This policy shall apply to all persons working, volunteering, or touring the secured area of any custody facility. All personal property shall be accounted for at all times and shall not be stored in any area accessible to inmates.
A physical inspection and screening of all personal property for contraband may be conducted at any time at the discretion of each respective facility. Unit commanders shall develop unit orders delineating specific screening and auditing procedures which shall be conducted at a minimum of twice per week, per shift. A supervisor shall be present when screenings are conducted.
When conducting a screening, and in an effort to conduct thorough and effective searches for contraband, screening personnel may reach into any bag or container for the purpose of shifting or repositioning contents to allow for visual inspection of all compartments within. If personal property stored within the personal bag is in a separate container, the container shall be transparent, including food containers. Non-transparent water bottles are subject to visual inspection.
The watch commander shall respond to any Department employee who refuses to have their personal property searched and give the employee a direct, clear, and unambiguous order to comply with the search. If a Department employee refuses to have their property searched, the unit commander shall be notified.
If a non-Department employee, vendor, visitor, volunteer, or other person refuses to have their personal property searched before entering a facility, the watch commander shall respond and attempt to gain compliance with the search. If the non-Department employee, vendor, visitor, volunteer, or other person continues to refuse the search, they shall be denied entry into the facility. The respective chief and unit commander shall be notified of any person who refuses to be searched.
In order to ensure the safety and security of all persons in custody facilities, the following personal property is prohibited inside secured areas:
The following items are not permitted inside secured areas, unless specifically pre-approved by the concerned unit commander or policy:
NOTE: The items above may be approved by the watch commander prior to entry into security areas on a shift-by-shift basis. Based on an individual's specific duties, requests for continuous authorization must be submitted in writing to the unit commander and, once approved, daily approval by the watch commander will not be necessary.
The following items are approved inside secured areas; however, they must not be accessible to the inmate population and shall remain under close control by the employee/volunteer who is responsible for them, or secured in the employee/volunteer's immediate work area at all times:
Additionally, the following rules shall be adhered to:
This policy does not limit persons from bringing into secured areas, items or containers that contain necessary tools, training material, or equipment to facilitate the performance of their duties, (e.g., tool chests, medical bags, digital test equipment, laptop computers, and/or computer tablets whose use has been authorized in a court order, etc.), nor does it limit personnel who are attending training from entering the facility wearing civilian attire in route to the Officer's Dining Room (ODR).
All personal property bags/containers brought into the secured area of a custody facility, whether by Department employees or anyone conducting business behind security, shall be constructed of a clear material. Regarding this policy, a backpack, briefcase, tote, or lunch box are considered bags. Exceptions to this policy include smaller, transparent containers for personal medications and menstrual products.
Identifying markings, stickers, patches, unit logos, graphics, etc. shall not obstruct the transparent view of the contents in the bag. With respect to Department employees, identifying markings, stickers, patches, graphics, etc. shall not be offensive in nature, and all unit logos shall be pre-approved by the unit commander.
The facility's watch commander may make an exception to this policy on a case-by-case basis for professional visitors. The professional visitor's briefcase, backpack, bag, lunch box, etc. shall be searched prior to any entry being given.
A maximum of one clear bag will be allowed per staff member. The clear bag shall measure no larger than 21 x 12 x 10. This policy does not affect Department-issued mandated equipment and issued storage/carrying bags (e.g., ballistic helmets, gas masks, etc.).