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Rachel Duncan Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 September 25, 2013 Smuggling Drugs into Prisons Have you ever thought about the number of people who are put away in jails or prisons in order to make our world a safer place? Do you realize that over 75% of these people are doing illegal drugs while locked up? Have you ever thought how these criminals obtain access to the illegal substance while incarcerated? These questions run through my head frequently; perhaps because Im a criminal justice major. But generally, you cannot escape from the magnitude of news stories on the number of crimes committed on a daily basis even in the prison system. Logically, you would assume within the prison system, steps are taken to prevent further criminal acts. Unfortunately, the reality is frightening. Its scary to think that prisoners have access to get what they want from inside prison bars. On a routine basis, prisoners have easy access to illegal drugs and are actively using within the prison system. If one of the goals of the prison system is to rehabilitate, you may ask how this can happen. How drugs are smuggled in Everyone has a theory on how they think certain drugs are obtained in prison based on their exposure and perceptions of this issue. Many are right, but there are some ways that will surprise you because criminals are very creative and determined to feed their habit. Inmates are obtaining illegal drugs through family members, random people and prison guards. Yes, even prison guards. However, the process usually starts with a visit from friends or family. Shocking

Duncan 2 and creative ways the drugs are smuggled into the prisons include drugs inside soda cans, baby diapers, and even in a persons lip when they exchange a kiss, says USA Today on January 23 2003. The prison guards are not as innocent as people may think they are. It seems even prison guards are looking for ways to access extra cash. The inmates hire prison guards to access whatever drugs the inmate desires and bring it into prison for cash. Some of these guards are never caught; this was not the case for Erik Messner, 24 of Springfield, PA. This young man was caught red-handed. Messner was allowing inmates to give him the contact information of their friends or family members, and then would arrange a meeting, says Michael Price, from Daily local news, in PA. Messner was even caught keeping the cash and a portion of the drugs for himself. Messsners salary as a prison guard was thirty-two thousand a year. He took a risk of losing his steady income for extra cash. Why would he take this risk? This shows me how some people will do anything just for money. Additionally, it is an example that our prison system is corrupt and unsafe when you have employees actively participating in illegal activity. Another unique way prisoners are obtaining drugs is during their structured work assignments. For example, commonly designated inmates are assigned road clean-up based on their behavior. These inmates have the opportunity to travel outside of the prison walls to pickup trash along highways. In many cases, this is another way for the inmates to get access to the illegal drugs they crave. There have been reported incidents in which the inmates family or friend drives by and throw soccer ball, tennis ball, or even a clump of dirt out the window. These have drugs inside them. Another creative example is the use of paintball guns splattering the prison walls with drugs for the inmates to access. Needless to say, the creativity and approaches are endless. So what actions are being taken to address this challenge?

Duncan 3 Technology With the advances in technology, you would think that it would be easy to detect and keep drugs out of jails and prisons. Indeed, over the years improvements have been made replacing the drug dog sniffers and the human eye. Improvements such as scanning and detection devices have been installed and are helping. Additionally, new security cameras that are bullet resistant and will not break even with a sledgehammer, Power says, Criminal justice director, at University of Columbia, have been introduced into many prisons in the northern area. These cameras can monitor and record drug passing activity and will also prove helpful when people attempt to break out of prison or start fighting. Some prisons have implemented the use of the millimeter wave imaging system to scan visitors upon entry. This system is similar to the imaging system at the airports where is in x-ray type of your body. This system not only helps to identify drugs but also weapons. The disadvantage of the machine is it cannot detect drugs in body cavities. However, on a positive note people who knew about the prisons having this system are too scared to even try to smuggle drugs in, says Thomas Dohman, Graterford state correctional Institution, intelligence captain. NIJ is currently funding to get a system that can easily track if someone has drugs in their body cavities. Its being developed in Quantum Magentics. How an inmate really thinks Reading the words the prison wall is not a boundary anymore, said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman of Corrections and Rehabilitation, raises so many thoughts for me. The inmates are not worried about getting the drugs they want. A prisoner Brian Plump, said himself, that he sees illegal drugs every day. He also stated that if he wanted to get some sort of drug he could get it in an hour. In my mind, this is absurd and wrong that a prisoner who is imprisoned for

Duncan 4 criminal activity can so quickly and confidently obtain drugs behind bars. The inmates are not even worried about being behind bars because they can still the things they want to do. How is this rehabilitation? It appears we live in a world where the criminals are in charge of prisons, not the employees who are hired to do so. Their access to drugs such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and prescription pills is limitless. Most inmates are addicted to drugs before even entering prisons. When they arrive their addiction doesnt stop, it continues because the access is not blocked. The drug use and maneuvering to obtain drugs is one of the culprits of prison gang fights. Most gangs are built around drug use. Prison gang members have control of the guards and control of the drug flow who gets the drugs, when and how much. The fights all begin if they dont get the drugs they want at the time they need. Most inmates dont have a specific drug they use; they will take anything they can get. Will drugs ever stop? Based on the percentage of drug related crimes, it is not surprising that drugs have taken over outside and inside jails and prisons. "Nobody can convince me that there's a county jail, a prison or any other place where people are locked up that there aren't drugs, says the former warden of East Jersey State Prison, Patrick Arvonio, 20 years on the job. Over the years the drug use has tripled in the amount of inmates that enter prison or jails. Prisons have still not found a way to keep out every type of drug attempted to be smuggled in. They may never find one. The only thing they can keep doing is trying to get more and more new technology, learn the new ways inmates are trying to bring in drugs, and making sure the staff they hire is trustworthy. A troubling trend due to government budget cuts is the government is going to reduce the amount of times the cells are checked daily because of cost, say Mark Freeman, POA deputy general

Duncan 5 secretary. If we dont have enough money to check the jail cells, how are we ever going to get enough money for the new technology to put into prisons?