Unlawful radio frequency jamming could be a great band name if Hoosier lawmakers weren't so determined to stamp it out.
The Indiana Senate voted 49-0 Thursday to establish the crime of unlawful radio frequency jamming as a level 6 felony, punishable by up to 2½ years in jail; or as a level 5 felony, punishable by up to 6 years in prison, if used to disrupt critical infrastructure or public safety services.
Under Senate Bill 26, which now goes to the House, a person who operates, manufactures, buys, sells or transfers a device designed to block, interfere with, or overpower wireless phone or radio signals commits unlawful radio frequency jamming.
That means, for example, businesses and health care providers that use a cell phone jammer in their facilities no longer will be permitted to do so after June 30 if the measure is approved by both chambers of the Republican-controlled General Assembly and enacted by Republican Gov. Mike Braun.
State Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, the sponsor, said he first learned of these devices last year when an alleged burglar in Evansville used a radio frequency jammer to disable a home security system, as well as the electronic devices in the police vehicle that eventually caught up to the suspect.
"You can get them from China for about $150. You can pay more money for a more sophisticated device," Tomes said. "This bill here is setting the stage that we're going to protect people in our country from this sort of activity."
The legislation likewise would prohibit any device capable of generating an artificial electromagnetic pulse (EMP) similar to the device used in the 2001 film "Oceans 11" to knock out electrical power to all of Las Vegas as part of a well-organized casino vault robbery.
The Indiana ban on jammers and EMPs would not apply to devices authorized by federal law or those used by a state or local governmental entity.
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