Rising prison violence and contraband spur DOC plans for tablets, body cams and training
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Summary
Lawmakers pressed DOC on a near‑doubling of serious incidents and growing synthetic‑drug contraband; DOC highlighted violence‑reduction initiatives—peer mentors, de‑escalation training, lighter locks—while advancing a vendor‑funded tablet rollout and a $2.1 million body‑camera contract for parole agents.
Members of the appropriations committee confronted Department of Corrections officials about rising violence and new contraband threats inside state institutions and pressed for concrete mitigation plans.
DOC witnesses said their violence‑reduction task force produced multiple recommendations, including expanded de‑escalation training for staff, peer mentoring programs, changes to locks to reduce blunt‑force injuries and expanded analytic targeting for searches. The department acknowledged that serious incidents have increased compared with pre‑pandemic levels and that synthetics and paper‑based drugs complicate detection.
To reduce isolation and improve communication, DOC described a procurement to deploy vendor‑funded tablets to all inmates (the vendor will recoup costs through fees for services such as messaging, phone minutes and media downloads). DOC said monitoring and security features are part of the procurement and that rollout is hoped for between summer and fall this year.
On equipment for field staff, DOC announced a fully executed $2.1 million contract to provide body cameras for parole agents, with an initial office rollout planned this spring and annual maintenance estimated around $66,000. DOC said expansion to inside‑facility cameras for corrections officers would cost substantially more and would require negotiation with the officers’ union and policy work.
Lawmakers asked DOC for cost estimates tying the rise in violent incidents to workers’ compensation and medical costs for staff; DOC said those figures are not yet consolidated but that the department has charged inmates and outsiders in cases involving contraband and weapon introductions. DOC said it will supply more detailed data and timelines for the tablet rollout and body‑camera deployments.