This brief summarizes lessons from site visits, occurring between 2017 and 2019, to 11 correctional facilities in Florida, California, and Maryland, in order to develop an understanding of the scope of contraband challenges and interdiction strategies practiced by correctional agencies.
This paper addresses the challenge of contraband in prisons and jails, and the security concern it poses for correctional agencies; it notes that contraband weapons can be used to cause serious injury to incarcerated people and correctional staff as well as facilitating escapes from prison or jail. Contraband drugs and alcohol can also create or escalate substance use problems for people in prison or jail, and drug use can lead to overdoses or HIV transmission. This paper examines the contraband-related challenges and strategies that correctional administrators have used to prevent, detect, and remove contraband from their facilities. The authors discuss case studies of the interdiction solutions in one prison system (the Florida Department of Corrections) and two jail systems (the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, in Maryland, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department). The paper discusses the site visits to observe facility operations regarding contraband detection and control, and correctional staff interviews. The paper finally provides the four main takeaways of the study: contraband is a universal, critical issue for correctional agencies but some places face unique challenges; interdiction strategies need to be tailored to each agency and facility; agencies should take a robust approach to combating contraband; and prison and jail administrators should collect timely and reliable data to inform their approaches to contraband interdiction.