By C1 Staff
WICHITA FALLS, Texas — While inmates have all the time in the world to come up with new and dangerous contraband items, its up to the staff at every correctional facility to come up with new ways to detect them.
“It’s a constant safety issue we got to watch for,” Wichita County Sheriff David Duke told Texomas. “The training they have is paramount for the safety not only of themselves but the other inmates, all the inmates, at any given time.
“They are very watchful of what’s going on in the jail. They see the contraband. They know when something is going on. They do recognize when something is missing.”
Staff combat the dangerous items through methodical and continuous searches of the jail.
“The most common thing we will find is tattoo equipment,” said Lieutenant Ian McMurtrie. “Everything involving making tattoos involves a sharp instrument.”
Despite the obvious dangers of injury from an inmate, there’s also the danger of the search itself. If the sharp instrument used for tattooing is tainted in any way, if a staff member accidentally pricks themselves searching for it, that’s “six to eight months of worry while the blood test comes back to see if he’s got anything and if he does, what he has,” McMutrie added.
Contraband is also a problem at the state level, but facilities have a systematic approach to preventing its entry.
“We have our separate secure points where we search all those individuals to try and intercept that and keep that from coming inside the facility,” Senior Warden Richard Wathen explained. “There’s signs out there that are posted that warn the public that your person and your vehicle are subject to search.
“We perform daily searches of the facility, common areas and cell searches because we’re required to perform so many of those searches a day.”
The most dangerous type of contraband continues to be cellphones, which gives inmates access to the outside world.
“Anytime you find a cellphone, that’s a big deal. An offender with a cell phne suddenly has internet access. That offender has a way to communicate with the outside world. Has a way to look up information on you, me, other employees, other offenders, which could put all of us in jeopardy,” Wathen explained.
Consequences aren’t light for those caught with contraband. County facilities have a policy of 30 days in lock off and loss of priveleges, while the state level adds more charges to what the inmate is already serving.
Wathen’s facility, Allred, is in the process of installing a new $3.2 million surveillance system in order to up the ante against contraband. The system’s 942 cameras will keep an eagle eye on the facility.
“We already know that people just being aware or thinking that they’re being recorded has made an impact already.”
Still, many of the staff wish that the inmates would put their time to more productive uses.
“If they could just do half of what they can do in here on the street, they could probably be very successful in some type of job or career,” said Sergeant Bill Carey.