Policy and procedure is not keeping up with technology. In our department we have already had incidents where persons in custody were able to record, photograph and transmit information and images while they were in custody, under arrest. The failure of police officers to go beyond specific written policy is part of the problem. Some officers can’t think outside the box. There is nothing in the U.S Constitution or any State Constitution that guarantees the right to have an operating cell phone while in custody. So why do so many officers allow prisoners to have them? They should be taken away and disabled.
In one case an offender was clearly baiting an officer and recording his actions, then transmitting to his home computer! In another case the offender photographed himself bleeding, which was the result of a self-inflicted wound, which made the officers appear negligent for not rendering medical attention! In this age of techno-cops who “know it all,” there is just no excuse to ignore the issue of cell phones and the threat they raise. In the not too distant future I can see a cell phone causing officers to lose their jobs or end up in jail!