Cutting edge technology is to be rolled out to all prisons in the ongoing fight to prevent drug smuggling into prisons, Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced today.
Hand-held mobile phone blockers and Body Orifice Security Scanners ('BOSS chairs') to detect mobile phones being smuggled into prisons - currently confined to the high security estate - are to be introduced to all prisons from next year.
Mobile phone use is known to drive the movement of illicit drugs within prisons.
Substantial sums have been made available for this key priority. The National Offender Management Service will be working with suppliers to get the best possible deal to ensure value for taxpayers' money. A further announcement on the details of this investment will be made when this programme is rolled out from March 2009.
The wider use of blockers and scanners are among the 10 recommendations made in David Blakey's review 'Disrupting the Supply of Illicit Drugs into Prisons'.
Mr Straw told Parliament that the Ministry of Justice is to meet all 10 recommendations, which range from monitoring the use of the Offender Management Act in prosecuting those attempting to smuggle contraband into prisons to establishing an internal review to determine whether search dogs and their handlers are distributed effectively around the prison estate.
Former HM Inspector of Constabulary, David Blakey CBE QPM was commissioned by the Justice Secretary to carry out a review of the effectiveness of the current methods employed to prevent the supply of drugs into prisons, as part of a commitment made in January's Prison Policy Update.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw MP said:
'I am grateful to David Blakey for his considered and well-targeted report all of whose recommendations we are committed to accept.
'Illegal drugs are a disruptive influence in society today. They play a significant role in the causes of crime and act as a barrier to the rehabilitation of offenders once in custody.
'The Prison Service takes this issue very seriously; keeping drugs out of prisons helps them to run more smoothly and allows prisoners to engage more effectively with rehabilitative programmes.
'But this is a tough challenge and the Prison Service is constantly seeking to strengthen its security measures which have resulted in a fall in positive Random Mandatory Drug test results of 63% since 1997.'
A significant proportion of offenders coming into prison have a history of drug addiction. An average of 55% of prisoners are problem drug users, and some prisons report that up to 80% of prisoners test positive for Class A drugs on arrival. Given such figures, it is inevitable that those prisoners with a drug habit will attempt to get hold of and use drugs whilst in prison.
Disruption of supply is one part of the National Offender Management Service's drug strategy for prisons, which comprises three elements:
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reducing demand through targeted interventions for low, moderate and severe drug-misusers
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reducing supply, through security measures and drug testing programmes
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establishing effective through-care links to ensure continuity of treatment post-release in order to safeguard the gains made in custody.
In March, the Ministry of Justice and Department of Health jointly announced the formation of a national Prison Drug Treatment Review Group to oversee the development of prison drug treatment, to be chaired by Professor Lord Kamlesh Patel, OBE. The Group will commission a series of projects aimed at streamlining treatment provision in prisons and will report in due course.
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