Audits flag security problems, like slipping welding rod into Michigan prison undetected
Lansing — Audit reports released Thursday raised concerns about the safety of Michigan's prisons, finding corrections officers often failed to properly search vehicles and prisoners' cells and determining metal detectors weren't uncovering possibly hazardous items.
Auditors said they were able to carry "a welding rod, a flat piece of stainless steel and a piece of welded scrap metal" through metal detectors at one facility without detection. An evaluation of statewide policies on the use of metal detectors "could enhance corrections officers' ability to detect potentially dangerous objects," the auditors concluded.
Michigan's Office of the Auditor General examined security procedures at three prisons: the Baraga Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula, the Ionia Correctional Facility in Ionia and the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia.
For all three, auditors found officers weren't properly completing required searches of inmates' cells and suggested workers falsified records that indicated they completed searches they hadn't actually done. The auditors looked at surveillance footage along with cell search logbooks to reach the conclusions.
In 24 out of 93 documented cell searches at Baraga Correctional Facility, officers logged the cell number and date and time of the searches in the logbook yet video evidence "showed no corrections officer entered the cell," according to the audit report. For the remaining 69 searches reviewed, the video footage showed corrections officers conducted 32 searches, 46%, in less than one minute.
"The facility did not conduct or thoroughly perform all required searches of prisoner cells intended to detect and confiscate contraband, which could compromise the safety and security of staff and prisoners," the audit report said.
A Michigan Department of Corrections policy directive requires corrections officers assigned to a housing unit to conduct "thorough and complete" searches of at least two randomly selected prisoner cells per shift, according to the audit.
The department's current annual budget is about $2.1 billion. It operates 26 correctional facilities located in 19 counties across the state. As of Dec. 31, 2024, the total offender population under the department's supervision was 73,756, according to the nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency.
At Baraga, auditors also found staff allowed vehicles to enter and exit the facility's secure gate without a manifest documenting the items transported into and out of the secure perimeter and didn't maintain proper controls over dangerous tools at the facility.
In formal responses to the audits, the Michigan Department of Corrections said the problems with cell searches were caused by staff needing more training. The searches that were done in less than one minute were "mainly a result of the cell in question being empty/vacant, or the search was done in segregation cells that may contain very little property," the department added.
The audit itself noted that the Baraga facility, like other Michigan prisons, is experiencing a staffing shortage with 23% of positions vacant as of October 2024, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
The audit included responses from a survey of Baraga staff, in which 76% of the participants said they "strongly agreed" that staffing shortages "have made conditions for prisoners more dangerous" and 97% "strongly agreed" that shortages "have made my job more dangerous."
At the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility, auditors tested the metal detectors, finding they could carry metal objects through without detection, including a welding rod, a flat piece of stainless steel and a piece of welded scrap metal approximately five to seven inches in length.
"During our testing, we observed all four walk-through metal detectors were not set to the correctional facility sensitivity mode; instead, all four were set to a less restrictive setting recommended by the manufacturer for use by hospitals and courthouses," the auditors wrote.
At the Ionia Correctional Facility, auditors also said they were able to carry items through some metal detectors without detection, including a six-inch needle nose tweezer and seven-inch pair of scissors.
Auditors examined the use of metal detectors at Ionia inside the property for prisoners moving from one area to another. Nearly 30% of the time prisoners were not subjected to the metal detectors or corrections officers didn't perform a pat-down search of prisoners when they were flagged by the metal detectors, according to the audit's findings.
"Undetected metal objects could jeopardize the safety and security of staff, prisoners and members of the public," the auditors wrote.
The Michigan Department of Corrections said internal policies had been changed and the reforms "should mitigate these issues in the future."
cmauger@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Audits flag security problems, like slipping welding rod into Michigan prison undetected
