 2009, New Jersey Department of Corrections

spokesman stated “the department has acquired six cell-phone-sniffing dogs that have detected

75 phones…and since January 2008, they have turned over to prosecutors 150 cases that accuse

people of smuggling in cell-phones to inmates.” In one case, records from a phone seized from

an inmate reports 94 calls sent to people in four states. (http://www.policeone.com/pc)

On Nov. 13 2001, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered all federal justice

agencies, including the U.S. bureau of prisons, to assess their intelligence analysis capacities and

especially to share information with state/local law enforcement agencies. The reform of the

intelligence gathering area in the prison system is placed mostly in technological advancement.

Criminals of all types are using technology as a way to perform their crimes faster and with less

interference from the law. If there is going to be changes made to how we catch these criminals it

is going to be using the same technology that they are using. Though authorities had monitored

and taped prison phone calls, no one translated or actively listened to conversations until after a

rental van packed with 1200-pound bomb exploded in the world trade centre's underground

parking lot in 1993. This is one example of how these terrorists are determined to make their

agendas happen even when in prison.

There are ways that the U.S Bureau of Prisons is helping in the way that information is prevented

from inmates receiving but also in the way they are looking at the information received and

deciphering it. One way is examining paperwork, documents and letters. A new protocol entails

the individual examination, and authenticity of certain documents and letters. Some must pass

through the hands of special translators that search for key words that mean certain things.

Another way is monitoring inmate contacts inside and outside the prison. Watching whom the

inmates are gathering with on the inside while keeping up with where and how funds are being

dispersed in the prison. What the inmate buys is also a key in that certain items have certain

meanings in prison.

Keeping the prison as a whole on its toes and changing up the routines and daily practices help

the prison from allowing inmates from getting together to often to collaborate and finding out

patterns in the operations. In addition, inmates are always trying to find soft spots in the officers

themselves that they may use as a way in with the officer to get something that they need such as

cell phones. Finding new ways to keep information about the general operation of the facility out

of the hands of the inmates is another task; it is another way for an intrusive attack or an escape.

With technology and more criminals having computer skills keeping prison security is

sometimes a hard job in itself. Hacking a security system in a prison is one crime that could have

major implications if accomplished. It has been noted that on a couple of occasions the electronic

doors in the prison have been short-circuited. The inmates are still criminals and there will

always be one of them trying to accomplish the goals they set, with this fact there will always be

a need for intelligence gathering. The problem that the system is facing is how the criminals

distribute information. Investigators are looking for information and have been face to face with

the criminal for so long that the ways the investigator looks is the same as always. Information

analysts have been looking at the same information and facing the same problem. Criminals are

continually changing the ways that they encode, transmit, and access information. The justice

system has two ways of sharing and collecting information with law enforcement and

corrections, one is the use of intergraded justice information systems. This is the system that ties

the community and law enforcement together and 911, also criminal records and files. The other

is a system called COMPSTAT it is a computerized statistics program. This program analyzes

statistics, gathered intelligence, and puts it together for use in determining strategic response,

intelligence mapping, and information gathering resources. These are important tools for the

corrections centers, as long as the center has the personnel that can understand and interpret the

information gathered. The gathering of information is only half of the problem. Processing and

utilizing the information collected is the important piece to the puzzle. Training, experience, and

sharing of information is the only way that the justice system can get a maximum benefit of the

intelligence gathered. Training has to be up to date with fresh ideas on how to obtain information

learned by experience, tested methods, and then shared along with all aspects of the criminal

justice system.