Washington Co. Stops Depositing Contraband at Washington State Prison

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Washington County Sheriff's Office stopped an attempt to drop off contraband at Davisboro State Prison earlier this week, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

They say it happened Monday evening when “an alert deputy” noticed suspicious activity near the Washington State Prison. The prison houses medium security inmates and can accommodate just over 1,500 inmates.

The sheriff's office was able to help arrest “several individuals” who were attempting to bring contraband into the jail, the news release said.

They did not provide the names or exact number of people arrested. It also does not specify exactly what type of contraband individuals are accused of when attempting to cross the guard line.

We have reached out to the sheriff to hopefully get more information, but we are awaiting a response.

However, attempts to drop contraband are a fact of life for sheriff's offices that have state prisons within their borders.

In August of last year, the Washington County Sheriff's Office arrested two men from metro Atlanta who they said attempted to smuggle drugs and a gun into the jail.

Similar to Monday's arrest, sheriff's deputies noticed suspicious activity near the jail.

Then, a few months earlier, in June 2023, three more men were arrested for trying to smuggle contraband into the prison.

In March 2024, the Georgia Department of Corrections and the FBI said an investigation resulted in more than 1,000 charges and the arrest of 150 suspects. According to the statement, eight of them were GDC employees.

In March, their investigation resulted in the confiscation of 87 drones, 22 weapons, 185 pounds of tobacco, 67 pounds of marijuana and a multitude of other drugs.

As many contraband traffickers attempt to smuggle drugs and guns into state prisons, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr issued a plea to the FCC over another popular contraband item: cell phones.

In a press release, Carr asked the FCC to allow the state to use jamming devices to disrupt the use of contraband cell phones in state prisons. The attorney general notes that these cell phones are often used to “plan and orchestrate violent attacks and other criminal activities” inside and outside of prison.

“The easiest way to protect the public from harm from contraband cell phones is to allow the use of cell phone jamming technology in jails and prisons, but the FCC continues to block our efforts ” Carr said. “These outdated guidelines limit legitimate law enforcement tools, present unsafe conditions for correctional officers, and enable the escalation of criminal networks inside and outside prison walls. »

In 2023, Carr notes that the state of Georgia has confiscated more than 8,000 contraband cell phones, and so far this year they have also confiscated just under 5,500 contraband phones.

He discusses the case of an 88-year-old veteran in Georgia who was killed after a gang leader ordered his assassination from behind bars with a contraband cell phone.

Faced with the risk of cell phone smuggling, Carr is calling on the FCC to change its rules to give law enforcement a new tool to combat crimes behind prison walls.