MDOC issued the following statement and pictures.
Thursday’s shakedown at Parchman’s Unit 29, the prison’s largest unit, marked the completion of the first round of unannounced searches in the prison system under Operation Zero Tolerance.
The three state prisons, three private prisons, 15 regional facilities, 10 community work centers, four restitution centers and three technical violation centers all can expect the major searches to continue in 2018, Commissioner Pelicia E. Hall said.
“My administration started these major shakedowns in March as a way to decrease the amount of contraband inside our facilities for the safety of our staff and inmates,” Commissioner Hall said. “The amount and types of items found in these last nine months show we must stay on top of keeping these illegal items out of the hands of inmates.”
The last shakedown of the year occurred at a unit with 1,418 inmates, including those on death row and with behavioral problems. Staff from all three prisons and Probation and Parole agents, along with K-9 officers, searched Unit 29 A-L building for several hours.
The seized contraband includes 68 cellphones, 81 cellphone charges, 15 cellphone batteries, 79 homemade weapons, 104 packs of marijuana, 47 packs of methamphetamine, 30 packs of tobacco, 21 packs of spice, 45 cigars, 38 cigarette lighters, 12 bottles of tattoo ink, two tattoo guns, 51 packs of Top paper, six homemade pipes, 16 Sim cards, 14 packs of unmarked pills, three pairs of digital scales, a remote control, and a host of other assorted items.
Commissioner Hall said her administration is aggressively pursuing leads indicating how the contraband items are getting behind prison walls, and will refer the cases to respective district attorneys for prosecution.
12 comments:
I wouldn't really consider a black & mild to be a cigar.
No wonder people commit crimes. Many are living better in prison than they were living on the outside. All of the comforts of home seem to be within reach. The have food a place to sleep and no worry about the cops bothering them.
Commissioner Hall, if you and you staff keep harassing and searching the inmates, they ain't gonna never come back to prison! This is not how you rehabilitate.
How in the hell you think the officers gonna make extra money without bringing in contraband.
Girl, you just doing too much! Sit back and draw that high four!
Love you much.
Yes, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out ALL the contraband arrives INSIDE the prisons due to the staff accepting money, green dots, gang protection WHATEVER. No, the prison guards, staff members, officers do not make enough to support themselves much less families BUT that is NO excuse!! They are no better than the convicted criminals they are selling to. Then the inmates are punished, charged, given more time to serve. We have more people incarcerated in the Great State of MS than the majority of states in this country. We have a mass incarceration problem in this state. WHEN will elected officials acknowledge and address this issue? It does not help the state at all when you have OVERSENTENCING in Madison and Rankin counties, yet the same crime, if finally convicted, in Hinds county carries a much lesser sentence. Whatever we are or aren't doing IS NOT WORKING PEOPLE!!!! And yes I know someone in the prison system in this state, yes, they should be in prison, BUT they made a mistake, they are paying for it. Being in county and or state prison in this state is no walk in the park. It's horrible conditions at the majority of facilities, my 3 dogs eat better and sleep on better beds. BOTTOM Line...as long as you have underpaid staff who can maximize their income, then contraband will ALWAYS end up inside our jails and correctional facilities.
7:49 " It does not help the state at all when you have OVERSENTENCING in Madison and Rankin counties, yet the same crime, if finally convicted, in Hinds county carries a much lesser sentence."
I don't care what helps "the state". I know the reasonable sentencing standards in Madison County keep scum away from my kids for a long, long time, unlike the "catch & release" program in Hinds County. You are welcome to let criminals run free in Hinds County.
"Pay the guards more and this would not happen" in 3...2...1
I guess the cells have electrical sockets so housekeeping can run a vacuum cleaner after changing the sheets.
If you are a thief you will continue to be a thief even if you are paid more. Morals keep people honest. If anyplace continues to hire people who do not know the meaning or can spell the word there will still be criminals doing criminal business.
Put those who allow contraband to enter the prison behind the bars and you can hire people who are not the same as those on the other side of the bars.
First let’s recognize that the Commissioner who appears to be doing an aggressive job of trying to clean up the jails. Holding people accountable who refuse to obey the rules of society is difficult a job. She is a woman. A black woman, appointed by a Republic Governor. And she appears to be doing a decent job.
Second people often compare the sentence is Hinds vs Madison/Rankin. The larger issue is sentencing disparities throughout this state. Jennifer McCullum was a Petal High teacher who had sex with students and got probation. David Ozborn did the same thing in Rankin Couny and got 40 years to serve. Some would say Rankin County is tough on crime. However Rankin County pharmacist Timothy Rigdon had sex with a child on multiple times and got a suspended sentence...no jail time in Rankin County for one of the most disturbing crimes possible. Anthony Ratliff did the same thing in Hinds County and got 25 years.
@ December 30, 2017 at 9:46 AM
Totally agree! Making more money doesn't make one moral! You'll just be immoral with more money! Im my younger working years, I always felt UNDERPAID, many times I took jobs, however, where I was told, I was overqualified, but I needed the work! It DID NOT cross my mind to steal or take anything from anyone that was NOT mine! You can have a lower paying job and have all kinds of positive pride, but you can take a person who's immoral, pay them a lot, and they'll still be immoral! This addage that if you pay people more, they won't steal, is garbage!
"We have more people incarcerated in the Great State of MS than the majority of states in this country. We have a mass incarceration problem in this state."
Right on! We need to stop arresting, convicting and incarcerating criminals in this state so we can get down to the national average for pro rata folks behind bars. Let's get our priorities straight!
We also need to push for a different way of tracking and ranking obesity by state. It's the damned formula that's the problem. Never mind the number of lard asses in this state. Get the formula adjusted so we can at least be average.
5:00, how about we hand over the record keeping of number of incarcerating criminals and raking obesity to JPD. They would have us right up there with all of the other states in just a few days. It will not make Mississippi a safer or more healthy place but the numbers will look great.
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