From State Senator Don DeWitte:
JCAR Accepts Safety Protocols for Department of Corrections Mail Processes
I serve on the state’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), and on Friday JCAR accepted permanent rules for the handling of inmate mail at our Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) facilities.
As you may have heard, there have been multiple instances where incoming mail for inmates had been laced with dangerous drugs and/or poisons.
Substances, including synthetic cannabinoids and other illegal drugs, were found to have been sprayed or soaked into paper, making them hard to detect and dangerous for both incarcerated people and to staff.
A recent report from IDOC showed almost 700 non-fatal overdoses among incarcerated people and an additional over 400 staff exposures to drugs.
To address the problem, IDOC will implement a mail scanning program at all prisons.
Rather than receiving physical paper mail, inmates will receive scanned copies of their mail to prevent the flow of illegal drugs and increase safety.
Following the JCAR decision, my Republican colleagues and I from JCAR issued the following joint statement:
“As members of JCAR, we are pleased to see steps finally taken to curb the flow of illicit drugs into our correctional facilities.
“For far too long, the Department has allowed preventable drug exposure incidents to endanger the health and safety of correctional officers and inmates.
“We have repeatedly called on IDOC and the Pritzker Administration to take action and implement meaningful safeguards to protect those who live and work in these facilities.
“With these rules now in place, we hope IDOC leadership follows through on their pledge by fully implementing the mail-scanning protocols outlined in the regulations.”
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When I was on the Prison Reform Committee Co-Chaired by Republican Tom Johnson and Democat Tom Dart, I continually asked why drugs were getting into our prisons.
It seemed to me there were three routes:
- Visitors
- Employees
- Suppliers
An inmate told me there was another route. On Sunday afternoon soda pop cans full of drugs would be tossed over the fence, to be picked up by inmate clean-up crews on Monday morning.
Now a fourth route is about to be plugged.
