Prison to install metal detector, X-ray scanner
Prison to install metal detector, X-ray scanner
JAKARTA (JP): A metal detector and an X-ray scanner will be
installed in Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta next month in
an effort to make the jail more secure, an official said here on
Monday.
Everyone, including the penitentiary staff, will have to pass
through the security devices before entering, Minister of Justice
and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said.
The installation of the devices is aimed at eliminating the
smuggling of weapons and drugs into the jail, Yusril told
reporters during a weapons' handover ceremony at which some
prisoners symbolically handed over their weapons to the minister.
Over the past few months, Cipinang penitentiary has seen a
number of brawls among inmates and some prisoners have also
managed to escape.
Yusril said that the devices could not be installed sooner due
to a lack of funds.
Since Aug. 17, a total of 415 weapons have been handed over by
prisoners after the penitentiary authorities persuaded them to do
so in exchange for remission from the Ministry of Justice and
Human Rights.
Yusril said that the penitentiary was expecting the prisoners
to hand over more weapons under the program, which runs until
Sept. 15.
A number of former employees of the now defunct information
ministry would be deployed to guard the penitentiary, Yusril
said, adding that some of them had been trained to become
penitentiary guards.
"However, when they were asked to guard the penitentiary, they
were afraid," Yusril said, adding that further training was being
provided so that they would not be so scared.
Currently there are about 400 staff in the penitentiary,
including the guards, who work four rotating shifts.
For every shift, there are only about 45 guards assigned to
watch over more than 2,200 prisoners.
Yusril said that ideally a guard should only have to supervise
some 40 prisoners.
To support the guards, the police would deploy some Mobile
Brigade teams, he added.
Cipinang Penitentiary has a capacity of 1,789 prisoners,
Yusril said that some of them would be sent to the newly-
established penitentiaries in Tangerang and Cirebon, West Java.
According to Yusril, most penitentiaries in the country are
overcrowded because the incidence of crime in the country
increases each year while the number of jails remains the same.
The government also planned to rebuild cells on Nusakambangan
island off the coast of Central Java, which would eventually be
able to accommodate some 10,000 prisoners from around the
country.(04)