Pubdate: Mon, 21 Apr 2008
Source: Northern Echo, The (UK)
Copyright: 2008 Newsquest Media Group
Contact:  http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4291
Author: Stuart Arnold
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

SHOCK OVER 'LAX' RECORDS AT PRISONS

THE Government faced fresh fire over its record on prisons last 
night, after it admitted two institutions in the North-East were 
failing to keep records on items confiscated from visitors.

The Ministry of Justice said it had reminded all North prisons that 
they must keep records of all items seized, in line with a national 
security framework employed by the Prison Service.

The admission that two prisons - Durham, and Northallerton, North 
Yorkshire - were failing to keep information on such seizures came 
about following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from The Northern Echo.

advertisementLast night, the Government was attacked over its "lax" 
approach on security, with Tories saying a lack of proper record 
keeping was masking the problem of items being smuggled in.

The Northern Echo had asked the Ministry of Justice, in an FOI 
request, what items had been confiscated from visitors to Durham, Low 
Newton Women's Prison, Frankland and Deerbolt, all County Durham; 
Kirklevington and Holme House, both Teesside; and Northallerton.

In a reply received from civil servants almost four months after the 
original request, the Ministry said that Durham and Northallerton 
prisons did not collate the information requested.

Meanwhile, Deerbolt, Frankland, Low Newton, and Kirklevington prisons 
had no record of any instances of items being confiscated from 
visitors, despite having a recording system.

The only figures given were of 31 drugs confiscations from visitors 
to Holme House, near Stockton, in the 13 months to last December.

The Ministry said confiscations from visitors were not recorded there 
before November 2006.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert said: "Prisons should be places 
of security, yet we know they are rife, certainly with drugs and mobile phones.

"Proper monitoring of visits is essential and there should be records 
of all items confiscated so we can have a clear idea about the scale 
of the problem and which prisons need to do more to improve security."

Colin Moses, national chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, 
said he was surprised at the lack of proper record keeping.

He also said he believed the figure for drugs seizures from visitors 
to Holme House was much higher, a problem he was particularly concerned about.

In 2003, the Echo revealed how drug "mules", equipped with fake IDs, 
were being paid to ferry drugs into prisons in the region.

The newspaper also revealed the length to which some visitors to 
Holme House go in smuggling illegal substances, such as hiding them 
in babies' nappies or behind stamps on letters.

Mr Moses, a former North-East prison officer, said: "This response is 
a clear indication of how lax the prison authorities are when it 
comes to the threat posed by drugs and other items.

"I am surprised, for instance, that there is a lack of proper record 
keeping at some institutions.

These figures' show that the Government doesn't take drug taking in 
prisons very seriously at all, certainly when it comes to stopping 
substances being smuggled in and recording such instances.

"This puts the public at risk, because when prisoners are released 
they are released as drug addicts and drug dealers and carry on with 
this behaviour."

Mr Moses said he believed problems with staffing had also led to 
reductions in the number of searches by prison officers.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said in a statement: "Prisons in 
the North-East have now been reminded that they must keep records of 
all confiscated items in line with the Prison Service National 
Security Framework.

"There are strict measures in place to tackle visitors who smuggle or 
attempt to smuggle drugs or other items into prisons.

"These include imposing closed' visits through a glass screen, where 
visitors are suspected of being involved in smuggling, visit bans, 
and arrest and prosecution where there is sufficient evidence.

"Visitor biometric systems are in place in 34 prisons and there is 
CCTV surveillance and low-level furniture in most social visit areas 
in all Category C prisons and above, to make it more difficult to 
pass drugs or other items."

The spokeswoman said it was also looking at the possibility of more 
rigorous searches and more sniffer and search dogs in prisons.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom