Prison Life
Drug Sweeps in Prison
In prisons nationwide, cadres of correctional officers directed by Special Investigation Specialists (SIS), can swoop in on any prisoners unit at a moment’s notice to shakedown the unit for drugs and alcohol. The searches are random even though they are routine. Just like in the real world, prison officials want to catch prisoners unaware, so they can make a bust and haul the perpetrators off to the hole. But in prison authorities don't need a search warrant all they need is a suspicion or the word of one of their snitches.
"The came in my unit all ninja-like one time," a prisoner tells me. "When the lights went on they were standing all around the unit in strategic positions shouting at us to get up and stand still." With the element of surprise SIS staff, which act as the FBI/DEA in prison, attempt to catch prisoners with their pants down, literally and when woken up abruptly from their beauty rest prisoners don't have time to hide or kiester their stash. It’s an ongoing game of cat and mouse.
"Those cops were on us, we couldn't even go to our lockers or put on our clothes," the prisoner says. "They didn't give us the chance to grab nothing or even move. They shook us down one by one. A couple of my homeboys were hit. They had their stashes in their underwear or socks and couldn't get rid of it. That was a slick move those cops put down. They put us out on the yard and tore our unit apart."
When prisoners return after a drug sweep like that it looks as if a tornado hit the unit. The SIS staff and C/O's thoroughly search, shakedown and tear up a prisoners belongings. "We don't have no rights in here," the prisoner says. "It’s like the Gestapo. They just bust down your door and rip your shit apart like it’s nothing."
If a number of prisoners in a certain unit get dirty urines or a C/O smells marijuana, alcohol or finds drug or hooch paraphernalia this can lead to the drug sweep and massive stealth-like shakedown. The call is made by the SIS Lieutenant or duty officer. When the shakedown team comes, they come deep and most prisoners are just hoping their stuff doesn't get confiscated, destroyed or tore up. But the prisoners who are holding illegal drugs are experiencing a different kind of trepidation, like a deer in the headlights.