PROPOSAL COULD ALLOW PRISON OFFICERS TO STRIP-SEARCH VISITORS

Strip-searching prison visitors and examining inmates' bodies for drugs are
among ideas being considered by the Corrections Department to stop illegal
items entering prisons.

Draft proposals are being considered for the new Corrections Act to halt
drug use in prisons, as nearly one-third of prisoners drugs-tested last
year returned positive results.

Ideas include allowing officers to strip-search adult prison visitors with
their consent and conducting full body examinations of inmates.

Prisoners now could be strip-searched and have their nose, ears and mouths
examined but the new proposal would cover all orifices.

Civil liberties groups say the searches would be abhorrent and breach human
rights.

Canterbury University criminologist Greg Newbold said prison staff had
sufficient powers to detect drugs.

"If they detect a visitor passing drugs to an inmate, they can ban that
visitor and they have wide discretionary powers to ban any visitor," Dr
Newbold said.

An Auckland Council for Civil Liberties spokesman, Phil Recordon, said
intrusive body searches were a "gross infringement' of people's rights. Any
new powers should be subject to judicial oversight in each case, he said.

The proposal has also worried the Corrections Association - which
represents 2200 prison officers. National organiser Brian Davies has called
for urgent consultation.

"The sort of searches they're talking about, I would assume, would be
extremely distasteful to the vast majority of prison officers."

He questioned whether prison officers wanted their powers extended in this
area.

The Corrections Department policy development manager, Chris Harrington,
said no final decisions had been made. Proposals would be analysed and the
department would present final recommendations to the cabinet in September.