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Starting in 2016 Ontario began a $9.5 mil rollout of body scanners to "keep drugs out" of jail. This did not "keep drugs out" (nothing will) & unlike in other regions this did not result in a reduction in strip-searching on admission- but it did have unintended consequences.
Recent coverage of Jail ODs has asked "why didn't the scanner detect the drugs?" Stepping back, these ODs from burst dope bags inside ppl could easily happen in jail BEFORE ppl walk thru the scanner. Criminalization of PWUD is the root cause of these deaths not misread scanners.
I am not concerned with how to make these scanners "work" - we know PWUD will always find a way -ON prisoners quickly found ways to "beat" the scanner - regardless, guards continually give evidence at inquests about their lack of confidence in reading the results of scans
We often hear about how drugs make it into jail despite scanners - this isn't a surprise. We don't talk a lot about false positives or what actually happens to people once they scan positive - the implications that this has for OD risk, access to justice, and well-being
To clarify, I don't believe anyone should be subjected to Ontario's approach for positive scans. Testing + means dry cell observation - segregation cell without running water = amplified risk. Dry cell means you're only allowed to wear a "security gown" with no underwear, exposed
The rationale? without proper plumbing people can't flush their dope. But they can re-pack it, they can use it while they're in segregation, alone with the closest narcan 4 locked doors away. Seg creates the conditions for ODs - in other parts of jail ppl can look out 4 eachother
ON gov counsel admits that + scans led 2 chronic court delays. "it’s a subjective thing when a staff person reads the scan, they may see something, somebody else may not… [There is an investigation] to figure out whether those were really positive findings" File# CR-18-946-00
So what does it mean to punish people using segregation, delaying court - based on a test the government has acknowledged is "subjective"? while continuing to conduct violating strip searches. How could we prevent overdose in ways that don't inhibit safety and access to justice?
At inquiry, TSDC sergeant with "special expertise" in scanners testified at length about differences between 2 scans. Then he was asked why the time stamps on both pics were the same. He realized, he had 2 copies of same scan. He hadn't noticed this (File# CR-18-946-00)
The Sergeant "admitted that he had made a mistake. The contraband had not been moved, it had not become smaller, there was not a tail on it now when before there had not been. It was the exact same." [35] This is the guard who other guards call upon for advice reading scanners
Judge explained: "This was not a momentary lapse. [This] Sergeant is one of the most experienced officers at TSDC in reading scans. Yet he spent considerable time in court labouring over the second image and explaining how it showed some major differences." (File# CR-18-946-00)
He continued: "The basis for the allegation was the unreliable and subjective reading of body scans of him. There was no evidence of contraband other than the scans. No contraband was ever recovered from his body despite extensive time spent in dry cell segregation"
Regardless of whether they have drugs packed in their bodies Ontario prisoners can be placed in segregation without access to running water for extended periods of time, they can face significant court delays based on technology that is "unreliable and subjective" to quote judge
Putting people who use drugs in dry cell segregation increases risk of overdose, in a group with a high prevalence of mental health issues this can also pose heightened suicide risks. An arbitrary, subjective reading can result in placement in conditions that may result in death.
For me the problem isn't "why didn't the ON government upgrade still-new scanner as inquests recommended?"
My question: "In efforts to 'keep drugs out' how has the ON government invested in increasing risks faced by prisoners and keeping ppl locked up longer thru court delay.
My question: "In efforts to 'keep drugs out' how has the ON government invested in increasing risks faced by prisoners and keeping ppl locked up longer thru court delay.
NINE POINT FIVE MILLION DOLLARS. Spent on subjective scanners in the middle of a fucking overdose crisis. THIS MONEY COULD HAVE BEEN SPENT ON HARM REDUCTION INITIATIVES ACTUALLY BASED IN EVIDENCE. But instead, funding for harm reduction was slashed https://filtermag.org/harm-production-ontarios-brutal-cuts-add-fuel-to-the-overdose-fire/
