Contraband Within Prisons

There are three kinds of prison and these include maximum level, medium and minimum level which are grouped in regard to security and the items which are prohibited onto the prison vary according to such security, (Gibson, 2017). Examples of items which are prohibited in almost each and every prison include weapons which can harm other prisoners or the prison guards, mobile or cell phones, devises of USB storage, drugs and other items related to drugs, substances which are explosive as they can could fire in the prison and destroy the property of prison, liquids which are corrosive or highly flammable are also contraband, alcohol, equipment of making tattoos, digital media players that are portable, games of computers, cameras or other devises of photography, tobacco and other accessories of smoking tobacco like lighters and pipes and equipment which can be used by a prisoner to escape the premises of the prison or sometimes called jail among other substance that is considered as a threat to the security or safety of the prison.

The list of the contraband items does not cover every item but there are other items which are not mentioned but are prohibited in the property of prison. It is therefore advisable for someone visiting those in prison to first of all enquire to know which items are acceptable and those which are not acceptable into the prison’s property. This is very important to note because the punishment on any person found introducing contraband within a prison can be very costly and the victim can be banned from visiting the prison for not less than 12 months period and besides that case, he or she can be acted upon by the police, (Gibson, 2017). A prison is also called a facility for corrections, jail, center of detention or a remand center.

This facility confines prisoners or inmates forcibly and it also denies them a couple of freedoms under the state’s authority. About the history of prisons, they were used and are still being used within the system of justice on crime cases and people whom crime charges have been put on them may be kept in a prison as they await trial and those prisoners who are found to be criminals or guilty of crime at the trial can be imprisoned for a period of time and sometimes sentenced to die in prison depending on the nature and weight of their crime. Prisons receive crimes of every nature like those of economic, social and political crime, (Levan, 2016). Prisons are governed by the national law and sometimes international law comes in especially when the crime committed requires a great level of administering justice.

There were structures being used to house the law breakers or the prisoners such as public buildings’ basements, quarries and metal cages. Prisoners were also being subjected to forced labor as a form of punishment. At some other times, citizens or law breakers were subjected to a form of slavery as another form of punishment. Sometimes some of the crimes committed were punishable by death, (Tam, 2015). In the 17th and 18th centuries, there emerged a public resistance to execution and torture of the public which had become very widespread in the United States among other states. Other barriers like electric fence, concertina wires, guard towers which is armed, secured gates, lighting of security, dogs, sensors of motion and many other defensible means are being used to enhance the level of security within prisons.

There are also doors which are controlled remotely, monitoring of CCTV, alarms, gears of riot control and cages among other tools of security are used in prisons. It is because of this reinforced security that prison guards have started becoming corrupt and lies with prisoners so that the guards can earn some extra income on top of their little income which they get from securing the various entrances of prisons. It is therefore true to say that contraband within prisons have been enhanced by prison guards, friends and relatives of the prisoners, (Koslover eta al. During visiting, friends and family relatives can agree to bribe the prison guards to allow them take in contraband or prohibited items to the premises of prison and the prison guards agree to take the bribe because sometimes the bribe is in form of cash money and because the guards are hungry of money or any other kind of bribery, they give in and encourage contraband within prisons.

The people involved in contraband items are prisoners themselves, prison guards, friends of prisoners and the family members of the prisoners. The practice is mainly encouraged or allowed to spread by the rampant corruption within prisons. These are also the same people effected by the actions taken by law implementers against contraband within prisons. Contraband within prisons presents a very critical threat to the safety of the public and therefore solutions to this matter needs to be applied seriously to end the matter despite the laws of state that prohibit possession of contraband items. Today, a big number of prisoners worldwide possess contraband items and some of these items like the cell phones are used to conduct illegal businesses and also for committing other crimes.

The other solution to contraband items within prisons is to conduct regular inspections on the prisoners to ensure no prohibited items are being used. This again can be conducted through the use of technology which can detect any prohibited item within prisons. Unbiased prison officials can also be used to conduct such kind of inspection. Prisoners who introduce contraband in prisons will always continue introducing them unless they are caught and punished for the same and this is why technology is highly encouraged to conduct and detect such items. There are ways of detecting contraband other than use of technological devices and this include the use of metal detectors and use of dogs to patrol the various houses within prisons, (Koslover et al.