Prison Sniffer Dog Restrictions Spark Security Concerns

I cannot believe this is actually happening.

Sniffer dogs are there for a purpose, to sniff out crime, to sniff out terrorists, except if they're Islamic.

Well, this is one example of staff being overruled and prisoners being appeased simply because they complain.

And it doesn't matter what your religious beliefs are, they should never, ever override security, particularly in a separation center which houses some of the most dangerous criminals that are in the system.

So how can this be allowed to stand? We hear all the time about two-tier justice, but none of us thought for a moment it would mean the right to deny being accessed by a sniffer dog.

It's been allowed to happen because a management committee that oversees the regimes and the conditions in separation centers have overruled staff, and they've decided to take those complaints on board and disband the dogs from sniffing prisoners when they're getting searched.

It's ridiculous. It's appeasement, and it needs to stop.

Things need to change, and we're hoping that this independent review that's been commissioned by the government will look into all these issues, listen to the staff on the front line, and put things right.

Now, Mark, I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but if you have an exemption from a sniffer dog, it stands to reason that's a route to criminality.

It stands to reason they'll be more likely to be shipping drugs into a nick.

Well, it's not the only example, unfortunately, Martin, because you have volumetric control, or supposed to have volumetric control, in prison cells, especially in separation centers, to stop people holding too much property in their cells.

And there was one cell on that unit that had over 120 books.

Now, how do you search a cell when there's over 120 books?

And imagine what can be hidden in those books.

In fact, the shelves were creaking under the strain.

That's another example of staff on a unit being overruled and prisoners being appeased.

How can this-- I mean, I can't believe we're even having this conversation.

I think people watching this will just be headbutting their tables and chewing their chair legs.

How has this been allowed to happen? Because we've got pe-