"When wives, mothers, sisters, family members are told that they failed a body scan, rarely is contraband actually found or charges brought in response. Visitors are either turned away or even suspended from visiting their loved one for simply having items like menstrual products - tampons."
"State Sen. Julia Salazar, a Brooklyn Democrat who is sponsoring the bill, said subjecting guards to the same screening required of visitors would reduce contraband in correctional facilities. The new legislation also provides a mechanism for a visitor who fails a scan, and is suspected of bringing contraband into a prison facility, to be re-evaluated instead of rejected immediately."
New York State Senator Julia Salazar introduced legislation requiring corrections officers to undergo random full-body scanner screening before entering state prisons, matching the screening applied to visitors. The bill aims to reduce contraband in correctional facilities. Additionally, the legislation creates a re-evaluation mechanism for visitors who fail scans and are suspected of carrying contraband, preventing immediate rejection. Salazar and Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest developed the bill after receiving complaints from visitors wrongly accused of carrying contraband and subsequently barred from visits. Visitors have been suspended for possessing innocent items like menstrual products. The proposal reflects ongoing frustration with New York's prison system, which remains understaffed following fatal guard-on-inmate incidents and a corrections officer strike.
Read at Gothamist
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