ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) — A New York lawmaker is pushing for new rules governing body scanners in state prisons after complaints that some visitors are being wrongly denied access to see incarcerated loved ones.
State Sen. Julia Salazar, a Brooklyn Democrat who chairs the Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, introduced legislation aimed at setting clearer standards for how body scanners are used in correctional facilities. Supporters say the measure is intended to ensure visitors are not arbitrarily turned away.
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) said body scanners are a key tool in preventing contraband, including drugs and weapons, from entering facilities, with 88 body scanners in use statewide on visitors, incarcerated individuals and staff.
The bill comes after accounts from visitors who say they were flagged by scanners despite having no contraband.
Belinda Spurgeon said she was denied visitation at Shawangunk Correctional Facility, where her husband was incarcerated, after a body scanner detected what officials described as a suspicious mass.
“My husband received a letter stating that my visit was terminated indefinitely,” Spurgeon said. “We were confused about what happened.”
Spurgeon said the scan had flagged a lipoma — a benign lump beneath the skin — which she had previously been diagnosed with.
“They said it was a mass, something abnormally appearing in my chest. But on the back of the letter they said something with contraband that I tried to smuggle into the facility, how that’s not acceptable,” she said. “I was telling my husband, ‘Oh, they might see my lipoma. I have a lipoma in my skin.’”
Spurgeon said that even after providing medical records, imaging and documentation confirming the lump was not contraband, it took months before her visitation privileges were restored.
Salazar said cases like Spurgeon’s reflect a broader issue.
“Visitors are either turned away or even suspended from visiting their loved one for simply having items like menstrual products, tampons,” Salazar said.
The bill, known as the Correctional Body Scanner Standards Act, would require correctional staff to undergo the same screening as visitors, establish clearer procedures for how scanners are used and define steps to be taken when a scan is flagged.
“The Correctional Body Scanner Standards Act [is intended] to ensure that New Yorkers will no longer be arbitrarily turned away when seeking to visit their family members and loved ones,” the senator said.
In a response, DOCCS said scanners are used on visitors, staff and incarcerated individuals, and that there are already policies in place and that they are enforced uniformly.
According to DOCCS, the contracted scanner vendor is required to train staff, which includes identifying within the scans what is contraband and what is not.
Officials also noted that there is an appeals process in place, in which attorneys review cases and can restore visitation rights if evidence is unclear.
“Contraband, such as drugs and weapons, contribute to violence in prisons, and Commissioner Martuscello has set clear goals and instituted new policies to both reduce violence and combat the infiltration of contraband within our facilities. This has resulted in a significant decrease in assaults and a reduction in the amount of contraband found in incoming packages,” DOCCS said in a statement.