Contraband is so easy to get inside Rikers Island that just about any inmate with money can get their hands on drugs or weapons, a city Department of Investigation probe revealed.
DOI released its findings Thursday after a large-scale undercover investigation into the screening and security protocols at the city’s sprawling jail complex.
The agency said it sent an undercover investigator dressed as a correction officer six times with razor blades, alcohol and drugs. On every occasion, the undercover made it into Rikers detention centers without the contraband being detected.
On each occassion, the investigator was able to get 250 packets of heroin, 24 strips of a prescription drug similar to methadone, 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana, a 16-ounce bottle of vodka and a razor blade by the jail's security checkpoints.
The agent brought the contraband in through the employee entrances at six different detention centers in the complex. He would carry the drugs and razor blades in a bag and carried the vodka, which was disguised in a water bottle, in his hand.
If sold to inmates inside the jails, DOI says the contraband its agent smuggled could have fetched more than $22,000 in total.
The agency said that guards also regularly place lunches on top of X-ray machines, rather than through them. And it says correction officers often allow each other to enter jails even after setting off metal detectors.
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A corrections officer who was arrested in 2013 for smuggling contraband told the DOI agent he lax security to smuggle and hand off contraband to inmates.
The agency says the city’s jail system is working to institute reforms to cut down on contraband, including random screening of uniformed personnel when they report to work. Any staff bringing items to work will be asked to use a clear plastic bags to help deter smuggling.
Drug sniffing dogs will also be assigned to help screen and inspect common areas.The report also calls for rotating security guards at the front gate to help ensure integrity.
The DOI and U.S. Attorney’s office are still looking into allegations of of violence, abuse and mistreatment of juveniles, among other issues at the beleaguered jail complex.
