By C1 Staff
NEW YORK — A new, unprecedented security measure for city corrections officers is hoping to crack down on contraband smuggling.
NY Daily News reports that New York corrections officers will have their lunches x-rayed for drugs or weapons before they enter jails.
Officials are hoping that this measure will stem the spike in stabbings and slashings plaguing the city’s jail system.
“We all have an obligation to keep contraband out of jails by stopping it before it breaches the perimeter and by quickly confiscating it should it get in,” Correction commissioner Joseph Ponte wrote in an August 22 memo to staff.
The new system will also include additional officers randomly assigned to main jail entrances.
In July, 12 Rikers officers were arrested and charged with smuggling drugs and other contraband into the facility as part of an ongoing probe by the city Department of Investigation.
Prosecutors say several of the officers repeatedly sneaked cocaine and oxycodone into the East River lockup.
In the past, the correction officers’ union has pushed back against new security measures, but now the president is embracing the new plan.
“I think and know it’s time we show the city that we are professionals and can supervise ourselves and don’t need the Council or department of health or Board of Corrections to interfere,” he said.