PA Department of Corrections orders lockdown of all state prisons
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SENTINEL FILE PHOTO - SCI-Frackville, seen in a January, 2017 file photo.
By Kaylee Lindenmuth
HARRISBURG, Dauphin County – Wednesday afternoon, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel announced the immediate lockdown of all state correctional institutions, after staff members were reportedly sickened by unknown substances in recent weeks.
The announcement came hours after twenty correction officers and inmates at an Ohio prison experienced “possible opioid overdose symptoms.”
“The safety and security of our employees is my number one concern,” Secretary Wetzel said. “Our state prisons, especially those in the western part of the state, have experienced recent incidents in which employees have been sickened and we need to get to the bottom of this issue now.”
As a result, Wetzel announced the department is taking the following steps:
- All DOC state prisons are locked down.
- All DOC mailrooms are closed to non-legal mail until further notice.
- Use of personal protective equipment, especially gloves, is MANDATORY for ALL employees.
- Training on situational awareness will be held immediately in all institutions.
- All visits are suspended for the length of the lock down.
In addition, staff members are also are being advised to use extra caution when parole violators and new commits are received into the prison system.
“We will do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of our staff,” Wetzel said in a media release. “The steps taken today, in addition to those announced last week, demonstrate the Wolf Administration’s commitment to the safety and security of all commonwealth employees.”
“The state’s Opioid Command Center is giving complete support to this action. And Corrections thanks all state agencies for their support, especially the Pennsylvania Department of Health, for providing additional gloves and personal protective equipment,” Wetzel concluded.
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