Striking prisoners upset by scanner
Faulty machine that’s turning away innocent visitors part of protest, Springhill inmates claim
By DEVIN STEVENS
The Chronicle Herald [Nova Scotia]
Tue. Jun 3, 2008
Some prisoners at the Springhill Institution say a machine that scans for drug residue frequently malfunctions, gives false readings and results in personal visitors being turned away.
They say that’s part of the reason for the current inmate strike, an allegation prison management denies.
“The protest this past week has been focused on the smoking ban,” prison spokeswoman Shannon Oickle said Monday in a phone interview.
“There’s lots of issues going back and forth between management and the inmate group. But, at this point, we’re not looking at issues such as” the ion scanner.
Springhill prisoners have refused to go to work or participate in programs since May 26 after a countrywide ban on tobacco products came into effect on May 20. The prison canteen has stopped selling cigarettes and smoking is forbidden on prison property.
The Chronicle Herald has received two anonymous complaints saying the prison’s ion scanner, a machine used to detect narcotic residue on prison visitors, gives false readings, resulting in many legitimate visitors being turned away.
An unidentified person called last week saying the prison’s ion scanner is defective.
This week, a letter was received saying the strike is happening partly because of the botched scans. It says common products like soap and deodorant can set the scanner off. The letter claims an 85-year-old priest and a two-year-old girl were both denied visitation because they tested positive for heroin residue.
The letter was unsigned, but the return address was marked “Prison Population, Springhill Institution.”
The John Howard Society, a national advocate group for prisoners’ rights, says visitors from outside the prison are one of the most important and effective ways to rehabilitate a criminal.
The society said failed ion scans are a huge issue, one the Correctional Service of Canada is trying to downplay.
“It’s probably the most consistent and reliable complaint and concern that we have,” said executive director Craig Jones.
“People are turned away for what they are told is contact with an illicit substance or because they’re carrying an illicit substance, and that may not be the case at all.”
Mr. Jones said the scanner captures negative ions given off by narcotics like cocaine, heroin and cannabis. He said the problem is that those same ions are found in products like perfume and lipstick. People who have touched cosmetics can give a false reading.
Problems also arise because narcotic residue finds its way onto quite a bit of Canadian currency, meaning a wallet can set the machine off, without a person ever touching a drug.
Ms. Oickle said inmates have raised the ion scanner issue at monthly meetings with management over the last few years. She said the scanner is just a small part of Springhill’s drug strategy. “This is one tool in a process, so there are other things that come into play,” said Ms. Oickle.
“If someone was turned away, there’s certainly just cause.”
Ms. Oickle said if a visitor is denied access to the prison, that person or the inmate can launch an appeal process that goes all the way to the Correctional Service of Canada’s national headquarters.
Mr. Jones said the Correctional Service is “cagey” about ion scanners. On one hand, the department said the problem is so small that it doesn’t keep numbers on false scans.
On the other hand, they don’t scan their own staff because they know how many false readings the machine can produce. He said there was an incident in Ontario a few years back where a group of visiting judges and politicians couldn’t pass the prison’s ion scanner.
A spokesperson at Correctional Service’s Atlantic communications office could not be reached Monday afternoon.
Confrontation 
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