Contraband

A former jail administrator recounts lessons learned from a contraband crackdown – in particular, why screening the mail is so important

David Casals is now facing up to 50 years in prison for three felony charges

“It’s not if we have a detention officer stabbed or cut, it’s when,” Sheriff Chris Elliott said

This most recent surge has already claimed the life of an officer and an inmate

The ingenuity, or serious lack thereof, is astounding

Changes to the mail rules aim to help prevent contraband from entering state prisons

“They’ll do anything they can to sneak in drugs," the sheriff's office wrote in a Facebook post

A law librarian says she placed the plastic toy on the inmate's desk as a joke; ODOC says the "gift" is contraband and indicates an inappropriate personal relationship

The inmate had four golf ball-size bruises on the upper back and a head bruise following the incident

Prison staff teamed up with 130 officers and 12 K9 teams from across the state to conduct the top-down sweep

CO Lawrence McArdle and K9 Zoey, who detects contraband on Rikers Island, placed third in explosives detection

United States Police Canine Association (USPCA) narcotics dogs and explosives dogs will compete to find their illegal substance the quickest

The inmate has been charged with a litany of additional felonies for the attack