Director insists prison is fighting illicit drugs

(CNS): The director of the local prison service said that two more packages of ganja came flying over the perimeter fence at Northward on Tuesday just a couple of hours before he attended the Legislative Assembly Tuesday. Speaking during the finance committee meeting about the efforts to control the use of drugs inside theprison in light of recent revelations of drugs found in administrative areas, Dwight Scott told members that he and his staff were doing all they could but people would stop at nothing to get the drugs inside.  Scott said that just two hours before he left the jail to come to the meeting two packages had been recovered by staff.

"We are not relenting in our efforts and won’t stop at anything to try and prevent the drugs coming in,” Scott told the committee members who had raised concerns about the security of the prison. “However the amount of drugs people are attempting to smuggle in is significant. Two more packages came in only two hours before I left to come here,” he added. “The demographics of the prison are changing and people will simply stop at nothing to get drugs in.

The director said that there were cameras around the prison and as a result one perpetrator had been caught and handed over to the police but it was a constant battle. The director revealed that at least once guard had also been handed over to the RCIPS when he was found to be smuggling in drugs. Scott said everyone who comes into the prison is searched including staff as well as visitors but there is still a significant amount of contraband getting inside. He said that the camera’s did help and there were now around 100 CCTV units in and around the prison but his main problem washaving enough staff to constantly monitor them all.

In the wake of the discovery recently of drugs inside the administrative areas of the prison the chief officer in the portfolio said that all staff were given drug tests without notice and none of them tested for drugs. 

With spending at the prison going up by several hundred thousand dollars again the committee members questioned the security levels and also queried the numbers now at the prisons. It was revealed that there are currently 212 prisoners at Northward which was designed to house 165. However, officials said the overcrowding was not a significant security threat. Meanwhile there were only four serving female prisoners currently housed at the Fairbanks facility.

The deputy governor revealed that the new money which had been appropriated for the prison would cover six more officers, three teachers and one chaplain to help improve rehabilitation services and hopefully the exceptionally high recidivism rates.