GOUVERNEUR, NY – The New York State Correctional Officers Police Benevolent Association released the following statement on Feb. 28, 2020:
Earlier this week Assemblyman Mark Walczyk and NYSCOPBA called on DOCCS to implement the Secure Vendor Program to help stem the flow of drugs getting into correctional facilities throughout the state.
Since the beginning of the year there have been five incidents of drugs being seized at Gouverneur Correctional Facility including two inmates that needed to be revived with Narcan after apparently overdosing from drugs.
In these incidents, Synthetic Marijuana, commonly known as K2, and with dangerous side effects, was seized from inmates and from an envelope mailed to an inmate.
On January 8, an officer witnessed an inmate collapse from an apparent drug overdose. He was administered Narcan and transferred to an outside hospital for treatment.
On January 12, an officer making rounds discovered an inmate in the bathroom vomiting and convulsing from an apparent drug overdose. He was administered Narcan and transferred to an outside hospital.
“The constant battle to keep contraband from entering the prisons will continue to tie up staff until DOCCS reinstates the Secure Vendor Program statewide and assigns a K9 to every facility. Drugs, particularly K2, creates a dangerous environment for both staff and inmates. For example, two weeks ago an inmate was on a contraband watch and took a bedpan filled with urine and threw it through the cell door striking the officer, who was watching him, in the face. The Secure Vendor Program should be one of the highest priority items of the DOCCS administration and until it is, contraband and the dangers that come with it, will continue to rise. ” – stated Bryan Hluska, NYSCOPBA Central Region Vice President.