[suggestion] Contraband checkpoints

[Garnasha]

There's several big sources of contraband. In cases where it's metal, you place a metal detector and walk away knowing it's not getting out (unless your guards react too slowly... but that's another matter) Some other sources, notably intake and visitation, are not so easily detected. For such cases, I'd like to suggest being able to set certain doors (or areas?) as checkpoint, and any prisoner going through (in one direction? The other direction being towards the source it's checking, so it's little use to check that) needs to submit to a search.

This wouldn't do anything to the necessity of metal detectors, those scan whole populations at once, this would only be viable on low-traffic doors.

[Kolchak]

It is a good idea, in principle. However, there needs to be something to stop people placing loads of these all around their prisons (so that contraband still remains a challenge). I see no point in the false-positives and reset time, because then it would be little more than a glorified metal detector. Perhaps it could be a 4x3 object, and thus has to be planned for in prison design? Perhaps it should be extremely expensive? Almost certainly it should annoy prisoners who have to go through it.

I think the area (rather than object) idea is preferable, and one of the disadvantages there is that it would cause traffic jams, unless huge amounts of guards were stationed there (it would also require an improved AI so that guards aren't pulled from half way across the prison!)

EDIT:
Sorry, didn't register your comment about low traffic doors! Though I would be tempted to use it everywhere, so there would have to be definite limitations placed on it

[christopher1006]

The fact it would take so long to check each person going through would be incentive enough not to place them everywhere. These areas should also be able to check visitors in order to make them cough up those contraband items before they're allowed to see the inmate.

[zaroba]

However, there needs to be something to stop people placing loads of these all around their prisons (so that contraband still remains a challenge)

Sorry, I have to disagree with this statement. If people want contraband to still be a challenge, they could simply not build a lot of them.
Just like currently you can simply not has as many guards or patrols, or not have metal detectors if you want the game to be more challenging. Or you can easily edit the save file to practically have unlimited money and have fun treating the game like a sandbox if you want it to be less challenging. It's up to each player how they spend their time on their game. There is no need to force things to be more challenging for everybody when you can easily make it challenging for yourself.

[snarst]

have the family member incarcerated

I like this idea.

[Causeless]

It is a good idea, in principle. However, there needs to be something to stop people placing loads of these all around their prisons (so that contraband still remains a challenge). I see no point in the false-positives and reset time, because then it would be little more than a glorified metal detector. Perhaps it could be a 4x3 object, and thus has to be planned for in prison design? Perhaps it should be extremely expensive? Almost certainly it should annoy prisoners who have to go through it.

I think the area (rather than object) idea is preferable, and one of the disadvantages there is that it would cause traffic jams, unless huge amounts of guards were stationed there (it would also require an improved AI so that guards aren't pulled from half way across the prison!)

EDIT:
Sorry, didn't register your comment about low traffic doors! Though I would be tempted to use it everywhere, so there would have to be definite limitations placed on it

It should require a guard to man it?

[CplHenderson]

I like this idea. It takes, what 10-15 seconds to search someone? If you put checkpoints in front of the canteen, prisoners would never get in, thus making this not viable. You'd only use it on low traffic doorways, like visitation, holding cells, etc.

[McEdy]

These search stations would be amazing, best would be that you have to research it first and then have a tab in the folder in which you can make options which prisoners (e.g. only normal security prisoners and high security prisoners) have to be searched. It could be a 2x1 barrier which works like a door but with autosearch