Week 6 Assignment Contraband is defined as anything that is not issued to an inmate by the Department of Corrections or can be purchased by the inmate thru the canteen. How we can controlling contraband in American prisons. There are many different ways to reduce contraband from entering prisons. People often wonder how contraband get behind prison walls and what can of contraband is being found. Contraband is introduced into the prison by staff and thru visitation. A lot of the contraband being found at the prison (Black Water River Correctional Facility in Milton Florida) I work at is synthetic marijuana, cell phones, tobacco, prison made tattoo guns, homemade needles, knives, heroin and unauthorized pills. Prisoners will make weapons out of anything they can get into their hands. We conduct routinely pat searches of all inmates, including their housing units, recreation yards and all TV areas. When conducting a pat search of an inmate I always start from the top of their body and go down in a sweeping motion, because they can hide contraband on them. Visitation is Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 am to 1:00pm and all major holidays. We start processing visitors around 7:00 am. One by one they complete a visitation form were there write down all their personal information, vehicle information and the inmate name they came to visit. Once that is finish they place everything (jacket, money, belt, shoes, baby diapers) in a basket, and it has to clear the x-ray machine. The visitor then is as asked to walk thru the metal detector. Once they clear the metal detector, their hands is swab with a cloth material that is placed on an ion machine that is used to detect drugs residue on your skin. Visitors are allowed to be tested twice. If the machine detects drugs on a visitor’s hands on the first test they are allowed to go wash their hands and are allowed to be retested .After being retested and they test positive a second time their visit will be denied. But if they test come back negative for drugs they allowed visiting privileges. Once they finish the ion scan the visitor enters the restroom were security staff conduct a pat search of the visitor. Female staff can only search female visitors. We are checking for anything illegal that the visitor is trying to smuggle in to an inmate. I always start my search by asking the visitor to tilt her head back and open her mouth and lift up her tongue, checking to see if anything is hidden under her tongue. If she has any gum or candy in her mouth I ask for them to spit it out. Then I perceive to conduct a pat search starting with the collar of their shirt, running my hand along their collar blade and around there waist making sure I don’t feel anything out of the ordinary. Then I asked the lady to whole her foot up one at a time, checking to see if she has anything taped to the bottom of her feet. If she passes the pat search inspection she is allowed to return to the a-ray table to retrieve her personal belongings. Then she is allowed to put her shoes, jacket, and belt back on. An officer then escorts all visitors that have been clear to visit to the visitation park. I then call the housing unit to inform the officer which inmate has a visit, by giving the officer the inmate name and DC number. The officer then informs the inmate that he has a visit. The inmate then has to get in there class A uniform and state issued crocs. Once the inmate is fully dressed he is issued a pass to go to visitation. Once the inmate enters the visitation park, they are escorted into the script search room. Were a male officer is to perform a search of the inmate making sure he’s not in possession of anything illegal he’s trying to pass off to the visitor. Once the search is complete he is allowed to visit with his visitors. The visitors are allowed to purchase snacks and drinks for the inmate at the snack machines that is in the visitation park. The inmate is never allowed to be in possession of money. If a visitor has smuggled in anything illegal they try and pass it to the inmate at visitation time. The inmate and visitor is allowed to sit at a table with their hands on top at the at all times. Once visitation is over the inmate is strip search before he is allowed to return to his dorm. After the inmate is search and found not to be in possession of contraband, he is allowed to go back to his assign housing unit. Staff is routinely searched by Department of Correction staff and processed the same way we do visitors, checking for contraband. I have witnesses two of my fellow co-workers being escorted off the compound with handcuffs on for introducing contraband in a correctional facility. They were in possession of two cell phones apiece and three pounds of marijuana. I also seen to female staff members escorted off the compound for establishing a relationship with an inmate. Introduction of contraband into a correctional facility is a felony in the state of Florida. I think anybody that put the employees and public life in danger by bringing in illegal contraband to prison inmates need to be put behind the same barb wire fences as the one they smuggled it in to.
Sources:
1. Corrections today. Oct 2006, Vol.68 Issue 6, p24-29. 3p. Author Gearhart Gregory 2. Drug control. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Jul93, Vol. 62 Issue 7, p.19. 1/2p. Black and white photograph 3. Shakedown Expert Keeps Louisiana Institution Safe. Corrections Today. Jun 2012, p26-26. 1p.
Counter Argument: 1. Current and Emerging Technologies and Limitations: Corrections today. Oct2010, Vol.72 Issue5, p105-107. 2p. Author Whitworth Ariel