NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A new step by the federal government would allow state prisons to block the signals of contraband cellphones, which Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada called "a gamechanger in corrections."

For years, inmates across the country have used illegal cellphones to continue committing crimes inside prisons, putting the public's safety at risk.

“That cellphone, I kind of look at it as a weapon," Strada said. “I equate it to having a weapon because it can seriously do harm to an individual, even though it’s an electronic device.”

Contraband cellphones provide inmates with a connection to the outside world. Before Strada's time as the TDOC commissioner, there were cases of inmates in Tennessee who used illegal cellphones to arrange hits and esc

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