SUMNER, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV) — Employees with the Illinois Department of Corrections at Lawrence Correctional Center took to the streets Thursday to raise awareness of the dangers they face.
“There hasn’t been any action taken by administration to do anything about the drugs coming into the prison and barely anything done to counteract the staff assaults that happen,” said Local 3600 Union President Tenielle Fitzjarrald.
Fitzjarrald said that one of the main reasons for this rise in assaults is that inmates at the maximum-security prison are finding innovative ways to sneak in drugs through the mail.
“They use wasp spray, or K2, and there is not an official test that can pick this out,” said Fitzjarrald. “They are getting papers soaked through the mail is how it gets in. There is no test that you can do on a piece of paper to find out what the substance is if it is a wasp spray.”
Fitzjarrald is urging state authorities to allow in only electronic mail in hopes that will stop the injuries.
“We are all we have,” said Fitzjarrald. “We don’t have help from administration, and we don’t have help from anyone on the outside, so we rely a lot on each other. It is a brotherhood here. We work with good people. These people are the reason why I do what I do, why my board does what it does, and why we come to work every day.”
Fitzjarrald added that there have been 60 assaults on workers at this facility since June.
