By Christopher Klaver
CIO
Posted: October 11, 2017 4:50 PM

Unmanned aerial craft, drones, have finally come of age.

Any technology is truly considered matured when it is used by the military and criminals. For drones, check and check.

Corrections officials have said cases of drones flying near or over prisons have increased in the last couple of years, ranging from a toy that appeared to have been blown over the fence to alleged drops of contraband into facilities.

The issue is enough of a concern that the Michigan Corrections Organization, the union for corrections officers, is asking the governor’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Task Force to include recommendations in its report next month on ways to defend prisons against overflights from the devices.

So far, drone pilots are accused of dropping cell phones, but MCO officials said there is legitimate fear that weapons could be next.

“We believe that proper defenses need to be implemented immediately to prevent future incidents from taking place and ensure the safety of institutional staff and those incarcerated,” MCO said in a statement.

The task force, though, is charged with setting rules and regulations for drone use in the state (at least within the leeway granted by the Federal Aviation Administration). So it would be able to, potentially, set a perimeter around prisons where drones are not allowed.

Rules, maybe with stiffer penalties, would be good for keeping the curious and the pranksters out (though officials have said there are already those who test the boundaries of flyover restrictions).

Those in prison, assuming that most actually are guilty, have already proven that they don’t follow rules well and often neither do their associates.

What the MCO more likely wants is some counter-drone technology. There are ways to block radio signals so drones flying in prohibited air space would either be blocked from entering or would crash just inside the protected boundary. There would have to be experiments, though, into how that might affect communications and other systems within the prisons.

Some experts have suggested allowing prison officials to shoot down the drones. Maybe the solution is appropriately sized anti-aircraft weapons. Several batteries of small ack-acks between the fences might be just the ticket to solve the increasing aerial assault on our prisons.