Union responds after five corrections officers hospitalized from drug exposure at Connecticut’s largest prison

Five correctional officers in Connecticut were hospitalized after being exposed to illegal narcotics at their workplace on June 28. The officers began experiencing physical symptoms after administering Narcan to an inmate who had overdosed.

Corrections Officer Rob Beamon is the president of AFSCME Local 391 (Council 4), which represents COs at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution where the incident occurred last month. He called attention to how drug smuggling is making corrections jobs more dangerous.

“It makes the prison population less safe, it makes the officers less safe,” Beamon told NBC Connecticut. “Correctional environments are supposed to be controlled environments.”

Drugs can be smuggled into prisons several different ways, but the two most common channels are through visitors and through the mail, Beamon explained.

“We, as union leaders, have been pleading with our administration, our leadership, to implement better measures to quell the drugs from coming into the facility so that these incidents don't happen,” he said.

This problem is occurring across the country. AFSCME Council 31 published a detailed report last year with recommendations to prevent drugs from getting inside corrections facilities.

These recommendations include photocopying paper mail and providing comprehensive training on how officers can effectively respond to drug use in their facilities.

NBC Connecticut reported that all five officers in Connecticut were released from the hospital and were recovering at home.

Members of Council 4 remain committed to ensuring Connecticut’s corrections facilities are safe for both employees and incarcerated individuals.