According to Justice Minister Katy Hoffmeister (CDU), JVA Waldeck(Rostock District) tested signal jammers for two years as a pilot project to prevent inmates from making phone calls. Mecklenburg-western Pomerania has been testing the so-called cell phone blockers for about two years, and according to Hofmeister, the state previously provided about 800,000 euros for the purpose. The recently decided double budget also provides €800,000 for the project.
The originally undesirable radio hole was almost artificially created for the inmates in the prison. Because prisoners are prohibited from using smuggled cell phones and smartphones to communicate. Since then, several cell jammer transmitters have blocked cell phones inside the prison. According to Hoffmeister, about 90 percent of illegal calls could have been avoided during Waldeck's trial run. So instead of blocking mobile communications completely, mobile phone blockers had to be further developed.
The ministry and the prison want to use cell phone blockers to prevent criminal contact and prevent pretrial detention. Despite this, JVA officers find about 200 mobile phones a year from inmates and visitors during inspections.