Midstate prison amends search policies for the first time in more than two decades

Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries says it is part of an effort to increase transparency.

• Julia Agos/WITF
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  Julia Agos was a reporter and the host of All Things Considered for WITF.

(Harrisburg) – A prison in Central Pennsylvania is introducing more specific guidelines for searching inmates, as well as visitors and vehicles moving on and off the facility’s grounds.

The 10 policies at the Dauphin County Prison include directives on cell searches, “shakedown” operations and cavity and strip searches. The rules are either new or revisions from existing statutes that had not been updated since 1995.

Now, administrators are introducing a formal procedural document for employees and the public to access.

Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries says it is part of an effort to increase transparency.

“For the first time in decades, we are overhauling policy, so inmates and staff are better protected,” said Pries. “There will be more improvements to come.”

The warden is also implementing a body camera program to complement the preexisting stationary cameras around the facility.

The county Prison Board approved the changes at a Feb. 24 meeting.

Pries, who is the chair of the Prison Board, said the revised polices will benefit both inmates and prison employees.

“When you have a loved one in the prison, they will be treated with dignity and respect,” he said. “And if you have a loved one who is an employee at the prison, we are making sure their safety is of the upmost importance, while they are working.”

The prison is also overhauling its website to make it easier for relatives and friends of inmates to communicate with their loved ones and administrators.

The Prison Board will post meeting schedules and minutes on the website for public access.

“The website gives relatives and friends of those incarcerated, and the public, insight and information on what is available to inmates and how they can be communicated with easier,” Director of Corrections Brian Clark said in a statement.