COMMUNITY BUILDS A WALL

Drug Throw Overs At Stony Mountain Institution Haven't Stopped, But
It's More Difficult These Days

Chucking a bag of dope over the walls around Stony Mountain
Institution might not be a thing of the past, but the chances of the
bag landing in an inmate's hands are much less these days than they
used to be.

The reason for that, says Chris McLauchlan, media relations officer at
the medium security prison, is team work.

"We've made interceptions and we've made arrests directly because of
our contact with the community," McLauchlan says.

Attempts to get drugs into the federal prison have been occurring for
years. And prison staff have been coming up with ways to stop the
movement of contraband from outside to inside, whether it be through
the front door or over the walls that surround the prison.

There are numerous screening techniques employed at Stony Mountain,
including staff trained to watch for and recognize suspicious activity
and an ionscan machine at the main entrance that can detect drugs on a
person or if drugs have been in contact with a person. There's the
drug dog that works with McLauchlan and there's the motor patrol that
patrols the perimeter of the prison 24/7.

There's also the partnership the prison has with the people of Stony
Mountain. McLauchlan says an informal relationship with the community
has always existed, but it was ramped up in 2005 when the incidence of
throw overs - where someone throws a bag of dope, or other things like
cell phones and Blackberrys, over the wall to inmates waiting in the
yard inside - became more prevalent.

"That's when we really went out into the community and blitzed this
community partnership," he says.

The need to deal with the situation was real, and urgent. McLauchlan
says the delivery guys were cutting through people's yards with drugs
to throw over the wall.

"They were literally running through people's yards at night," he says.

Understandably, the community was upset. People who live in what was
formerly known as the Pen Reserve - houses north of the jail and
behind the exercise yard that were at one time homes for employees of
the jail but are now privately owned - didn't want these unsavoury
characters roaming around.

A community meeting was held to inform the public about what was going
on, but also to get feedback from them.

McLauchlan says the meeting proved invaluable, as prison staff learned
that residents were more than willing to assist them, but they didn't
know how.

"One of the things people mentioned is they didn't know where to
call," when they see a drug runner, McLauchlan says.

The prison established a suspicious activity hotline for people to
call when they see something that raises eyebrows. They also posted
signs that make it easier for residents to pinpoint where they saw the
activity.

"They can call and say 'There's a guy at sign B,' " McLauchlan says.

"We've had some real success with (the hotline)."

Residents even have the option of leaving their name and number and
prison staff will call them back and let them know if an interception
was made or if anyone was charged.

Correctional Services Canada issued a press release last week
informing the media that since January there have been three drug
interceptions at Stony Mountain. The first was on Jan. 31, when an
officer in the motor patrol saw an attempt to throw a package into the
exercise yard. The package - containing 212 grams of marijuana valued
inside the prison at nearly $17,000 - was recovered before inmates
could get it.

A second throw over was attempted on Feb. 26. Officers noticed a
trespasser and though they didn't apprehend the individual, they did
give a description of the person and their vehicle to police. The
police recovered a large package containing marijuana, crack cocaine
and ecstasy pills worth about $38,000 in the prison.

And on March 7, the officer in a security tower witnessed an attempt
to throw multiple packages over the wall. Officers recovered two
packages with about 150 grams of marijuana with a prison value of
$12,000, and a cell phone.

On March 17, McLauchlan told the Argus there'd been another
interception on March 14. This time, a package containing $5,500 worth
of marijuana and "misdirected pharmaceuticals" was discovered outside
the fence on the west side of the exercise yard.

"It didn't make it over the fence," he says.

Because of this, McLauchlan says they're putting the spotlight on
throw overs once again.

He says it's good to remind people of the hotline and other
initiatives every so often, in case they forget, and as a source of
information for new residents.

"Maybe not everyone knows the number or knows what to do," he says.

"And there's new housing going up in Stony Mountain."

And, the efforts taken in 2005 have been successful. Throw overs now
are less likely to take place near the houses because of the hotline.

"We've pushed them out of the housing," McLauchlan says.

"We've pushed them out of people's back yards...We have not seen any
evidence of any throw over activity there in over a year."

RM of Rockwood Coun. Greg Popoff agrees. He said the municipality
erected a wall south of the curling rink that helped stop drug runners
from cutting through people's yards as well.

And he credits the Institution and Stonewall RCMP for working with the
people to curb throw overs.

"They've been doing a great job," Popoff said.

The last interception prior to the Jan. 31 incident was October 2007.
Now, there's been four in three months and that's too many, McLauchlan
says.

"The fact of the matter is we hope we're getting the vast majority of
these packages," McLauchlan says.

"Some must be getting through or these guys wouldn't continue doing
it."

The hotline number to call if you see suspicious activity near the
prison is 344-####. Visitors who are being threatened or coerced into
bringing drugs to a friend or family member, or others with
information about the institutional drug trade can call a tip line at
344-#### to speak with a member of the prison's security intelligence
department.