New approach to prison drug problem
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A host of inexpensive technologies, utilised under one single model, have been introduced under a Corrections Department policy to tackle in-prison drug dealing, an independent commission on promotion of the rule of law said yesterday.
A metal detector will be used to scan inmates’ or visitors’ bodies for mobile phones or other contraband, while an ion mobility spectrometer will scan drugs hidden in cells instead of solely relying on searches by guards.
X-ray scans are still useful for basic inspections, while closed-circuit TVs will perform the same primary surveillance role.
With MIXCIR, instead of jamming mobile phone signals at the facilities, which may disturb nearby residential areas and expose the department to lawsuits, a technology to intercept and eavesdrop on phone conversations will be adopted.
RFID, or radio-frequency identification, will be used to ensure convicts serving their sentences at home – another policy to reduce prison overcrowding – are tracked by GPS bracelets on their ankles, said Ukrit Mongkholnawin, the commission head.
