Arizona prisons struggle with keeping out drugs
Jun 5, 2012, 12:57 PM
PHOENIX — Several recent deaths of Arizona inmates involving heroin are
causing some to question how illegal drugs initially made it past prison walls.
The Arizona Republic reported seven inmates in the past
two years have died from drug overdoses.
The state Department of Corrections is calling the deaths accidental.
Officers at most of the prisons have failed to properly search staff and
visitors, according to a department report done a year after three inmates
mounted a 2010 escape.
The department said it has since improved security procedures.
Internal records for May obtained by the newspaper, however, show correctional
officers discovered drugs, syringes and contraband cellphones nearly every day.
State records show only one in 13 inmates with substance-abuse problems
received treatment last year.
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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com
