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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is seeking help from Washington. You might already be asking, "Why should that be of interest to me?"
Actually, it should be of interest to everyone.
According to a report in the Sept. 15 edition of the Wall Street Journal, Carr wants authorization to jam cell signals and permission to shoot down drones. The actions would not be directed at law-abiding residents of his state; neither is he implying that such actions should be directed at law-abiding individuals anywhere else in this country.
It's problem people upon which he is focused, particularly individuals incarcerated in prisons in his state.
But what he is doing is a suggestion that his proposed actions would no doubt be welcomed elsewhere.
The target of his actions are frauds emanating from behind prison walls and individuals "outside" trying to deliver contraband to inmates, not only for illegal activities inside a lockup, but for carrying out crimes against innocent people outside, anywhere.
The main component of the crimes Carr is targeting are cellphones and how some prisoners have gotten savvy at using them to defraud innocent people.
Here's a quote from the Journal report that shows how the scheme works:
"Prisoners need little more than contraband cellphones and well-honed scripts passed inmate to inmate, investigators say. They at times dial randomly, threatening arrest if fines aren't paid for 'missed jury duty,' or they scour websites that publish the names of the recently jailed, and then cold-call relatives with fake offers of assistance. They typically use web-based apps to make calls from numbers that mirror a local sheriff's office or bonding agency, and even set up convincing voicemails for when targets ring them back."
In its report, the Journal provided plenty of evidence of why the problem isn't "all-Georgia," and indicates that Georgia's Department of Corrections is hoping that its efforts targeting contraband cellphones will help fix what it describes as a national problem.
Here are several examples of the problem's scope, from the perspective of Georgia:
-- The office of William Keyes, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, this year secured convictions against two Georgia inmates who used bootleg phones for a nationwide jury-duty "operation" that scammed at least $465,000 from 119 victims.
-- The Journal article recounted the experience of a South Carolina man who "handed over" nearly $12,000 by way of Cash App for bail, rehab and psychiatric medication for his incarcerated son. The individual who reached out to the man wasn't a bondsman; he was an inmate himself, locked up at Washington State Prison in Davisboro, Ga.
-- In May, the South Carolina man stood alongside the Richland County, S.C., sheriff at a news conference announcing charges filed against nine Georgia inmates accused of defrauding more than 100 people of more than $100,000.
Already this year, the Georgia Department of Corrections has arrested 18 staff and 92 civilians for smuggling contraband -- "on top of 102 open cases against scammers."
Hopefully, the Georgia attorney general Carr will be successful in getting authorization to jam cell signals involving the state's prisoners; the Federal Communications Commission says it is working on a rule to allow state prisons to block cellular signals.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration is considering a rule for banning drone flights near prison properties to curtail "by-air" smuggling.
Why should people here be interested -- innocent people as well as prison authorities?
The answer should now be clear.