{"id":193304,"date":"2021-06-06T15:18:22","date_gmt":"2021-06-06T15:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=5713f0837fd67ab480cba6d071c1a9f7"},"modified":"2021-06-06T15:18:22","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T15:18:22","slug":"some-prisons-reinstate-patdown-searches-although-guards-are-refusing-vaccination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/06\/06\/some-prisons-reinstate-patdown-searches-although-guards-are-refusing-vaccination\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Prisons Reinstate Patdown Searches Although Guards Are Refusing Vaccination"},"content":{"rendered":"\"A<\/a>

Under the watchful eyes of gun towers above us, prisoners are ushered through the turnstile to enter the yard and then some of us are called over to receive a pat search. The guards are eager to use this method, which had only been reinstated a few hours earlier. No more social distancing; guards stood merely feet from each other while running their gloved hands down prisoners\u2019 bodies. They refused to change gloves before groping their next victim.<\/p>\n

“I couldn’t believe we were getting searched. How can this line up with CDC guidelines? I mean, [the Department of Corrections (DOC)] has continued to weaponize those guidelines against us when they wanna bully prisoners, and now when those guidelines don’t serve their interest, they throw them out the window,\u201d said prisoner Robert Entel. \u201cHonestly, it’s just another clear demonstration [that the] DOC doesn’t care about us in the least. To know these guards will touch me before my family, it’s annoying, especially since it was a guard that gave me COVID in December<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

The practice of searching prisoners and their cells in Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) was suspended in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the risk of spreading the virus from prison guards to prisoners. However, even though many prisoners and guards have yet to be fully vaccinated (with a high rate of refusal among guards), the Washington Department of Corrections (WDOC) has decided to prioritize reinstating searches of prisoners and their living spaces, regardless of the risk to their health.<\/p>\n

Prisoners were first informed of the return of these invasive practices through a memo released on April 27, 2021, by WDOC Assistant Secretary of Prisons Division Robert Herzog. The memo claimed that, “due to significant increases in the discovery of intoxicated individuals, alcohol (pruno), drugs and weapons … the [DOC] will resume routine searches effective immediately.”<\/p>\n

Making the reinstatement of searches immediate, the WDOC was able to skirt feedback from legislators, prisoners and their loved ones, which had delayed the reinstatement they attempted back in November 2020. At that time, the WDOC claimed the reinstatement was due to an uptick in “dirty” urinalysis tests — suggesting the use of drugs in the prison was on the rise. The administration said searches must resume to protect the “safety and security” of the prison and those held within it. But what about the safety of the human lives of those who reside behind prison walls? Is our health and safety secondary to their false sense of \u201csecurity?\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, for our “security,” all contact visits and the majority of community-sponsored programs have been canceled since March 2020. While WDOC has reinstated searches, it’s holding firm in “protecting” prisoners by continuing to forbid all contact visits with loved ones and the majority of educational and betterment programs. These are things that matter most to prisoners’ health and well-being, but they are off the table.<\/p>\n

The first contact for prisoners won’t come from the warm embrace of our loved ones at visits, but from the cold gloved hands of our oppressors — prison guards.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, only prison guards and administrators are able to come and go from the facility, so many of us are wondering where the drugs and contraband they are \u201cprotecting us from\u201d are coming from<\/a>? When drugs are discovered inside prisons, they\u2019re often brought in by officers themselves.<\/p>\n

Many of us struggle with the fact that our safety is taking a backseat — again — to this false sense of security, something that has continued to happen over and over during the pandemic. One prisoner, who doesn’t want to be named for fear of retaliation, said, “Why should my well-being be put at risk because prison guards chose to bring drugs and contraband into the prison? I am tired of having my life put in danger because of their poor choices.” Many prisoners share his concerns.<\/p>\n