NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6838
SPONSOR: Weprin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to body imaging scan-
ning equipment; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon
expiration thereof
PURPOSE:
Would permit the non-medical use of low dosage ionizing radiation on
inmates in local correctional facilities.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 3502 of the public health law by adding a new
subdivision 6.
Section 2 provides an effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Rikers Island is experiencing an epidemic of slashings by inmates who
obtain ceramic craft blades as contraband. The blades, which are widely
sold to fit into small Exacto knives or comparable cutting tools, are
easily hidden on the body or in clothing and are not found by metal
detectors. They are small enough to avoid detection during a pat frisk
but large enough to inflict considerable damage on other inmates. NYC
DOC has been unable to stop the slashings, in part because it does not
have any reliable way to find the blades short of full body cavity strip
searches, an invasive and time-consuming method that is not practical or
desirable on a daily or routine basis.
The NYC Department of Correction obtained five used TSA ionizing radi-
ation body scanners, formerly employed in major airports around the
country, to scan inmates for contraband. The TSA stopped using them in
most large airports because of passenger privacy concerns and switched
to a different kind of non-ionizing scanner that can only detect larger
objects, like guns and bomb- making equipment, but that cannot detect
small items like the ceramic blades. The ionizing body scanners were
effective in finding contraband hidden in inmates' bodies or in their
clothing, including ceramic blades. Several other county jails in the
state also purchased ionizing body scanners from the TSA. The NYC Board
of Correction, which currently includes two medical doctors known for
their advocacy of prisoner rights, strongly supports the use of the body
scanners to ensure the safety of staff and inmates.
Besides ceramic blades, the body scanners can detect weapons made of
titanium and plastic which cannot be easily found in pat frisks and are
undetectable by magnometers.
During the period when the body scanners were in operation, the use of
the scanners appeared to act as a deterrent, discouraging inmates from
carrying weapons of any kind.
In 2014, the State Commission of Correction halted the use of ionizing
radiation body scanners in jails because State public health law only
permits exposure to such radiation for medical purposes by licensed
radiation technicians. In order to resume the use of the body scanners
in correctional settings, a change of public health law was needed.
There is a small risk of cancer from exposure to ionizing radiation.
The scanners are banned in the EU because of the associated cancer risk.
The TSA and industry groups maintain that the scanners are safe, emit-
ting less radiation than is experienced in approximately 10 minutes of
commercial air flight. However, because any radiation exposure is poten-
tially dangerous, this bill includes oversight of correctional usage of
body scanners by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene or, for
counties outside of New York City, the State Department of Health to
make sure that individual adult inmate exposure is minimal, that adoles-
cents are only exposed to radiation under exceptional circumstances and
that pregnant women are excluded from scanning.
Exposure to additional ionizing radiation should be taken seriously
given the high rates of cancer experienced in this country. However, in
light of the endemic violence at Rikers Island and the increasing use of
ceramic blades as weapons among the inmate population, it is important
to safeguard staff and inmates from the immediate and widespread threat
of slashing, as opposed to a remote and unlikely threat of cancer caused
by such body scanners, particularly since jail inmates are only in the
correctional setting for relatively short periods of time and therefore
should not be subject to long term radiation exposure. This bill does
not address the use of such scanners in state correctional facilities.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred and twentieth day after it
shall have become a law, provided that, effective immediately, the addi-
tion, amendment, and/or repeal of any rules and regulations necessary to
implement the provisions of this act on its effective date are author-
ized and directed to be completed on or before such effective date and,
provided further, that and this act shall expire and be deemed repealed
five years after such effective date.
