Women visiting Maine Department of Corrections facilities have been required to remove their bras before passing through metal detectors, but Commissioner Joseph Fitzpatrick says that “is unacceptable” and he will be changing things.
Fitzpatrick’s decision came after he was contacted by members of the media. He says he wasn’t aware of what was going on until last week. He also said he was contacted by an attorney last Friday who told him several women claimed they were told to remove their bras before passing through metal detectors.
Something similar happened in Portland back in 2015. Female defense attorneys in both Portland and Maine were told to remove bras with an underwire because they set off the metal detectors in the prisons. One female attorney in Portland was turned away from meeting with her client because she refused to remove her bra.
Police in Maine, as in Portland, apologized for what happened and are doing what they can to stop it from happening again. “I have told the wardens of each facility that if this is going on that it cease and desist,” Fitzpatrick said. He has also asked any women who were told to take off their bras to contact him and let them know when and where it happened.
Fitzpatrick also noted that the department has two body scanners similar to the ones used in airports. He says they have not been used because of misplaced fear that they will cause exposure to radiation, but experts have assured him that they are safe and he is planning on possibly implementing them now.
