The U.S. Bureau of Prisons may screen employees for personal weapons after a fatal shootout at a Florida prison, USA Today reports. The shootout allegedly began when a guard drew his own weapon as federal agents tried to arrest him. The guard, identified as Ralph Hill, was killed in the shootout that began as agents began to arrest him and five other corrections officers at the Tallahassee Federal Detention Center. They faced charges of having sex with female inmates in exchange for money and banned items. Under prison policy, Hill, 43, was not searched after he reported for work Wednesday even though FBI agents were planning to confront and arrest him.
As recently as 2002, the prison bureau rejected a recommendation by the Justice Department’s inspector general that called for searches of prison staff members to help reduce the flow of drugs and other contraband into such facilities. Then-director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer said the proposal was based on inadequate information and could have caused dissension among prison employees.
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-22-prison-screening_x.htm