OCJ inmates get creative with contraband
Since January, the Oneida County Jail has had 26 reportable contraband incidents, serious enough to have to inform the Commission of Corrections.
"That's a significant number for us. We've never dealt with that before," says Sheriff, Robert Maciol.
Before Covid, visitation with a dash of romance was the preferred way to sneak contraband in the jail.
"New York State, in particular, is one of only two states left in the entire country where, when you visit a loved one in a correctional facility, you're allowed to kiss them on the lips. Contraband is passed many times," says the Sheriff.
Covid curtailed kissing for a while. Then, mail became the contraband train.
"So, when you open the mail, you wouldn't see anything. It was a letter, it was an article they copied for their loved one to read, whatever the case may be, but now, the actual substance has been sprayed on the paper and dried before being sent in the mail, so now, you've got the issue where the inmate would be smoking or / consuming the paper," says Sheriff Maciol.
So they started photocopying mail, putting the original in the inmates personal property, and giving them a photocopy. But again, the inmates evolved.
"Lo and behold, the next thing that we're dealing with....we're receiving packages, books, from a legitimate book vendor...and there's contraband inside the books," said Maciol. "We're receiving packages, books, from a legitimate book vendor...and there's contraband inside the books."
Normally, jail staff wouldn't question a package coming from a well-known, reputable bookstore or retail store. But they say inmates, or more specifically, their loved ones, found a way to enlist the help of those stores getting contraband in the jail...without the store staff knowing it.
"Whatever book they wanna buy, they take it off the shelf, they take the contraband, whether it's physically inserting contraband in the book, or whether it's spraying the page discreetly in the store with the book, they then take the book up to the counter, they purchase the book and they tell the person, 'I wanna mail this book to my friend, relative, whatever, at the Oneida County Jail,'" says the Sheriff.
The result: no more packages from vendors.
"In the case of books, let's say, if someone wants to bring a book here to someone, we're gonna have a set time where they can come to the facility, they can drop off their book, we're gonna get their name, their address, get all their information from them, the person that's delivering it, were gonna hold them here while we check that package to make sure there's nothing in it," says Sheriff Maciol.
