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Last week, a corrections training colleague from a North East state contacted me regarding contraband control. He wanted to converse about about an article that I published in 2006. The article was called “A big Deal About a Little Contraband”. His main goal was to expand his agency’s contraband control training module. Read more…
Is it worth it to you as an instructor to spend a few dollars to impart a valuable lesson? Are you willing to tread on the edge of absurd and flashy in order to make a point? These are decisions that all corrections trainers must make at some point.
Some classroom exercises can sometimes come out of left field. A strange concept that does not appear to have anything to do with corrections or criminal justice often takes the participants off balance. When you can bring the idea back to our vocation, it makes the lesson even more potent.
In “Paradise inside the walls”, participants will learn about contraband control and the inside economy. All that is needed are a few pair of dice (pun intended), and some gift wrapping. Read more…
Quite simply, cell phones are the new contraband. This is not a case of rich kids with expensive gadgets. Cell phones are ubiquitous and inexpensive.
The danger that these technological wonders pose to corrections facilities is
great. Corrections staff must acknowledge the potential harm that instant
communications in the wrong hands can cause.
To add to the challenge of maintaining security for staff, offenders, and the
public, there is this additional nuance. As phones get smaller they gain
features. In other words, as cell phones gain more uses (and misuses) they
become harder to detect by corrections staff.
With some clear tape applied to a concealment flap made from the altered pages, the cell phone can be rendered undetectable to the untrained eye.
Sometimes we can be motivated by something like a chocolate covered espresso bean. It is a unique incentive. Can an egg accomplish the same purpose?
The following exercise complements any module on security issues.
Almost everyone did it. We recall as children how we searched for eggs on a spring morning in our past. The thrill of the chase spurred us on to find these multi colored little gems. And the prize for most eggs found drove us to push forward diligently.
Whenever a contraband item is removed from a corrections setting, security becomes enhanced. This is true whether a weapon or a simple betting slip is taken out of circulation.
Of course, the weapon is a more obvious threat than the betting slip. However, small things can be traced to larger, seriously dangerous enterprises. It remains that all contraband has the potential to present peril to staff and prisoners.
Without question, security is the paramount goal of corrections. This is true regardless of the size or location of the worksite.
From the smallest local lockup in Alaska to the largest maximum-security facility in Florida, contraband’s ubiquity remains a dangerous truth.