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| The fight against drug smuggling at Cumberland County Jail |
| By nj.com - Jason Laday |
| Published: 03/26/2012 |
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BRIDGETON, NJ — When the Cumberland County Jail Warden Bob Balicki took the job in 2009, he knew about the rampant drug smuggling occurring among the inmates — and some of the corrections officers as well. He knows smuggling still happens, and the inmates know that he knows. The result is a near-constant cat-and-mouse game that plays itself out in the cells, in the kitchens, laundry rooms and amongst the guards themselves. “These people aren’t stupid — it’s not intelligence that keeps that in or out of here,” said Balicki of the approximately 440 inmates inside Cumberland County Jail. “They watch us and we watch them. We’re both constantly adapting, so we have to stay a step ahead of them at all times. “But it’s important for them to know that we’re going after it — I want a clean jail.” On Feb. 29 of this year, a 22-year-old corrections officer at the jail, Jeffrey Barbagli, was indicted by a Cumberland County Grand Jury for official misconduct — specifically, accepting money in exchange for delivering marijuana to an inmate. Balicki said that such incidents are often the product of youth and immaturity among the guards. If a corrections officer is found smuggling drugs for, or to, an inmate, chances are good that the guard was in fear for the safety of their loved ones. “You get a lot of young guys, they’re easily scared, they’re not mature yet, and you get this big scary gang member telling you he knows you’re old neighborhood — he knows where your sister lives,” he said. Balicki later added: “You know, the inmates start conversations with the officers, get to know them, and they’ll use that information.” Sgt. Walter Wroniuk Jr. and Investigator Heriberto Ortiz head the internal affairs department at the jail. Friday morning, Ortiz was at his desk with a pair of old-fashioned headphones, listening in on various phone conversations coming in through any one of the 168 telephones available to inmates. They are the point of the spear in the fight to curb drug smuggling at the jail. “We tell every employee, every class of new corrections officers, ‘One of you is going to get busted,’” said Ortiz. “They all say, ‘No, no, not us,’ but we tell them. “‘At least two of you we’re going to be arresting or walking out of here.’” Read More. |
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