DEERBOLT prison has turned to drone technology to monitor hotspots and keep drugs out.
A report following an unannounced inspection has revealed how prison officers have deployed a drone to watch the walls and spy on key areas.
Concerns had been previously raised about inmates’ friends on the outside of jails using drones to fly in drugs and smuggle in other items.
Now staff at Deerbolt have struck back by buying their own remote control aircraft.
Inspector Peter Clarke, who visited the prison for almost two weeks at the end of April, found that the “presence and use of illicit drugs in the prison was becoming an increasing problem”.
He said as many as 16 per cent of prisoners claimed to have developed a drug habit while at Deerbolt.
Mr Clarke said: “A notable initiative was that the prison had acquired its own drone as an added security measure. The drone had led to several proven adjudications and was a useful deterrent.”
The inspector added that it had also been helpful, along with other measures, in reducing incidents of prison violence. He said: “They included using a drone to monitor key areas of the prison and staggering movement to activities by wing to avoid conflict after violent hotspots were identified. An unmanned aerial vehicle was used to monitor key areas, such as prisoners’ movement to activities and the external perimeter.”
Overall he found the prison had maintained its “reasonably good status” since its last inspection in 2014. However it had dropped to “not sufficiently good” in providing purposeful activity for prisoners as well as rehabilitation and release planning.
He said: “So far as safety was concerned, the amount of violence had gone up, but by the time of this inspection had levelled off; overall, it was not at high levels compared to other similar establishments.”
Mr Clarke’s report found more needed to be done to support victims of violence and more attention needed to be given to “the governance of the use of force” by prison officers. He said body-worn cameras were not consistently used and footage was not reviewed as often as it should be. He added: “Where force had been used, there were too many missing staff reports. Documentary and video evidence reviewed during the inspection did not always show that de-escalation techniques had been used appropriately.”
Concerns about providing purposeful activity for prisoners was highlighted by the amount of time they spent in their cells.
The report found that 35 per cent of prisoners were locked in their cells during the working day which was “simply not good enough”.
Mr Clarke said: “This figure had risen from 25 per cent at the time of the last inspection. In addition to this, some 33 per cent told us that they were out of their cells for less than two hours per day which, given the age of the population, was unsatisfactory.”
The report found that prisoner’s cells needed renovating but prisoners had better access to showers, clean clothes and bedding than in many other prisons. He said: “Food met the dietary needs of the population although it appeared unappetising. The range of items sold by the prison shop had increased and now included fresh fruit.”
