Prison scanner detects cancer

ANTHONY ROBERTS

THE revolutionary full-body scanners at the newest jail in NSW may just have saved a prisoner’s life by revealing signs that he has prostate cancer.

The man was among the first inmates moved from the old Grafton jail to the state-of-theart Clarence Correctional Centre at the weekend.

Upon arrival, the prisoners must walk through scanners designed to see if they have anything hidden inside their body cavities, a process that makes it impossible to smuggle anything in.

At least nine out of the 90 inmates were found to have swallowed balloons containing contraband and one showed unusual signs that are now being investigated as possible prostate cancer.

“It goes to show how good these machines are and that’s why it is important that we roll them out to all the jails,” the state’s Corrections Minister Anthony Roberts said.

Australia’s largest prison, the 1700-bed facility was opened on June 25 and general manager Glen Scholes said it had the “best security systems in the country, if not the world”. It features bulletproof glass windows with no bars.

Visitors will also have to use the full-body scanners as well as undergo tough personal identification checks that include producing driver’s licences, fingerprints and retinal scans.

The non-medical X-ray scanners first detect then generate an image of a contraband item concealed in a body cavity or under clothing, reducing the need to conduct strip searches and providing conclusive evidence of contraband, most of which are drugs, mobile phones and weapons.

Private operator Serco has the contract to manage the jail for 20 years.

A spokesman for the company said there were four scanners at the jail.

“Correctional officers operating the machines do not have training to detect medical issues,” he said.

“During the scanning process, correctional officers seek medical staff opinions where an anomaly is detected to understand whether it’s a natural or unnatural item.

“In one inmate’s case, it was determined that further medical investigation was required.”

Prisoners began transferring to the new correctional centre from July 1.