In the latest random search of inmates conducted at His Majesty’s Prison yesterday, contraband to include marijuana, a cell phone with accessories, and other drugs yet to be determined were discovered.
Prison Superintendent, Colonel Trevor Pennyfeather, told Observer that the problem of prohibited items reaching inmates continues to persist, although there has been a reduction in the amount of items discovered lately.
“We had searches up to this morning that are still uncovering stuff, so we are aware that the problem still persists — maybe not as bad as it was a few months back, but it still persists,” he stated.
In order to further decrease the amount of contraband in the prison, Pennyfeather indicated that equipment such as metal detectors are key and are actively being sourced.
“We’re trying to have a baggage scanner, a metal detector, and cameras installed [and] get the fence finalised. These things take time, they take money. What I can say is that we are moving forward with it because purchases have been made and there has been cooperation,” he said.
The Prison Superintendent indicated that the timeline for most of the measures to be put in place is by the middle of next year and spoke of specific equipment currently being procured.
“The baggage scanner, we’re actually sourcing from the Airport Authority. The metal detector, we’ve already looked at it; in a week or two, that decision has to be made,” he said.
Pennyfeather also identified some of the factors contributing to contraband making its way behind the prison walls.
“Things are still being thrown over the walls, that’s one way; another way is to get it smuggled in,” he stated, adding that items could also be smuggled in by persons who are employed at the prison.
“Officers or civilian staff … may find ways in which to bring things in, but that I believe is very minimum.
“We do try to check almost everything family members would send to the inmates there as far as possible … [but] the amount of volume of stuff you get, it is impossible to have a 100 percent check of everything that comes in,” Colonel Pennyfeather explained.
He added that the search was a collaboration between the prison, police and the military.