A resolution is a promise to initiate a good habit or to quit a bad habit. Unfortunately, the season for resolutions seems to last for a month and half. It starts in mid-December and ends around February first of the following year.
Starting and maintaining good habits is important for the safety of all in the corrections profession. Yet, sometimes, what we think is a good habit is simply hidden opportunity for contrabandists. I speak of how we throw away contraband inside the facility but still within reach of enterprising prisoners. In other words, if you don’t dispose of something completely, it could be used against you in later date.
Many facilities allow vendors to stock candy and beverage vending machines outside of the secure perimeter. In many cases, staff members are authorized to bring these items inside. Here are two examples of items from the facility vending machine that can be used in more sinister ways.
The beverage container: Although staff may be authorized to bring a plastic bottles inside, there are dangers.
First of all, plastic bottles can be used to ferment batches of illicit prison-made alcohol. The 1/2 liter size is also convenient to transport the spud juice.
Second, this common container can hold noxious fluids that can harm prisoners or staff. A prisoner porter can use this for caustics which can be utilized to poison or blind staff. And, as disgusting as it seems, a urine/feces concoction can be mixed in such a container.
Due to the flexible nature of the container, it does not take much precision or practice to “dress out” someone. For more precision, the cap remains secured on a bottle full of human waste but features a pinhole or larger opening punched into the top of the container. That can make for more intense, accurate stream of noxious substance.
Chewing gum: Whether it is for dental health or just a simple habit, chewing gum is common. Staff with integrity and knowledge of safety would never knowingly offer an offender gum.
Still, normally conscientious staff may sometimes be careless about how they dispose of the gum. They may simply spit it into a waste receptacle without wrapping it in paper. Staff may even place it under a desk or table. This will not be lost to the sharp eyes of a scavenger.
The lure of already-been-chewed gum is simple. It is commonly used to disable locks. This would make it difficult for staff to respond to duress in a certain area.
Another danger is that gum can be reconstituted by new saliva and mastication and used as a fastening agent. One could have a ready-made shank stuck under a desk with a couple pieces of chewing gum.
Of course, wrapping the gum in paper may be the best way of deterring reuse. However, the lure of the utility of the gum is such that it may not deter the person from re-chewing the gum even with the paper on it. Where there is a will, there’s a way.
Contraband is contraband. Though gum and pop containers are clearly not shanks, they are potentially dangerous. Corrections staff should remind themselves from time to time that everything has a use.
That which we throw away can be used to compromise the safety of those that we work with rather than those that we watch. Proper disposal of items that we take for granted is crucial. Remember the seemingly innocent often is not.
