Rick Karlin is reporting for Capitol Confidential the union representing state correctional officers is now calling for tougher security measures when it comes to the receipt and screening of care packages anyone locked up in state prison. The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association is calling for the use of dogs, pat-down frisks and random automobile searches to combat the flow of contraband. This comes just two weeks after the Cuomo Administration dropped its plan to have approved third-party vendors put together and mail care packages to the incarcerated. The union said 2017 was the most violent year in a decade in the state prisons and that contraband is on the upswing, citing an incident involving green peppers stuffed with synthetic marijuana and almost four dozen scalpel blades as an example. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.