In 2007 inmates’ possession of mobile-phones and illegal communication equipment was criminalized. Despite the criminalization the numbers of mobile-phones in prisons kept increasing. In 2015 several mobile-phones were found among a group of high-risk remand prisoners. A new law was implemented in 2016 saying that the first time the rules on Mobile-phones and illegal communication equipment is violated the imposed disciplinary punishment is 15 days in penalty cell (solitary confinement). Second time the imposed disciplinary punishment is 21 days in penalty cell and the third time 28 days. Stricter guidelines on cell and body searches were implemented and the wording of § 67 in the Penal Sentence Enforcement Act was changed from saying that a prisoner must be punished disciplinary – instead of can be punished disciplinary.
This presentation explores how the law change affected the number of cell phones behind bars, and how the prison system and the incarcerated people experienced the law change in 2016. The data derives from the Danish Prison system on numbers of detected mobile-phones in prisons and numbers of imposed disciplinary punishment. Other data derives from qualitative interviews with incarcerated individuals (n=10) and prison officers (n=10) in four Danish closed prisons.