NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Cell phones, drugs and flash drives have all been confiscated from people trying to enter or visit a Tennessee Department of Correction prison. All those items are considered contraband and sometimes the people bringing them in are correctional officers.
According to 2022 TDOC data, 65 people were arrested for attempting to bring in contraband at their facilities. Out of the 65, 15 were correctional officers.
"Contraband would be illegal items like drugs, weapons, cell phones. A cell phone is illegal to possess in a prison or introducing a cell phone in a prison is a violation of the law," said Lee Dotson, TDOC's Assistant Commissioner of Prison Operations.
Staff members and other visitors were also among those arrested.
"If you are a family member that is coming to visit somebody that’s incarcerated or in our custody, and you attempt to bring contraband into a facility, the likelihood is you’re never going to get to visit that person again," Dotson said.
To help catch people who think they can dodge trouble, TDOC is now using full-body scanners at all their prisons.
"We see drugs come in that are laced with fentanyl. Things that you wouldn’t think about being laced with fentanyl — like tobacco. We find that somebody has dropped outside a facility or thrown it over a fence," Dotson said.
Dotson said with the implantation of the new technology, they could see the number of contraband arrests increase.
Dotson hopes the new technology makes people think twice about trying to beat the system.
"You can be educated or not. You can be wealthy or not. You can be employed by the state or not. You bring contraband into one of the facilities and we catch you; we’re going to put you in prison," Dotson said.
People with a pacemaker or in a wheelchair, children 16-years-old and younger, and those pregnant — or think they may be — will not be required to go through the body scanner.
You can read more about the contraband arrests and TDOC's policies, here.
