WTRF 7 News Sports Weather – Wheeling Steubenville
Four people were arrested in Georgia after smuggling in cell phones, tobacco and binoculars into a state prison by flying a drone over the prison walls and into the yard. Tobacco, cell phones and binoculars don’t seem dangerous but the contraband could have been much worst and that’s where the Drone Shield comes in.
Two men have come up with a system to help combat the improper use of UAS technology and they were in the Ohio Valley Saturday testing it out.
“It uses a microphone basically to listen for the sound the drones make and it has a processing, embedded computer that analyzes the sound and compares it to a library that it has on board,” said John Franklin, co-founder of the Drone Shield. “Right now we have it set up to send emails and also text messages but it could communicate on their radios or however you want.”
Major Ronnie Williams of the West Virginia Division of Corrections was at the Penitentiary today to see the Drone Shield in action.
“It’s a good thing because the threat isn’t going to go away,” said Major Williams. “As the technology continues to get better and cheaper, the threat will get greater and greater.”
Major Williams says the Drone Shield could also be used for celebrities as the paparazzi starts to use drones to get more intimate shots.
Franklin helped create the Drone Shield to ensure the safety of everyone inside the prisons.
“You know corrections officers are in a constant struggle to control what enters the prison and in the case of humans, what leaves the prisons,” said Franklin. “We think we have a tool to use in that struggle.”
After working on the Drone Shield for a little over a year Franklin is ready to unveil it and what better place to test it out then in front of hundreds law enforcement agencies.
“We’re going to be participating in the mock prison riot and that will be the big opportunity for us at least to show the corrections officers what we have and for them to evaluate if it’s something that they could use in their work,” said Franklin.
The Mock Riot will May 4 through the 7th.
Source: WTRF