Lockdown lifted for all state prisons
Officials attribute 12-day restriction to ‘growing drug crisis’
The 12-day lockdown of Pennsylvania’s state prisons is over.
Normal operations resumed Monday at the state’s 25 correctional facilities, following a nearly two-week period of inmates being restricted to their cells in response to reports that dozens of Department of Corrections employees were sickened by suspected exposure to synthetic drugs.
The state Department of Corrections blamed the need for the lockdown on a “growing drug crisis” resulting in the exposure of prison staff to synthetic drugs at multiple institutions.
“Toxicology results confirmed the presence of synthetic cannabinoid in multiple instances of staff exposure. Lab tests confirmed inmate overdoses linked to synthetic cannabinoids and other illegal substances,” the corrections department announced Monday morning.
A Department of Corrections staff exposure log lists 30 incidents dating to May 31 at a dozen different facilities, including those in Fayette, Greene and Somerset counties.
Of those incidents, some of which involved multiple employees reporting a range of symptoms, 10 resulted in either a field test or lab test for drugs.
Toxicology testing was positive for some sort of drug in six cases, and three indicated through field testing the presence of a synthetic cannabinoid, known colloquially as K2, spice bath salts or Molly, according to the data.
The other three positive tests indicated amphetamines, fentanyl and sorbitan trioleat, which is listed as a component of cosmetics.
Based on the data, it is impossible to tell how many individuals tested positive in cases of multiple employees being affected. Similarly, in cases of multiperson exposure in which results came back negative, it is unclear whether all the individuals were tested.
Amy Worden, a corrections spokeswoman, could not say why testing was not performed in all cases, or why lab testing was not performed in cases where field tests were positive.
She also declined to discuss what conclusions could be drawn from the fact that many tests were negative.
A Philadelphia Inquirer story last week raised the question of whether prison staff were experiencing “mass psychogenic illness” — “a sort of contagious hysteria fueled by fears of dangerous exposure.”
“We are not going to speculate on any negative tests,” Ms. Worden said Monday in an email. “What we will say is that
when staff or inmates report symptoms consistent with drug exposure (or any other illness for that matter), they will be taken to receive medical attention.”
A less-detailed list of inmate exposures has also been compiled and put online. Since June 5, 33 inmates have been affected, with many attributed to a variety of drugs, including K2.
The corrections department said a total lockdown had not occurred in at least 34 years, if ever. It was part of a series of highly restrictive measures on inmates that have affected the way they receive mail, books and visitors.
In addition to inmates being allowed out of their cells, with the lifting of the lockdown, work details and meals in dining halls have resumed as have religious services, educational programming, vocational-technical training and mail processing.
More than 50 state corrections workers reported being sickened between May 31 and Sept. 1, the department said.
“This has been a difficult time for staff who became ill by encountering suspected synthetic drugs while simply performing their jobs,” Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said in a statement. “It also has been a challenging time for all employees as they were called upon to perform various lockdown-related duties.”
Mr. Wetzel praised his staff while acknowledging the strain the lockdown placed on inmates and their families and friends. Advocacy groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Prison Society criticized the lockdown measures and what they said was a lack of transparency on the part of the corrections department.
“We realize that lockdowns, especially long ones, cause stress and anxiety,” Mr. Wetzel said. “We worked to allow some phone contact during the lockdown to alleviate feelings of uncertainty. We also communicated regularly with inmates to explain the reasons for the lockdown and our plans moving forward. Our plans improve the safety of our system for both staff and inmates.”
Mr. Wetzel instituted a number of security measures meant to stem the flow of synthetic drugs into the prison system. That pipeline reached epidemic proportions, and the steps taken by the corrections department — including enhanced use of scanners and staffers donning gloves to avoid contact with the potent drugs — are what Mr. Wetzel referred to as “the new normal.”
“With today’s first early morning inmate line movements, we began our new normal in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections,” Mr. Wetzel said. “We are confident that these new and refined tools and protocols will help our employees to detect, monitor and continue efforts to keep drugs out of our facilities.”
A Frequently Asked Questions sheet about new inmate mail regulations said corrections officials believe most contraband enters through the mail.
The corrections department identified seven points of entry for contraband: mail, legal mail, visits, staff, books and publications, drones and inmates returning after release.
In order to curtail drugs entering through the mail, Mr. Wetzel said all nonlegal inmate mail will be processed off site by a Floridabased company called Smart Communications. The mail is converted to electronic format, sent to the corrections department and printed.
Pennsylvania State Police and corrections staff have been investigating the sources of illegal drugs, but the status of those probes is unclear.
“There is no way to match up exactly how something got in unless DOC staff catches it on the person as they are transmitting it in the visiting rooms or in the mail,” Ms. Worden said. “Most of the time, it is found in an inmate’s cell.”