X-ray body scanners have stopped 10,000 attempts to smuggle contraband including drugs, weapons and phones into prisons in the U.K. in just over a year.
The innovative equipment is part of the government’s bold £100 million package to boost security in prisons and crackdown on crime behind bars.
The 74 scanners, developed specifically for the Prison Service, and installed at closed male prisons in England and Wales, allow staff to instantly identify whether prisoners are smuggling illegal contraband items within their bodies. The scanners have picked up Spice, morphine tablets, mobile phones, SIM cards, phone chargers and tobacco. These illegal items would have been destined for the prison wings, fuelling the illicit economy that drives debt and associated violence.
The equipment is being funded as part of the government’s commitment to transform the prison estate and cut crime, which also includes enhanced gate security and drug detection dog teams as well as rehabilitation programs.
Read more at the Ministry of Justice
