Contraband can be defined as anything prohibited by law being imported and exported. When it comes to prisons, anything that can’t be bought in the commissary or that isn’t given to them when they get to prison is contraband. Contraband is a major issue behind the walls and can be anything from a “homemade” shank by the inmate, or drugs or weapons smuggled into the prison from various ways. Not only is different types of contraband in the prison a threat to the inmates lives, but also a threat to the officers on duty and other staff members.
Some issues with contraband in a prison are: how did it get inside the walls, what are some ways to prevent it amongst the prison, and what are some different types of contraband found in prisons? If you were to go to a prison and ask a correctional officer how many different types of contraband there was in the prison system, he/she would probably laugh because there are thousands of different things or objects that can be considered contraband. Like it was previously stated, contraband is anything that cannot be bought in the commissary or that is not given to the prisoner upon entering the prison.
Some types of the more common disallowed items in prison are weapons, drugs, food items, cell phones, jewelry, and metal. The level of creativity and knowledge as it pertains to jail-made weapons is incredible. With the amount of time prisoners have on their hands, they can think of crafty ways to create weapons out of harmless materials such as Saran wrap; it can be heated or melted, then shaped into a shank to stab another inmate or officer with. Prisoners will sharpen anything that can be useful as a shank, whether it’s a plastic spoon, a piece of metal or screw/nail.
A sock with rocks or batteries in it is a simple way to make an effective weapon. Even some homemade guns can be created. Believe it or not candy bars, even though they can be bought at commissary, can be used as weapons. Candy bars as a weapon? Yes – in prison, anything goes. Candy bars are melted down on hot plates and the molten mess thrown into the face of the victim. The chocolate and caramel are extremely hot and harden very quickly, making them painful when they hit and difficult to get off of the skin.
Hot plates can usually be found in cells of inmates who are in a low security prison. Drugs in the prison and drug abuse amongst the prisoners are also another issue in today’s prison systems. The main drugs you can find in a prison today are marijuana, cocaine or crack, heroine, and also pills, such as painkillers and other prescribed medicines. A part of the problem stems from the inmate, who may get locked up as a drug addict. These types of prisoners can be a lot to handle when going though detox in prison and are usually violent and often have to be secluded amongst the other prisoners.
Another type of contraband in prison that goes hand in hand with drugs, and drug trafficking in prisons, is a cell phone. Cell phones are a big problem in the prison system today. Cell phones are considered to be contraband under Department of Corrections’ policy due to their potential use by inmates to arrange escapes and orchestrate crime inside and outside prison. They can be used to set up dates and deals over the phone with their drug dealers, whether it be with an outside source or an inside source, such as a corrupt correctional officer. Richard Pillajo, a wellness education officer at a Florida state prison, strayed beyond his job description, according to investigators who arrested him last year. He purportedly planned to smuggle cocaine, marijuana and hydrocodone pills to inmates for a payoff of $2,500(WashingtonTimes)”. This officer, who was arrested in January of 2010, was trying to earn a little extra money on the side working as a drug smuggler inside the prison. Also, cell phones can be used to talk to their loved ones they left behind such as their family and friends.
If an inmate is caught with a cell phone disciplinary actions will be taken, such as a visit to administrative segregation, also known as Ad Seg. They also may get recreational hours taken away or something along the lines of this. In October of 2008 an inmate on death row in Texas called a state senator from his cell on a cell phone making threats about his two daughters, also telling him that he knew where they lived in Houston. The inmate wanted to prove a point to the senator that he was capable of doing and finding all this information out while being “locked up” in a maximum security facility. Frankly, that scared the hell out of me,(Whitmire)”. Those were the words spoken of the state senator after notifying authorities after receiving the threatening phone call. Alcohol is another type of contraband in the prison system and is also a major problem in prisons. Inmates are capable of making their own alcohol fairly easy. Inmate-made alcohol has been more commonly known as “brew” or “pruno”. Pruno, or prison wine, is an alcoholic liquid variously made from apples, oranges, fruit cocktail, ketchup, sugar, and possibly other ingredients, including crumbled bread.
Bread supposedly provides the yeast for the pruno to ferment. Pruno originated in prisons and jails, where it can be produced cheaply, easily, and discreetly. The concoction can be made using only a plastic bag, hot running water, and a towel or sock to conceal the pulp during fermentation. Its taste has been compared to vomit flavored wine coolers. The next question to be asked is: how does this contraband get through the walls and inside the prison? The introduction of drugs into the prison system has been an issue for corrections staff for many years.
Prison officials suspect inmate visitors are the main source of how drugs coming into prisons. Although inmates and visitors are subjected to a meticulous search prior to contact with one another, the introduction of drugs is happening on a regular basis. Drugs can become a major source of income, not only for the inmate, but also for the individual or individuals who take the drugs into a correctional facility. Another avenue for inmates is using a correctional officer. Most of the drugs that are available within a prison arrive by courier through a corrections officer.
Unlike an inmate visitor, a corrections officer is not subjected to a meticulous search of their person and property. Starting salary for a correctional officer is around thirty thousand, which nowadays is not much, so it is not uncommon to find an officer making extra money from sneaking contraband into the facility. Another way contraband is introduced into the system is from the mail. The prisoners’ family or friends will try to conceal whatever it is they are trying to get to the inmate in a package that gets sent through the mail.
In most cases when the mail is being screened, a lot of contraband is found and seized, but criminals are always looking for ways to stay one step ahead of authority in the prison system. What are some preventative ways prisons across the United States are enforcing to control contraband being introduced? In efforts to control the contraband some prisons are using narcotic canine teams, cell sweeps, visitor and officer pat searches, and metal detectors at literally all prisons. Prisons have also been using random drug tests to inmates on each block, or every inmate in a certain cell block to try to see where the drugs are being used most at.
Video surveillance is also a growing use among prisons for finding contraband; this technique is used as a “private eye” amongst the inmates and also the corrections officers. As one could tell, contraband is and has been a growing problem amongst today’s prison systems in the United States. As you can see from the examples I’ve provided and the facts on the topic, that it is not a little issue. Hopefully in the future the prison systems can develop new techniques to eliminate the introduction of contraband, and learn from the results from the use of the techniques they employ in this day and age.
