By Rick Sobey
Boston Herald
BOSTON — Dozens of “homemade sharpened weapons” were reportedly found inside a Bay State maximum security prison last month, as the correction officers’ union continues to push for safety measures.
The 38 manufactured weapons seized in Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center come after a prison guard was exposed to a synthetic cannabinoid and knocked unconscious, ending up in the hospital.
The Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union has been sounding the alarm following the officer’s hospitalization and a string of similar incidents — urging the Department of Correction to implement an “exposure policy” for when officers are exposed to synthetic drugs.
State legislators also wrote to the Department of Correction after the officer was sickened, calling for “policy and procedural changes needed to properly protect our officers and the prisoner population.”
Now, the Department of Correction says the state agency is close to a new policy for when these exposure incidents happen.
“The Department of Correction’s top priority is to protect the health and safety of our staff and those entrusted to our care,” a DOC spokesperson said in a statement. “The DOC implements many proactive steps to thwart the presence of illicit drugs, weapons, and other contraband, a persistent challenge in correctional settings nationwide.
“In partnership with a national expert in chemical substances, the DOC is finalizing an enhanced policy with more robust safety guidelines for correctional staff and investigators involving the detection and response to unknown or suspected hazardous substances,” the DOC spokesperson added.
MCI-Shirley officer John Connelly in July had been attending to an unresponsive inmate in their cell when he apparently found the synthetic drug K2.
Then a short time later, Connelly told a fellow officer that he was feeling weak and passed out. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the hospital, and the doctor saying he would need time to recover from the episode. Connelly was told that he was given Narcan four times, and he had multiple seizures.
Recently, his toxicology results came back from the UMass Chan Medical School Drugs of Abuse Laboratory, and the results show that he was exposed to a synthetic cannabinoid.
More than a dozen state legislators recently wrote to DOC Commissioner Shawn Jenkins following this incident.
“We are writing to express our sincere concern regarding the exposure of toxic substances in correctional facilities,” the lawmakers wrote. “The presence of these substances within our prison walls comes with significant health and safety risks for our correctional officers and prisoners alike. Accordingly, we urge the department to evaluate the situation and implement the necessary policy and procedural changes needed to properly protect our officers and the prisoner population.”
Such procedural responses may include regular facility shake downs, increased searches and more regular use of canines that can detect drugs, they added.
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“Furthermore, such response may include policy implementation for handling toxic exposure and specialized training/equipment to ensure these facilities are well-equipped to immediately respond to such incidents with care,” the legislators wrote.
Meanwhile, 38 “homemade sharpened weapons” were found inside the Souza-Baranowski maximum security prison last month, according to the correction officers’ union leader Dennis Martin.
“Someone is going to get hurt,” Martin, the president of MCOFU, told the Herald. “It’s a scary time we’re in now.”
When an excessive amount of weapons are found, there needs to be a “restart” with a thorough search across the prison, Martin said.
“It’s about making our prisons safe for all people,” he added.
DOC facilities follow “DOC Search Policies” and local facility Standard Operating Procedures for daily routine and random searches of incarcerated individuals, their cells, and common areas of the facility.
In addition to the daily routine and random searches, entire housing unit searches are conducted after altercations involving incarcerated individuals, where it was discovered that a weapon was used.
The DOC spokesperson said, “We appreciate the ongoing collaboration with our partners, including MCOFU and the Legislature, and are committed to continuing our work together to address emerging challenges in our facilities.”
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