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Dog Will Sniff Out Illegal Cell Phone Chats In Prisons

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By JOSH POLTILOVE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2008

TAMPA - Cell phones smuggled into Florida prisons help inmates with everything from dealing drugs to plotting escapes.

A law took effect Wednesday making it illegal to smuggle cell phones into prisons. To combat the problem the phones can create, the state Department of Corrections recently got a cell-phone-sniffing dog.

The dog will report to duty in mid-November.

"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, was donated to the Department of Corrections by the Animal Welfare Foundation of Winter Garden.

When the $6,500 dog starts her job, she will be the first pooch in Florida's prisons used exclusively to sniff for cell phones. No date has been set for Razor to sniff around in the Tampa Bay area.

Razor is in the midst of eight weeks of training at Southern Hills Kennels in New Smyrna Beach.

"What we've been seeing as cell phones get smaller and smaller, they're being smuggled in more," Plessinger said. "Inmates, they have access to phones, and we record their phone calls. But with cell phones, they can try to make drug deals, try to get drugs into prisons. They can try to make escape attempts, try to harass former victims. They're not using it to call home."

From July 1, 2007, to June 30, 336 cell phones were confiscated from Florida's prison population.

Before Wednesday, a visitor might have been barred from visiting a prison if caught sneaking a cell phone to an inmate, and the inmate might have been placed in confinement. It wasn't against the law, though.

The new law has made the introduction of cell phones into prisons a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. It also is now illegal to smuggle in Blackberries, PDAs, hand-held radios and laptops.

"This legislation is a good first step in reducing those problems within our institutions," Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil said in a statement.

Razor will help catch people in the act, Plessinger said.

On Tuesday morning, Razor will be unveiled at Broward Correctional Institution. She will demonstrate what she has learned.

Eventually, Razor will work throughout the state, Plessinger said.

"It's incredible," she said of dogs' ability to sniff out cell phones.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib

.com or (813) 259-7691.

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