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Prisons Minister announces arrival of drug detection
scanners in all 10 prisons
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Machines able to detect drugs on clothes, paper and
mail
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Part of new approach to tackle violence and improve
standards
The technology can detect invisible traces of drugs, including
psychoactive substances, soaked into clothing and paper – a
technique increasingly used by criminals attempting to smuggle
drugs into prisons.
Staff have undergone training to operate the machines, and will
be taught how to handle and preserve evidence. A positive result
gives officers grounds to carry out further investigation, which
could result in sanctions or criminal prosecution.
The Prison Service and Ministry of Justice are now considering
whether the technology should be rolled out across the entire
closed male prison estate.
The introduction of the scanners is the latest development in the
‘10 Prisons Project’, which aims to reduce drugs and violence,
while improving standards, in the country’s most challenging
jails - providing a template for the wider estate. The roll-out
of x-ray body scanners at the 10 prisons is also underway.
This project is part of a much wider £70 million drive to restore
stability to the prison estate.
Prisons Minister said:
Drugs in prison, particularly psychoactive substances, have
been a game-changer – they drive self-harm and extreme
violence, putting both prisoners and prison officers at risk.
My key priority has been to toughen security and searching. We
need to make it much more difficult for anyone to get drugs
into prisons. So, in the 10 priority prisons, I am emphasising
the use of technology to search letters, bags and people -
including visitors and prison officers - as well as netting to
prevent drones and throw-overs.
This improved physical security combined with good existing
work on intelligence and drug treatment is already making a
difference in some of our most challenged prisons. And, if this
pilot is successful, I would hope to introduce the same
measures across all our local prisons.
The machines will allow staff to observe emerging drug trends,
providing them with intelligence which can be passed on to
security colleagues who will investigate and act. They will also
help prisons identify where, and by whom, drugs have been stored
and handled. This will assist decisions on which prisoners and
cells require further investigation.
The 10 Prisons Project was announced in August 2018 and is being
funded by an initial £10 million investment.
Various measures have already been implemented. Each prison now
has extra specialist staff and teams in place, including a drugs
strategy manager, additional entry searching staff and more dog
handlers.
These prisons are also investing in changes to the prison
environment to improve decency and provide clean and appropriate
sanitation as well as refurbish cells and shared areas.
The wider estate is benefitting from a range of investments,
including £16 million to improve conditions for prisoners and
staff and £7 million on new security measures, such as security
scanners, improved searching techniques, phone-blocking
technology and a financial crime unit to target the criminal
kingpins operating in prisons.
This has come against a backdrop of rising prison officer
numbers, with more than 4,300 now recruited since October 2016
and staffing levels at their highest since 2012.
Notes to editors:
- Geographical groups of prisons in Yorkshire, the north
Midlands and London have been selected for the project. The
prisons are: Hull, Humber, Leeds, Lindholme, Moorland, Wealstun,
Nottingham, Ranby, Isis and Wormwood Scrubs.
- We are on course to spend the full £10 million budget by the
end of this financial year.
