The Vermont State Police and the Vermont Department of Corrections have signed an agreement to have regular and on-call K-9 drug detection teams in Vermont prisons to help stem the flow of drugs to inmates.
The parties this month signed a memorandum of understanding committing up to $25,000 for one year of searches throughout the state’s correctional facility system.
The visits will take place “multiple times a year” in each of the seven state prisons, DOC Director of Facilities Michael Touchette said, though he declined to specify exactly how often the searches would occur. Touchette said DOC finds contraband substances about once a week.
“We’re providing a service that’s assisting them (DOC),” said Capt. Tim Clouatre, assistant state field force commander for the Vermont State Police.
Previously, DOC has occasionally asked state police to conduct a K-9 drug search, though the calls come “very, very rarely,” Clouatre said.
The department did not have recent figures on drugs reported in the state’s prison system. However, in 2012, the most recent data available, there were 78 incidents in which buprenorphine was recovered across all seven state prisons, four recoveries of cocaine, 10 of heroin, 35 of marijuana and 30 of various prescription pills.
Touchette didn’t have concrete figures but from anecdotal evidence said he guessed Vermont is on par with correctional facilities in other states. Due to an antiquated database, Touchette said, DOC doesn’t keep thorough records.
In 2012, state police investigated 35 reported incidents of “transportation of alcohol, tobacco or regulated drugs into places of detention,” according to a news release. The high prices paid for illicit substances in prisons keeps the supply fairly steady, Clouatre said.
The news release added that the Vermont State Police had investigated several recent instances of contraband material in the prisons, though Touchette did not have details on those cases.
The agreement is not necessarily indicative of a growing drug problem in the state’s jails, officials said.
“There are things that are smuggled into prisons nationwide, this does happen,” Clouatre said. “I think this is just another step to address the issue and to identify how (drugs) are getting in there and getting to the root of the problem,” he said.
Most often, Touchette said, drugs enter correctional facilities through the mail. Buprenorphine strips, which are about the size of a postage stamp, are particularly easy to conceal.
“Contraband certainly comes through visiting, it can be launched over a fence or folks in the community anticipating going to jail sometimes plan to bring things in with them,” he said.
In April, the Associated Press reported a woman attempted to bring buprenorphine into a Rutland prison by attaching it to her one-year-old baby.
The MOU comes as a part of DOC’s response to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s effort to address the opiates in the state.
“With proper utilization (of drug-sniffing dogs), we can find a level of deterrence,” Touchette said, of the new initiative. “And interdiction, in some cases.”
On a search, state police will typically spend about four hours in the facility with three or four dogs.
When drugs are found, DOC issues a referral to the state police. If enough evidence of contraband material is found, VSP will send the referral to the state attorney to decide whether charges should be pressed.
Touchette added that DOC is also considering a variety of additional options to address drugs in Vermont’s correctional facilities, though he refused to comment on specifics. A bill passed by the Vermont Legislature last session, S.281, requires DOC to tighten rules on searching people who enter prison facilities.
When the MOU expires June 30, DOC and VSP will evaluate the effort and decide whether to renew the agreement.
“It’s pretty straight forward,” Touchette said of the collaboration. “We’ve partnered with state police and the Department of Public Safety quite a few times. In theory, this isn’t necessarily a new partnership.”
