During an emergency hearing of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday state Sen. John Whitmire told administrators with the state prison system he is prepared to do whatever it takes to fix the problem.
“We’re going to stop contraband,” Whitmire said. “Zero tolerance, starting at death row.”
Whitmire became intimately aware that cell phones were being used on death row after Tabler, who was convicted of capital murder in Bell County, began calling him two weeks ago complaining about conditions on death row.
The phone calls led to the first system-wide lockdown for all 115 prisons in Texas in the past two years. No visitations will be allowed at any Texas prison this weekend because of the lockdown.
Gov. Rick Perry ordered the lockdown Monday and by Monday night two more cell phones had been confiscated from death row.
Counting Tabler’s phone and the two confiscated Monday night, authorities have opened 22 cases this year involving cell phones or cell phone components on death row.
“No Texan has to experience what I have gone through this past two weeks,” Whitmire said.
System wide, more than 700 cell phones or cell phone components have been confiscated in Texas prisons this year, including more than 15 Monday.
In addition to state prison administrators, several officials from the Polunsky Unit and, specifically death row, testified at the hearing.
The men working closest with death row inmates testified about a lack of surveillance cameras in areas of the unit that would appear to need them most.
And in places where security cameras are in place, such as at the front entrance of the facility, the video feed is not recorded.
“I wish we weren’t going through this, but it’s probably going to be a blessing at the end of the day that Tabler called me,” Whitmire said.
While there is a metal detector at the Polunsky Unit, there is some debate about how effective it is and whether prison policy may in some cases assist smugglers.
Women who wear underwire bras make detectors go off. It is policy for guards to wand the bra area but if a person seeking entry explains it is her undergarment, then women are allowed to pass through.
A guard testified this may be a way some cell phone SIM cards and other components are smuggled into the facility. SIM cards are the size of a postage stamp.
Everybody who testified agreed that security breeches could generally be attributed to prison guards.
“It’s usually an employee that has gone awry,” said John Moriarty, inspector general of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. “It just takes one employee, but he can bring in a lot of contraband.”
“I strongly believe that the vast majority of our employees are honest and hard working people,” said Oliver J. Bell, chairman of Texas Board of Criminal Justice. “There are a few who are not and we will find them.”
Low pay for correctional officers was brought up as a part of the problem by several that testified.
“We need to get compensation increased so that you can’t make more on tobacco than you take home in your paycheck, Whitmire said.”
Correction officers can make about $500 a week bringing cigarettes into prison and selling them to inmates. For some the risk is worth it because, while they are usually fired if caught, guards who do such things are rarely prosecuted, according to testimony on Tuesday.
“The only way we’re going to get quality staff is if we pay them,” said Billy Hirsch, assistant warden at the Polunsky Unit.
Whitmire told Polunsky Senior Warden Timothy Simmons that to get a handle on security breeches he might need to pat down every employee who enters the facility.
“We are not patting everybody down right now, sir,” Simmons told Whitmire.
“Why not?” Whitmire asked.
“Policy,” Simmons said.
“Well, prepare for a policy change,” Whitmire said. “It’s amazing to me at this point (with a lockdown in effect) that you are not patting people down. That’s unacceptable. I’m not lecturing you, I’m pleading with you. Houston traffic court is more secure than your facility.
“I would expect that over the next period of time, you’ll be spending more time at the gate,” Whitmire told Simmons.
The legislature added 35 investigators to Moriarty’s staff last session but there is still not an investigator at each prison full time.
“I think when it comes to prisons, there can’t be a backlog (of cases),” Whitmire said.
Testimony also indicated there are not enough operational security cameras in the Texas prison system. Also, there are only 22 metal detectors operating in the 115 prisons in the state.
Whitmire chided the leadership of the state prison system for not making it clear during budget time that there are pressing needs.
“You’ve got to make more noise,” Whitmire told the men. “That’s what’s missing. We need more candor in this building (at budget time).”
More arrests are expected over the next several weeks as investigators continue to work the case of cell phones on death row.
Meanwhile, Whitmire said the technology exists to jam cell phone signals and he believes it needs to be used at Texas prisons.
South Carolina’s prisons came up with the same idea but standing in their way is the federal Communications Act, which prevents states from using jammers or otherwise interfering with federal airwaves. The Federal Communications Commission can give federal agencies the authority to use such jammers. But there’s no such provision for state and local law enforcement, according to a report by The .
When the federal law was brought up in Austin on Tuesday, Whitmire said, “Let’s do it anyway and see what happens.”He said cell phones in the hands of inmates are a homeland security concern and Congress or the president may need to get involved.
“My worst fear is that in two weeks things will go back to the way they were,” Whitmire said.
