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| N.M. Jail's Drug Machine Proves Sensitive |
| By Albuquerque Journal |
| Published: 08/27/2003 |
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Angela Vigil was stunned when officials at the Guadalupe County, N.M., Correctional Facility told her she tested positive for heroin traces on her hand at a recent visit to her son here. 'I've only even seen heroin once,' said Vigil, a special education teacher at Highland High in Albuquerque who said she was humiliated by prison officials who denied her the time with her son. Vigil wasn't alone; many visitors to the prison here have tested positive for drug traces and been denied an inmate visit since a detection machine was installed in May, Warden Mo Bravo said. Officials say the machine- a recommendation of a panel that looked at how Wackenhut Corrections Corp. handled a deadly 1999 riot here- hasn't been without problems. But they say they've fixed it. During the first month the machine was at the prison, about 20 of 50 visitors tested positive and were denied visits, Bravo said. The machine swipes a visitor's hand for trace amounts of drugs, measured in parts per million. Casual contact with drug users can leave drug traces on a nonuser's body, said Ed Brown, director of Wackenhut's Western Region Office. So many positive tests prompted officials at the prison in July to lower the allowable threshold for granting a visit, Bravo said. With the new thresholds, which vary by drug type, roughly one to two visitors a day may be denied, Bravo said. He also said that with the machine in place, fewer inmates test positive for drug use while incarcerated. Vigil, angered by her experience at the prison, had planned to describe her situation to lawmakers at a meeting of the Corrections Oversight and Justice Committee. While Vigil- who denies she had contact with heroin- said she was treated rudely, Bravo said he couldn't comment on her case. The machine, worth about $60,000, was one of several improvements the company made after an independent inquiry into the riot and its aftermath, which left officer Ralph Garcia dead and sent some inmates to a supermaximum facility in Wallens Ridge, Va. Wackenhut president Wayne Calabrese told lawmakers the company has spent more than $3 million in Santa Rosa and Hobbs, where it operates the Lea County Correctional Facility. |
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