By C1 Staff
NEW YORK — Seven body scanners acquired by Rikers Island Correctional Facility have been collecting dust after it was discovered they were not authorized under state law.
The Observer reports that the machines cost around $1.2 million total and were in use for a number of months before the question of their legality came to light.
“We have not used them since I have been here,” Commissioner Joseph Ponte told Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, chair of the criminal justice committee, during a hearing on his agency’s budget.
The machines would help toward lowering contraband making its way inside the jail.
“In the existing state law, we’re working with the Assembly to change the law. It’s actually a little, kind of a tweak to the law. The body scanners we use at airports are fine because it’s a federal law, so we’re just trying to tweak the law so we can use the same manner of the federal law,” Ponte said.
The State Legislature is set to end its annual session this month and it does not appear any legislation has yet been introduced in the Senate regarding this issue. It’s unclear if it will happen by the end of the session, though Ponte remarked that he hopes it will.
Other topics addressed at the hearing included moving staff lockers to outside screening areas to also help cut down on contraband.
The council noted that the department was short 850 officers and said the department’s training facilities were severely lacking. Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras said she hoped the budget could address these issues.