Does law enforcement need jamming equipment?

"FEMA [and its response to Hurricane Katrina] showed us that federal agents are not the first line of response to catastrophic incidents," says Melamed. While cell carriers can shut down towers in an emergency — in much the same way the airline industry grounded all flights on 9/11 — an emergency protocol to do so only recently became available, and falls under federal purview. Melamed says these issues are complicated by the possibility that cell carriers may extend signals into commercial airspace. "Phone signals don't interfere with navigation; no plane ever came down because someone forgot to turn their cell phone off," he says. That the need for constant communication outweighs public safety is already an issue in Washington, D.C., where carriers provide underground signals for subway commuters. A bomb squad could use a jamming device to prevent a primary explosive from detonating; or, following a primary attack, prevent additional bombs from going off. However, Melamed says ...  more