TIER JAILS ALWAYS ON ALERT FOR PRISONER CONTRABAND

Drugs, Weapons Often Confiscated

About 60 Pennsylvania State Police troopers and a handful
of probation officers descended Nov. 18 upon the Susquehanna County
Jail - outnumbering the 52 inmates. They were hunting for weapons and
drugs.

Troopers seized several homemade weapons, a small amount of possible
marijuana, drug paraphernalia and about 10 gallons of homemade
alcoholic brew, Corporal Mike O'Day said.

Less than a month later, Warden Bill Brennan got a tip that an inmate
checking in for a sentence, which he was serving on weekends, would
have drugs.

On Dec. 8, officials greeted 23-year-old James Brehm of Montrose with
a search warrant. When a regular body search revealed nothing, Brehm
drank vomit-inducing ipecac syrup, Brennan said. No drugs were found.
Officers took him to a medical facility where a rectal exam yielded a
small bag of marijuana, Brennan said.

Both were extreme measures deployed in the daily battle jail officials
fight - to slow the practically unstoppable influx of contraband to a
trickle. Restricted items from hard-core drugs down to paperclips can
be exchanged through a visitor's kiss, the lining of packages or
crammed into the body cavities of determined inmates.

How far should corrections officers go to carry out the mandate of
ridding jails of contraband? Dedicating too little time to contraband
searches can compromise the safety of inmates and staff. Too much -
perhaps an excessive body search - consumes time and may cause unfair
discomfort and humiliation to the inmate.

The fact is no matter how hard corrections officers work to rid jails
of contraband, jail administrators say the goods somehow still seep
inside.

"Every time you do searches, in terms of facility-wide shakedowns,
you'll find contraband," Broome County jail administrator Larry
Fischer said. "The key is to do frequent, unannounced searches."

Another key is closely watching inmates during visitation or programs
that take them outside the jail, he said.

Guards monitor inmates, particularly when they are outside completing
such projects as litter pick-up, said Tioga County Lt. Rick Travis,
superintendent of the jail.

"To you a paperclip means nothing," Travis said. "To an inmate, in the
jail, it can be used to light a cigarette."

Smoking is prohibited at the Tioga and Broome County facilities. Not
only are cigarettes considered a health hazard, but they also use fire
- - a major concern inside a jail, Travis said.

Some contraband seems seasonal, such as the holidays when inmates brew
hooch:blending yeast, bread, sugar and fruit in a plastic bag.

Stopping drug- and alcohol-related contraband isn't always a matter of
helping inmates curb addiction, administrators say.

Though Brennan said a Susquehanna County inmate told him he smuggled
drugs inside because he just couldn't go without, Fischer said often
the amount of drugs smuggled is not large enough to support a serious
drug habit.

Instead, inmates may just be trying to continue the kind of lifestyle
led outside the facility, he said.

As for homemade weapons crafted from parts of furniture or healthcare
items in the jail, self-defense rather than aggression seems to be the
motivating factor, said Broome County Sgt. Timothy Hill, correctional
training coordinator.

Consequences for contraband offenses can be disciplinary in nature,
such as having commissary taken away, free time taken away or losing
the one-third sentence reduction for good behavior. They can also be
criminal in nature, resulting in hard jail time.

After the November search of the Susquehanna County facility, four
inmates were arrested immediately on weapons or contraband possession
charges, said O'Day of the Pennsylvania State Police. One charge was
bound over to court, one was dismissed, and two are still open, O'Day
said.

The quantity of contraband from the November search alarmed prison
board members, who called for a review of security at the facility.

Pennsylvania state corrections officials observed security measures in
December, Brennan said. They reported procedures, including inmate
body searches and monthly cell searches, were in-line with what is
done at state facilities, he said.

Still some changes will be made at the jail this year that could aid
corrections officers in the contraband battle.

Security tiles that cannot be pushed up will be installed in the
ceiling of part of the living quarters, Brennan said.

He walks through the jail on a regular basis, past the kitchen where
inmates prepare food, past extra attorney meeting rooms used for
temporary storage, past security stations and cells.

His experience working at the jail for 25 years and as warden since
1988 has yielded an approach that is being neither overbearing nor a
pushover. He instructs his staff of 27 corrections officers to be the
same.

"They're good people," Brennan said. "It's a tough job. It's not a job
for everyone. There's a lot of stress."

He's frustrated that some recent contraband findings have left the
impression that he's soft.

"They don't see the daily activities," Brennan said. "I'm not easy on
them."

In January 1998, for instance, an inmate found with a one-gallon
plastic jug of fermented spirits in the Susquehanna County jail was
penalized with 45 days in lockdown, Brennan said.

Brehm's recent arrest may also send a message, he said. He was charged
with possession of marijuana, transporting contraband into a prison
and possessing contraband in a prison.

"Catching one guy like that is going to make the rest of them think
hard," Brennan said.