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Contraband in footwear: A closer look

An offender can place blades, cell phones, narcotics, or even a mini container of mace inside a hollowed out shoe

By Joe Bouchard

Go on any airplane trip and you’ll notice that many passengers will be wearing the flip-flop style of shoes. After all, it’s easier to take these off during the airport search of passengers than standard foot ware with shoe laces. While many decades ago social convention may have been to dress up on an airplane trip, dressing down for convenience seems to be the norm.

Very recently, I thought about this as my wife discarded a pair of sandals. She did this because the base was separating from where her heel rested. The shoe rose at a slight angle from the toe to the heel. The style was such that the heel was a couple of inches thick. I pulled the backing off of the shoe at the soul. Inside was a crisscross of plastic supports.

It is very easy to see that this is a potential hiding place.

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Equipped with a pair of wire cutters, I more or less hollowed out this area. Pictured above is a 3-inch long folded knife that fits with ease within the cavity. This was done in a few minute’s time.

First of all, this is nothing new. Corrections and airport staff are aware of what could be hidden inside of the shoe that’s reconstructed after it is hollowed. One can place blades, cell phones, narcotics, or even a mini container of mace. I suppose that if they make the battery operated, high-pitched dog whistles small enough, then offenders could easily have concealed in their shoes tools to dissuade the canine used for searching. In short, many things can be hidden in the cavity of this size.

We know that this is one of the older contraband tricks in the book. It ranks up there in seniority with the now clichéd but still operating hollowed book. It is just something to remember during visits and in facilities where prisoners may wear their own personal shoes.

Here are some thoughts about shoes and the transport of contraband:

• Look for the unusual. If someone seems to be touching their shoes more than is common, there may be something that the offender or the visitor wants to dislodge and use or pass.
• Be aware of false leads. I recall once a prisoner who was displaying hostility toward a staff member because that staff member issued a major misconduct. The prisoner dug around in his sock. To most it looks like he was going to pull a weapon from next to his ankle and use it. The staff member reported to the school officer and requested that his socks be searched. Nothing was found; it was a feint.
• Weapons can disappear in a twinkling of an eye when there is a large group activity. The shoe can be a perfect place for this.
• If contraband is stored in the shoe, it can be passed from one offender to another simply by switching shoes. In addition, a quick switch of shoes can occur between visitors and offenders.
• Sometimes what we search for contraband, the clever, labyrinth schemes seem more attractive. Yet it is very likely that most contraband is exchanged through very simple means. Do not overlook the obvious.
• Plastics and mobile electronics have become smaller, more flexible and possess greater utilities as the years have progressed. Therefore, the trusty old metal detector will not reveal as much dangerous contraband as in previous years. Thus, the visual search still reigns supreme.

In the end, the contraband search can be very tedious and very difficult. However staff members that are vigilant, tenacious, and realistic will pull enough bootleg out of the system in order to make the facility safer for staff, offenders and the public.

Have you found interesting contraband in your facility? Want to win a free T-shirt? Email us your pictures and stories and we’ll share this valuable information with the Corrections1 community.

If we choose to run your piece of contraband, we’ll mail you a Corrections1 T-shirt to thank you for your contribution.

Joe Bouchard worked in a maximum correctional facility for 25 years and is now retired. He continues to write and present on many corrections topics. He is the former editor of The Correctional Trainer. Bouchard has been an instructor of corrections and criminal justice since 1999. He currently teaches at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College. Bouchard also has online writing clips at www.corrections.com/joe_bouchard. He is also the author of three corrections books for LRP publications and 10 books for IACTP’s series of training exercises books. Order now.

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