Pubdate: Wed, 25 Jul 2012 Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN) Copyright: 2012 The Leader-Post Ltd. Contact: http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361 Author: Heather Polischuk Jail Drug Smuggling NO WORD ON CHANGES The province won't say whether any changes have been made to security screening to prevent situations in which staff members can bring drugs into the Regina Correctional Centre. Earlier this week, a longtime employee of the provincial jail became the second of two staff members to be handed a prison sentence after bringing a variety of illegal drugs into the facility for inmates. During the sentencing for Brent Miles Taylor, Regina Court of Queen's Bench Justice Eugene Scheibel referred to the fact the then-guard was in a perfect position to bring the contraband in. "He was not only allowed free access to the prison, but free access to the inmates," Scheibel wrote in his sentencing decision. "Guards were not searched when they commenced their work; they had their own secure locker and they were trusted to act in a manner fitting their occupation. "It was therefore very easy for a guard to bring drugs into the Correctional Centre and equally easy to deliver them to the inmates. For a guard so inclined to traffic in drugs, this was the near perfect situation with little risk of detection because he was in total control of the situation." Art Jones, spokesman for the Ministry of Corrections and Policing, said he could not speak to the specific case, nor would he speak to security procedures at all. "Security's something we're very aware of and I'm not about to give you any details about how our security procedures work, but what I can say to you is that anytime we have an incident of this nature or any other nature, we do review our security policies and once that review is completed, we make a decision as to what direction we're going to be going in," he said. While it's a near certainty this case would have brought on a review, Jones wouldn't say what, if any, changes to security policy resulted - - such as if staff are now subject to search upon entry. According to the province's Correctional Services Act, available online, inmates and visitors can be searched; staff is also subject to searches, but only "where authorized by the director or administrator." The act doesn't specify where or when searches are to be carried out, other than "where reasonably required for the safety of any person or the security of a correctional facility." The union representing staff at the jail, the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU), was contacted but hadn't made a spokesperson immediately available. Court heard the trafficking in Taylor's case went on for approximately 2 1/2 years, between 2007 and 2010, with the staff member smuggling in a variety of drugs between 30 and 40 times. The drugs - which included cocaine, Demerol, morphine, marijuana and cannabis resin - were packed inside tobacco pouches by civilians outside the jail, then carried in by two staff members. Former correctional officer Larry Barager also received a penitentiary sentence for his role in the incident, having pleaded guilty to a variety of drug charges. While Barager admitted to committing the offences, Taylor has insisted he wasn't aware he was carrying drugs. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom