NCJ Number
161574
Journal
Keepers' Voice Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1996) Pages: 5-7
Date Published
1996
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes a large-scale search for drugs at Pennsylvania's maximum-security State Correctional Institution at Graterford and subsequent policies designed to counter inmate drug use.
Abstract
Due to evidence of large-scale drug trafficking and drug use at Graterford, a facility-wide search was conducted by prison personnel and other State correctional and law enforcement personnel. Smaller scale searches were tried at the facility in the months leading up to the major operation. Over the 72 hours of the search, all of Graterford's 1,700 acres, both inside and outside the prison walls, were searched, including 3,500 inmates and 2,764 cells. As each new shift of employees came to work over the next few days, they were searched and interviewed. A force of 650 personnel conducted the operation, composed of the combined resources of the Department of Corrections and the Pennsylvania State Police, with assistance from the U.S. Customs Service, which provided drug-detecting dogs and their handlers. A final tally of contraband found in the search included 55 packets of cocaine, 122 assorted pills, and six stashes of marijuana; approximately 200 inmate-made weapons were found, mostly of the hand-sharpened shank and blade variety. As a result of the search, an initial group of 21 inmates was immediately transferred to other State prisons, and a deputy superintendent and the Major of the Guard at Graterford decided to retire. Seven other middle-management personnel were immediately transferred to other prisons. A criminal investigation is continuing in the wake of the search. Many changes made at Graterford since the search include the creation of the new position of Deputy Superintendent for Internal Security. The sole responsibility of this deputy is to make sure that security procedures are being followed by all inmates and staff and that new procedures are developed as warranted. Other policies include separate restroom facilities in the visiting area, a visitor search, the use of electronic drug- detecting devices, and the use of four drug-detecting dogs. Every inmate who works outside of the walls at Graterford is now tested for drug use at least once every 7 days. Five random drug tests are performed on each cell block each day for those inmates who remain inside the institution. Any inmate who tests positive for drug use is now automatically transferred to another State prison. All who come into the institution to work with inmates are reviewed.