CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Attorney General JB McCuskey has joined a multistate effort to combat the alarming rise in drones that are illegally dropping contraband into prisons, including narcotics, weapons, cell phones and other items. This drone use is a major public safety threat impacting correctional facilities across the country, and it is fueling broader crime both inside and outside of prison walls.
Per federal law, only a narrow set of federal agencies are authorized to detect, track and mitigate unauthorized drones. Thus, correctional officials – who are on the front lines of this issue – often lack the legal authority and the necessary tools to intervene in real time. To address this gap, AG McCuskey and 20 other attorneys general are asking the Trump administration to provide state and local law enforcement with the ability to disable or intercept drones before they reach the prison.
“These drones pose a serious risk to guards at the prisons and the prisoners themselves. We’ve seen drones used to deliver contraband at a federal prison in McDowell County, so we know this problem is happening here in West Virginia and across the country,” McCuskey said. “We are optimistic the Trump Administration will work with our state and local authorities to close this loophole that has prevented our prison officers from intercepting the drones.”
In a letter sent to Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counter Terrorism, the attorneys general commend the administration’s creation of the Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty. They also underscore the sharp increase in drone drops over prison grounds.
As stated in the letter, this type of illegal activity “is happening all over the country and the consequences are severe. The introduction of drugs contributes to addiction, violence, and overdose incidents.
For this reason, the attorneys general request that the Task Force, led by Dr. Gorka, work with federal agencies to grant carefully defined authority for state and local law enforcement to address this threat quickly and efficiently. They also recommend continued collaboration with federal partners to investigate and prosecute those who use drones to introduce contraband into correctional facilities.
In addition to West Virginia, the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas have also signed onto this Georgia-led letter.
Find a copy of the letter here.