Pubdate: Thu, 23 Jan 2003
Source: San Mateo County Times, The (CA)
Copyright: 2003, MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/392
Author: Associated Press

JUSTICE AGENCY PROBES HOW DRUGS BREAK INTO PRISONS

WASHINGTON -- Using everything from a baby's diaper to burritos, smugglers 
regularly get illegal drugs to federal prisoners, even at the 
highest-security institutions, Justice Department investigators said Wednesday

Inmate visitors are the major source of drugs. But Justice Department 
Inspector General Glen A. Fine found that mail and prison staff also bring 
in marijuana, heroin, cocaine and other drugs at the nation's 102 Bureau of 
Prisons facilities, demonstrating a need to upgrade interdiction efforts.

Prison personnel are of particular concern, Fine said, because they tend to 
bring in larger amounts that spread to more inmates. There are few 
restrictions on personal items prison staff can bring to work, and there is 
no program for drug testing or random searches. "The vast majority of 
(bureau) employees have high integrity, but a few corrupt staff can do 
enormous damage to the safety and security of an institution," Fine said in 
a statement accompanying his report.

In a written response, Bureau of Prisons Director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer 
criticized what she called the "lack of statistical support" for some of 
the report's conclusions. She rejected a recommendation that the bureau 
begin searching prison staff when they come to work.

"Overall, staff morale will suffer, thereby creating unwarranted concerns 
in areas other than drug detection," Sawyer wrote.

Visitors often use the cover of crowded visitation rooms to pass drugs when 
hugging or kissing an inmate. The report also cited cases where drugs were 
smuggled in a baby's diapers, in body cavities and in food brought to the 
prison or purchased at a prison vending machine.

At one prison, a so-called "burrito caper" occurred in which a visitor 
smuggled in a burrito filled with balloons of heroin, bought an identical 
one at a prison vending machine and then switched the two with the inmate.

The report recommended greater use of pat searches of visitors, better use 
of staff and camera monitoring, and restriction of contact visits for some 
inmates.

Sawyer agreed with some of the recommendations but said regular inmate 
visitation by family members is "important for maintaining social and 
family ties" that help the offender cope with prison life and adjust to 
society when released.

Regarding inmate mail, the report found some prisons handle thousands of 
pieces of mail every day, making manual inspection of each item impossible. 
Recommendations include elimination of unsolicited mail, better staff 
training for drug detection and testing of better technology that would 
allow inspection of more pieces.

The report also made numerous recommendations for improving drug treatment 
of inmates to reduce the demand for drugs, including an increase in staff 
for the programs. Sawyer said that would entail hiring 200 more people at a 
cost of more than $13.4 million, which Congress has not approved.

On the Net: Justice inspector general: http://www.usdoj.gov/oig Bureau of 
Prisons: http://www.bop.gov
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MAP posted-by: Beth