Union Action Delivers Results: Body & Mail Scanners Coming to CT Prisons

As drug-related incidents behind the walls continue to rise, AFSCME has led the call for urgent reforms to protect our correctional staff. 

Since 2023, AFSCME has repeatedly urged the Commissioner and top officials at the Department of Corrections to take immediate and meaningful action to address the growing crisis of drugs entering our state correctional facilities. In response to the worsening conditions on the inside, the union has consistently proposed practical and effective solutions, including: 

• Photocopying inmate mail to eliminate drug-laced letters 

• Purchasing and deploying mail scanner technology 

• Installing body scanners for inmates, similar to those used by the TSA Expanding the use of drug-detection K9 units in visiting lobbies and visitation rooms 

• Increasing staffing and installing more surveillance cameras in visitation areas 

• Pursuing harsher criminal prosecution for individuals found conveying drugs into correctional institutions 

In addition to direct engagement with DOC leadership, your union has taken these concerns to the State Capitol—meeting with legislators to raise awareness and advocate for decisive legislative action. 

We have also brought this issue into the public eye through multiple media engagements. By participating in news reports and on-air interviews, the union has worked to ensure the public understands the severity of the crisis and the danger it poses to both staff and incarcerated individuals. 

Thanks to this continued pressure, the legislature has agreed to provide funding, and the Commissioner has committed to purchasing four body scanners for a pilot program. Additionally, the Commissioner has committed to purchasing three letter scanners to help curb the flood of dangerous drugs entering the state’s correctional facilities. 

We know this recent victory is not enough, especially because it comes after years of inaction on the part of the state—a failure of leadership that puts correctional staff’s lives in danger every day. We know more must be done. 

Your union, Council 4, along with our Department of Corrections locals #387, #391, and #1565, will not stop fighting until real, comprehensive reforms are implemented to protect the safety and well-being of the correctional staff who spend each day working one of the state’s most dangerous jobs—putting their health, safety, and life on the line to keep our communities safe!