THE Department of Corrections wants to keep the money seized from inmates during random prison searches and will be lobbying government to this effect.

“The funds that are seized from [random] searches are turned over to the consolidated fund. [But] the Department will be recommending that these funds be made available [to it], similar to the funds that are seized under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act,” Major Richard Reese, the commissioner of corrections, told the Observer Monday.

“We could use some of the funds to acquire more detection and surveillance equipment in furtherance of the operation,” Reese added.

He said the Department of Corrections currently has 300 officers trained by the Caribbean Search Centre (CSC), who conduct random searches of Jamaica’s 13 correctional institutions, outside of those conducted by CSC officials. These 300 workers, Reese said, would benefit from better and more modern equipment.

According to statistics from the Department of Corrections, searches last year of five Jamaican prisons – Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre, St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre, South Camp Adult Correctional Centre, Horizon Adult Remand Centre and Tamarind Farm Adult Correctional Centre – yielded a total of J$204,064, US$43.00 illegally in the possession of inmates.

The statistics also showed that a total of 2,218 balls of marijuana, 427 cellular phones, 20 radios, four DVD players, four hot plates and nine other appliances were confiscated during the prison search.