Rhode Island Prison Guard Admits to Smuggling Drugs into Massachusetts Prison
How are we supposed to handle the drug crisis and addiction problems when those who are supposed to be safeguarding us are making it easier for someone to get high and continue ruining his or her life? It’s no secret that when people abuse drugs and fall into the lifestyle of addiction, they wind up doing various things that get them arrested and thrown in jail. Whether they get caught driving under the influence, stealing, selling drugs, or prostituting themselves, the possibility of winding up in county jail and eventually prison becomes more and more of a reality. Drugs can cause you to do a wide variety of sketchy and dangerous things and once an addict finds himself (or herself) behind bars, it’s the duty of the corrections officers to protect them and help them…right? Apparently not.
There have been a few stories over the years about corrections officers having been caught smuggling drugs into prisons and detention centers to distribute among the inmates and—you guessed it—to make money. Nothing is sacred these days and for the countless prisoners locked up for drug-related crimes, they can continue their addiction and criminal lifestyle even when incarcerated. Had drugs and addiction not been present in their lives in the first place, they probably wouldn’t have gotten punished by society, but alas, the very thing that got them in trouble in the first place is ready and waiting for them in jail and prison.
When it comes to corrections officers, there are good ones and then there are the “bad apples.“ Recently, Steven J. Frazer of Cumberland, Rhode Island admitted to smuggling drugs into the Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Norfolk. Frazer is set to be sentenced on September 16th of this year and he’s looking at up to 10 years in state prison. The former corrections officer admitted to bringing Suboxone and Spice into the prison to sell to inmates according to a witness. After the investigation conducted by the FBI and Massachusetts Department of Corrections was completed, the result was the arrest of Frazer.
Corrections officers, in theory, are supposed to protect inmates and their environment and surely not do anything to jeopardize that. Again, that’s what they’re supposed to do. And while many officers do their jobs and actually help those serving time, some do otherwise. If an addict finds himself in jail or prison, the hope is that he’ll find recovery and beat the thing that found him sharing a small cell with two other men in the first place. That’s if we lived in a perfect world. Unfortunately, we don’t, and correctional institutions are just as dangerous and deadly as the neighboring city streets.
Incarceration, for sure is not the answer over rehabilitation. Most don’t find recovery in our criminal justice system but instead find ways to become better criminals and better addicts. Many find future connections, which allows the cycle of drugs and crime to continue. We need to take the revolving doors off our prisons and jails and find a better solution.
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