CONTROL OF CONTRABANDS IN PRISON 1

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Abstract

Contraband activities are very common in most of prisons in the world. Trade of contraband and
prohibited activities helps the prisoners build their power. Having the right items and planning
some of the prisoners may have the ability of turning their businesses into business empires,
which will help them have an easier access of drugs, weapons that can threaten the security of
the prison. This paper focuses on various contraband activities such as Weapons, drug usage and
mobile phones. On the same the article gives relevant interventions to combat the challenges.
Introduction

The contraband correctional facilities are the illegal items lime the drugs, weapons or some of

the prohibited and monitored items like the cell phones. The prison members of staff have to

detect and also confiscate the contraband items very quickly in order to prevent drug abuse, any

form of violence, and commission of other crimes. The usage of weapons as well as the drugs is

very harmful to the environment especially where there is much violence. The prisoners have the

ability of using cell phones that help them in smuggling of the drugs and the weapons, making

plans to escape, organizing of crimes to be committed inside or outside prison ("Contraband

Detection and Control", 2021). Notably contraband has the ability of causing very expensive

liabilities like the overdose, attacks and also draining away budgets. This is because each and

every overdose that is taken is very expensive and may cost the prison agencies will help in

saving money thousands of dollars, and therefore preventing the number of drugs going to the

prison will help reducing the cost of management. On the same the government should intervene

and make policies, policies and interventions which will help in combating contraband activities

in prisons as they affect the society and prison environment as well. The paper focuses on the

various contraband activities in the prison and gives various interventions for the same.

The Shanks and Weapons

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The prisoners make the use of the metal shanks from the boots they are given by the

prisons, the pieces of glasses found in the yards or even the razors which may be sandwich in

between the wooden tongue depressors. On the same the prisoners have the ability of making

knives from the sharpened cartridges that are acquired from the type writers. In most of the cases

the prisoners do not use these shanks to murder but for carrying gang business and scaring their

debtors. The prison will only find injured individuals but very difficult to identify the weapon

causing the harm. Other prisoners may get access of hard weapons such as guns from the

wardens through corruption. Therefore it is very advisable that the correctional institutions

should regulate the number of personal properties that the inmate should be processing.

The Mobile Phones

The cell phones and other communication items are the most smuggled into the prisons

and are among the fastest means of contraband beyond the prison walls. Mobile phones and other

devices that are used for communication are a part of contraband in the prisons and they

introduce havoc correctional. For instance the smuggling of the mobile phones can be used by

the prisoners in plot to escape and other illegal activities. On the same the communication

gadgets are also used for sharing the prison information illegally which can be harm for both the

prisoners as well as the warden. In case the wardens fail to recover the devices, the prisoner may

have a plan of overtaking the prisons from the outside and therefore the prisoners need tough

measures which would help in combating the activity

The Drugs

The consumption of the drugs has long been known to be a criminal offense, and it

becomes a mystery by how the drugs find all their way to the prisons, of which requires
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sophisticated planning as well preparation for circumventing the systems which prevent the

smuggling of the drugs (Caulkins, 2020). It has always been said that the prison wardens also

contribute to the smuggling of the drugs in the prison. The drug and weapons are one of the

major threats of the well being of prison wardens. The drugs introduce the major body disorders

as well as the struggle for power as well as posing threats to overdosing (Russo and Wells, 2019.

For instance synthetic opioid, Fentanyl are responsible for failing the respiratory organs and its

traces can affect other people as it is airborne. The narcotic drugs have become a major threat

among the prisoners which also affects the correctional officers without any suspicion of the

airborne exposure.

Program and Policies

Regulate Property Access

Excess property processions among the cluttered prisons may act as hiding places for

contraband. On the same, cluttered prisons could be very difficult to search and this would waste

a lot of time for the officers. The legal properties are one of the hiding places for the contraband

items as the staffs are not very keen when searching these places, consequently it is very

significant for the prison authorities to have a clear documentation .The places where the

contraband are said to happen. On the same the prison officers should have a clear understanding

on the items that are owned by the prisoners and for what purpose.

Making IDs

The prison officers have the ability of reducing the smuggling of the contraband business

through making IDs within the intake areas that are separated from the main prison, in order to

make sure that they prevent the new inmates from drug taking or trafficking to other prisoners
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that would be seeking friendship. They should volunteer in conducting shakedowns in the search

of contraband items in the prisons, of which they can take turns in the exchange of the roles. The

trace detectors are also very important and should be as well be utilized in searching of illegal

items. Furthermore technologies can be used for a thorough inspection which is very effective

when searching the body cavities within the body. The Archway detectors should be as well be

utilized to make sure there is a swift check-up in the prisoners, visitors as well as the jail

employees before heading to the scanning procedures (Keene et al. 2013). Even though the

detectors may fail to test all the materials it is very effective when testing the metallic materials

especially where they can go through screen. The FMD (Portable Ferromagnetic Detention

System) a type of technology that been recently been invented and used worldwide for detecting

signatures of magnetic materials by the use of passive sensors (Hodge, 2018). The correctional

therefore should be encouraged to make the use of the technology during the screening as it does

not require a close contact with the inmates who are being screened for the contraband business.

CCTV Cameras

The correctional on their part should maintain a high level of security to make sure the measures

that are put in place keep away from the illicit drugs as well as the dangerous items. Such way of

safety would include the usage of special types of pens that are made to prevent convicts from

using them to draw tattoos which is done by the use of ink as well as the toothbrushes which are

thumbed and prevent the inmates from converting them to become weapons. The prisons also

should make the use of the CCTVs for monitoring the moves of the prisoners especially in the

public places to prevent them from hiding the contraband hurt the rest. Similarly the prisoners

should have a regular drug testing using the blood samples in order to make sure that they are not

narcotics. The danger that is imposed by the contraband business in the prison requires strict
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measures for screening, and also preventing them from access of facilities. Each and every

person used to facilitate the prisoners should also be taken as suspects for smuggling the

contraband activities. In consequence the correctional officers should work hand in hand with

the government in ensuring that there are strict measures in screening and preventing the

contraband activities by the use of the hidden CCTVs in the public places , in the various

shakedowns, metor detector, in the drug testing. By doing these activities there is an assurance of

lowering the contraband activities in prisons.

Regardless of whether the usage of cell phones and cigarettes and other related items are

prohibited, the contraband in relation with these items has become one of the toughest tests for

the prison officers within in the prisons worldwide. It is a continuing war for the most of the

prison officials that are within the law enforcement that are obligated for handling convicts that

are the main suspects of having contrabands through screening in order to seize any weapon they

have own. The prisons are also entitles that they are at the forefront in controlling the contraband

through screening to make sure the weapons are not accessible to the prisoners (Saunders et al.

2017).

Inspecting Inmates Coming to the Facility

Screening each and every inmate visitor that comes to the prison environment would be

very helpful strategy to control contraband. The strategy on how to conduct massive and

effective searches should be put in place by the prison administrators. Many of the prison

facilities most of the time do rely on the manual labor searches as a way of screening inmates.

Notably the search should be conducted in a very consistent way to every inmate, going or

coming in of the prison environment every time. Some of the ways that can be improvised to
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enhance searching is by of the X-ray body scanner such as the B-scan from the Smith Detection,

may be an effective machine that can help in addressing the challenges of manual labor

searching as it is more fast with little invasive searches. However the search provided by the

machine is more thorough, with detailed image which has image visibility of the body cavities.

The body scanner will help the prison screen the visitors as well as the prison staffs thoroughly

and very fast with very invasive measures. The other advantage of the X-ray body scanner is

that it is able to pick up hidden objects like the small bags used for hiding drugs, that are tucked

in crevice or the cavity, not only in the metallic items are able to be detected by the detectors

but also non- metallic(Gibson, 2017). The B scan is also able to look inside the body, since there

are a number of things which are smuggled by using the body cavities, and therefore having the

B-scan the prison officials will have inside the body scan without necessarily doing the invasive

type of search. Invasive search has been said to be very dangerous to the operator.

It is advisable before purchasing an X-ray machine the prison should have qualified

personnel’s for operating the scans and are able to recognize the small objects that are usually

hidden in the suspect’s cavities, such as wrapped razor blades and tucked in the cavity. The

officer doing the search should ensure the inmate does a physical strip in order to ensure the

mass is not a weapon (Star-Lack and Green, 2013). However a proper training is always the key

for running the machines and if well trained along with physical searches it will be an effective

way of reducing contraband in prisons. In addition it is advisable to have the images inspected by

the quadrant in order to maintain the focus in order to maintain each and every area thoroughly

(Shukla, 2021). The inspector should not forget to check in the prosthetics and crutches as these

are the main hiding places of which should be well searched using the scanners.

Research studies to control Contraband in Prisons

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It has been a long battle for the law enforcers and the policy makers to deal with the inmates

who are constantly reported to poses contraband. Weapons and drugs can pose a threat to the

lives of the inmates as well as the prison wardens. One of the drug known as Opioid is very

potent such that it can cause respiratory failure. According to the recent study done by

(Grommon, 2018), he indentifies that cell phone is a major challenge affecting the prison system

worldwide. The cell phone have been used as mode of managing their contraband activities such

as drug trafficking.

Belenko et al., 2013 in his analysis he states that he states that the Drug courts have been

currently been used to solve the contraband cases in most of the prisons. Over the last 20 years

the drug courts have been receiving much attention and the core components of the drug courts

were the linkages of the long term drug and substance abuse treatment in close judicial

supervision, case management as well as team decision making. The drug courts also made high

fines against those prisoners dealing drug contrabands.

For the case of mobile phones and other communication gadgets in the prisons, deploying a

high technology gadgets at all the entry points of the prison and facilitation of a portable

ferromagnetic detection systems (FMDS) which uses passive sensors which are very efficient at

detecting magnetic signature will help in reducing the cases of contraband activities.

Alternatively deploying X-ray equipment in the entry points may help in scanning prisoners and

other prison staffs , to detect the entry of mobile phone or other communication gadgets in the

prison (Shukla, 2021).

Conclusion and Discussions

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The contraband activities are a hazard to the entire systems to the prison services as they

endanger the lives of the officers, inmates. Some of these challenges discussed in the paper are

drug addiction, injuries from physical beatings and injuries. There has been a prison fight which

has been caused by smuggling drugs that enter into the prison, because of competitions and the

nonpayment of then of drugs from one inmate to another (Keene et al. 2013). On the same there

have Staff members who have been braking up with other inmates especially during a prison

romance, who goes on being attacked and even injured. Consequently there is a need for using

technology in order to counter the challenges found in the prisons, which would ensure not only

security but also prison workers. Various governments such as that of United States have

deployed various measures for reducing the contraband issues. Reducing inmate idleness through

the increase of opportunities for exercising, sports, cultural and religious activities, this will help

reduce the chances of contraband activities. Active inmates are less likely to have less stress and

hostile. Another strategy is by classifying the house prisoners in accordance to their levels of the

risks.
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