A data carrier detection dog in action in the security checkpoint (archive photo) Photo: picture-alliance / Swen Pförtner
By Matthew Becker
Cell phones in jail are worth their weight in gold for geeks. Inmates continue to conduct their business and even order punitive actions. Every year, judicial officers discover over 100 illegal mobile phones that are supposed to be smuggled into the high-security prison in Tegel.
Mostly by visitors and family members. But judicial officials like Grit A. are also suspected of smuggling the devices into the institutions.
So far, however, the technology of the so-called “cell phone finder” has only been able to unmask cellphones when the devices are in standby mode or are being actively used. USB sticks, SIM cards or deactivated phones went undetected at the gates and admission controls.
But now the top security chief Rainer K. reported on his new “colleagues” – the data carrier sniffer dogs! They have recently been deployed in the Tegel facility.
They sniff out the so-called “rare earth metals” that are built into microphones, lamps and loudspeakers.
Tegel is Germany’s oldest (built in 1898) and, with almost 900 inmates, also the largest prison.
The first data carrier sniffer dog in Germany has been in use since the beginning of 2022. Most of the time, shepherd dogs are particularly suitable for the special training.