Teacher's cell phone jammer more serious than thought

The science teacher caught using a 3g cell phone jammer in his classroom had hoped to force his students to pay attention, but he ended up putting nearby residents at risk. Cell signals could have been jammed 1 to 2 miles away.

"Something horrible could have happened with that jammer in place people would not have been able to notify 911," said Sheriff Chris Nocco, who says public safety was definitely at risk when science teacher Dean Liptack used the jammer during class.

"It might have interfered with our own 911 radio system so we would have had issues with that, too," said Nocco.

That means the Student Resource Officer's own radios could have been rendered ineffective.

"They are very dangerous because they are indiscriminate when they jam they jam multiple bands," said Joseph Sekula, who is the sheriff's office communications expert.

He says a GPS cell phone jammer can be effective from 50 feet up to 1,000 feet. But Sekula admitted the situation could have been worse.

"Somebody that was a mile or two miles from that Verizon site they probably would not have got in," Sekula said.

Nocco said, "Everybody realizes if something goes on you dial 911 if you don't have the ability to do that bad things can happen."

According to Nocco using a wifi cell phone jammer is not an arrestable offense, but according to Florida Statute you could be facing a first-degree misdemeanor and a $1,000 fine.

But the Federal Communication Commission is not as forgiving, with fines from $16,000 to $112,000 including possible criminal imprisonment for someone caught using a cell phone signal jammer.