WE SHOULD INDEED 'BE OUTRAGED' OVER THE DRUG PROBLEM IN PRISON SYSTEM

It's making a mockery of the criminal justice system - and of prosecutors
who work hard to rid our streets of drug trafficking. The travesty that is
the Craggy Correction Center's guard-inmate drug operation has been an
ongoing disgrace at that and other correctional facilities.

Recently, James Kelly Anderson pleaded guilty to two habitual felon counts
and one count each of drug possession with intent to manufacture, sell or
deliver on prison premises. Anderson allegedly received the drugs from a
prison guard. It's not the first time guards and inmates have been caught
in something resembling habitual felon- style free trade within the system.

Buncombe County District Attorney Ron Moore has reviewed several similar
cases in recent years and thinks he understands how the drugs are making
their way into prisons.

Contact visits with family members and other accomplices have resulted in
drugs being smuggled in - including cocaine-filled balloons which are
swallowed or inserted in other areas of the body. Often, inmate roadway
workers are not supervised by prison guards but rather DOT workers who are
not armed and who might get too familiar with prisoners. They may be
unwittingly tipping inmates off about future outdoor jobs in a particular
location, enabling hidden drop offs and pick ups.

Finally, there is the possibility of unscrupulous guards who don't mind
making a few extra bucks to supplement their relatively low pay.
Unfortunately, in many cases we're not looking at small sums of drugs and
money changing hands. Criminals involved in criminal activity within
prisons are actually making a nice living for themselves. One such habitual
felon confessed to the DA that he was able to make $7,000 as an extra
Christmas bonus. Others admit that guards who can see and smell the plumes
of pot smoke in cell blocks look the other way, hoping that a happy inmate
is a quiet, easy-to-handle one.

Basically what we have is "a big mess," according to Moore. "Folks should
be outraged," he says.

No kidding - especially when we consider that the prison system is one of
the largest expenditures out of the now-busted state budget.

In the years since Moore has been troubled by this pattern, he has made
some suggestions and even some thinly veiled threats that if heeded, could
improve the situation. Among other things, he's recommended sending in
undercover SBI agents as visitors to help figure out how drug transfers are
happening. And he observes that "no one is marching in the streets" in
favor of higher pay for a $21,000-a-year guard job. Still, he does not
necessarily agree with assistant supervisor of Custody and Operations, Wade
Hatley who says "anytime you have employees and you have the opportunity
for them to make money, you're going to have dishonest employees." That's
an insult to the many employees who have had the opportunity but who also
have a sense of duty. It's an affront that these drugs, which cost 2-3
times more than they do on the streets, can be acquired and sold so easily
by men who have been incarcerated for years. Rather than resolving
themselves to the fact of drug sale and distribution in Craggy, officials
should have a plan for better screening of visitors, scheduled rather than
random drug testing and more attentive screening of the guards.