Strip searches have been declining at the San Diego County–owned U.S. Immigration Service’s 1040-bed contract detention facility on Otay Mesa, run by Corrections Corporation of America. According to a federal audit covering fiscal year 2015, “one detainee was strip searched in 2015, and 11 detainees were strip searched in 2014.” Says the document, “Strip search records confirmed both supervisory approval and documentation of case-specific reasonable suspicion. Strip searches are conducted by officers of the same gender, and out of view of non-involved staff and other detainees.” Standard procedure calls for new arrivals to “enter a secure vestibule where they are identified and restraints are removed. They are then searched by way of walk-through metal detector; a pat-search; and, a B.O.S.S. chair, a non-invasive electronic device which scans body cavities for hidden metal objects.” Deficiencies discovered by the audit included a detainee handbook that “does not address the procedures for accessing personal funds to pay for legal services.” In addition, a required video to be viewed by detainees failed to adequately furnish “an overview of the facility operations that most affect the detainees; responsibilities and duties of security officers; standards of conduct including an overview of rules and requirements; disciplinary procedures; voluntary work programs; and, specific schedules of programs, services and daily activities.”
Strip searches have been declining at the San Diego County–owned U.S. Immigration Service’s 1040-bed contract detention facility on Otay Mesa, run by Corrections Corporation of America. According to a federal audit covering fiscal year 2015, “one detainee was strip searched in 2015, and 11 detainees were strip searched in 2014.” Says the document, “Strip search records confirmed both supervisory approval and documentation of case-specific reasonable suspicion. Strip searches are conducted by officers of the same gender, and out of view of non-involved staff and other detainees.” Standard procedure calls for new arrivals to “enter a secure vestibule where they are identified and restraints are removed. They are then searched by way of walk-through metal detector; a pat-search; and, a B.O.S.S. chair, a non-invasive electronic device which scans body cavities for hidden metal objects.” Deficiencies discovered by the audit included a detainee handbook that “does not address the procedures for accessing personal funds to pay for legal services.” In addition, a required video to be viewed by detainees failed to adequately furnish “an overview of the facility operations that most affect the detainees; responsibilities and duties of security officers; standards of conduct including an overview of rules and requirements; disciplinary procedures; voluntary work programs; and, specific schedules of programs, services and daily activities.”
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