Drones Are Bringing Contraband To Inmates In Prisons—Senator Asks Experts How To Stop It

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At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) questioned officials about the use of drones to bring contraband to prisoners.

Transcript

00:00Thanks, Senator Norwich.

00:02Senator Klobuchar?

00:03Thank you, Senator Durbin.

00:05Thank you all for being here and for your work.

00:07I'll start with you, Mr. Willoughby.

00:10I'm concerned about the risks drone incursion present at commercial aviation.

00:16You know, I've seen good uses of drones in my state for crop management, pesticide application,

00:23civil engineers using it to look at bridges,

00:26or if we have some kind of a flood or a rail derailment where people don't know if it's safe or not.

00:31So I'm well aware that they can be used for good purposes.

00:36But as you noted in your written testimony, there have been over 160 reported drone incidents.

00:41This is near airports in 2025 alone.

00:45This has forced a dozen aircraft to take evasive action and has caused ground stops at major airports like Senator Durbin State O'Hare.

00:54How does DHS work with critical infrastructure operators like airport authorities to ensure we can keep the public safe

01:02and do you need any additional authorities to protect planes, passengers, airports?

01:09Thank you, Senator, for the question.

01:11Right now, DHS is not able to use its counter drone authority to protect airports in a proactive or persistent manner.

01:18The only case we would be allowed to use our existing authority would be in the event of an incident occurring

01:24and us performing some sort of federal investigation or emergency response after something has already happened.

01:31This is a critical gap, something that I mentioned in my oral remarks and are captured in the written statement as well.

01:37We need our Transportation Security Administration to have the explicit authority to be able to protect commercial airports

01:43as well as other transportation infrastructure from drone events.

01:48Thank you very much.

01:50Mr. Hardy, at our last hearing on this subject, I asked one of our witnesses who serves as a correctional officer

01:57about the risks drones pose to correctional facilities.

02:00That was one of the major topics just discussed.

02:04Your written testimony describes how drones have been used to introduce contraband, including weapons, drugs, cell phones, into BOP facilities.

02:14I've just heard from correctional officers in Minnesota have described some of the challenges they face

02:19at detecting drone incursions.

02:23What is the Justice Department doing to ensure that BOP facilities are able to detect and respond in real time?

02:29And I guess, same question I asked of Mr. Willoughby.

02:32Anything more we should be doing?

02:33Thank you, Senator.

02:36The Bureau of Prisons has, to my understanding, established detection technology at, I think,

02:47all of its maximum security prisons and some of its medium security prisons.

02:51We're in the process of using the full authority of the 2018 Act to use the equipment that would include mitigation.

02:57So, it is a critical issue, and the issue continues to grow.

03:04The types of contraband that are being shipped into these prisons using drones is more concerning.

03:13It's a problem that is expanding, and it's a problem that the states are facing as well.

03:19We have numerous criminal prosecutions where we have supported the states.

03:22Any ideas of what we should do?

03:24Well, reauthorizing the 2018 Act is the first step.

03:30That's absolutely critical.

03:31The second would be expanding the authority for state and locals to use the same types of technologies to protect their own prisons.

03:37Very good.

03:38Yeah, we talked about that.

03:38And if you could thank the director, he came out to Minnesota and visited our facility in Duluth

03:45that has some lower-level offenders and decided to keep it open.

03:49It was going to be closed.

03:51It just happened last week, and I really appreciate it.

03:53He talked to me first, and then he went out there, and it was a good decision in my mind.

03:58So, thank you.

04:00Mr. Trophy, last question here.

04:02Federal law enforcement was able to disrupt a number of plots to use drones to attack critical infrastructure last year.

04:10This included thwarting plots to attack an FBI field office in Knoxville and an attack on the energy grid.

04:16What are some of the complexities involved in investigating plots that use weaponized drones,

04:23and are there additional authorities?

04:25Same question.

04:26The FBI needs.

04:27It is a rapidly evolving technological space and requires the full force of the federal government,

04:36and extremely important, as noted in the executive order, restoring American airspace sovereignty,

04:43the integration of our joint terrorism task forces all over the country.

04:47So, getting our state, local, tribal, territorial investigators and technical experts involved in our investigations is critically important.

04:54And bringing it back to the authorities, again, expanding their authorities allows them to get even better in this technical regard.

05:03We have leadership from coast to coast, from the L.A. County Sheriff's Office, New York City Police Department,

05:08New Jersey State Police that are already using the equipment up to what they're allowed to use today,

05:13and the time is right for them to get to the next step.

05:17And thank you also, Mr. Torfey, if you could pass on the thanks to the FBI for the work in the murder investigation,

05:25the manhunt in Minnesota, and it was coordinated with state and local, but they did a really good job.

05:30Thank you, Senator.

05:31Thanks, Senator Klobuchar.

05:32Senator Burk.

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