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NY spending over $1M to enhance prison safety

Posted at 8:26 AM, May 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-06 12:56:31-04

New York state is expanding its use of technology to beef up prison safety.

More than $1 million has been committed to expanding the use of Cellsense technology to all 54 state prisons. The money is being used to strengthen the efforts of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to crack down on contraband and weapons inside the prisons.

Cellsense devices are state-of-the-art portable detection systems that require less than a minute to set up. They're used to conduct full body scans of inmates who walk past, and also to screen mail, laundry, mattresses and other inmate property.

Since April, units have been placed in 48 state prisons, with the remaining facilities to receive them by year's end.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the new effort on Wednesday.