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| Justice Dept.: Prison Smuggling a Problem |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 01/27/2003 |
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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. Investigators measured inmate drug use several ways: _There were an average of 3,080 inmates who tested positive for drugs each year from 1997 through 2001, an average rate of about 2 percent nationwide. High-security prisons had a higher positive drug test rate, at over 3 percent. _Fifty federal inmates have died of drug overdoses since 1997. _Authorities recorded more than 1,100 drug 'finds' in federal prisons since 2000. _There were 34 prison staff arrests on drug cases from 1997 through 2001 and 93 drug-related employee misconduct cases. 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. |
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