Contraband In Prisons

The United States Prison System has been around for hundreds of years. They house some of the United States’ worst people. This would include individuals convicted of crimes such as murder to the lowest crime of petit theft. Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, the U.S. has put the spotlight on terrorism worldwide. Most people in society do not realize that the U.S. Prison System could be one of the biggest breeding grounds for terrorism and terrorism recruiting. In addition to that, the introduction of contraband has been an ongoing battle.
This thesis will cover intelligence-led corrections in U.S. Prisons and combating illicit activities. These illicit activities can be categorized from your basic introduction of contraband such as
drugs to serious threats as terrorism. Most people believe that once a person is sentenced and sent to prison that their life is over. This is a huge misconception, the majorities of prison inmates have the means and funding to have items smuggled or mailed into prison and have the ability to use social media, such as Facebook, through third party. In addition to this, terrorism has been at the forefront of the intelligence community. There have been many theories that suggest prisons are a perfect environment for recruiting and radicalizing individuals for terrorist groups. This goes for both domestic and international terrorism.
There is limited current research in the field of intelligence within the U.S. Prison system. Unfortunately, some information within the walls of a prison tends to stay within those very walls. Most prisons have a special investigative unit. These investigative units are responsible for looking causes for disruption within the prison, such as altercations, introduction of contraband, operating criminal activities while in prison, and much more. It is this information that this paper will try and reflect; how they get their intelligence, how they use it, and how they share the data with outside law enforcement agencies to slow or stop the process.
B. Theoretical Framework
This thesis will be using four different intelligence models. They were selected based upon their difference from one another and their ability to be used in a prison setting. The four models are: the Intelligence Cycle, the Special Investigative Support Units, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the Sacramento Intelligence Unit. Each of these specialized units plays a particular role in gathering, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence with U.S. prisons.
C. Research Design
The models and specialized units listed previously will be measured using the Intelligence Cycle.
This cycle will show how effective these specialized units are at gathering, analyzing, and sharing their information. This research will also look at the resources that are used, training and expertise involved, and the ability to continue through the cycle while providing information about criminal activities.
The Intelligence Cycle is the process of turning data into intelligence and then making it available to other agencies. There are several different variants of the Intelligence Cycle, however, they rarely differ from the main five phases. These phases include planning and direction, collection of data, processing of data, analysis, and finally dissemination of data.
The previous listed case studies listed previously are used due to the fact that they are part of the federal prison system. This thesis will show how each system paints a part of the whole picture of intelligence with the U.S. prison system. Furthermore, this research will be obtained by interviewing members of the specialized units and querying them on certain procedures, secondary peer reviewed literature, and surveys of U.S. prison system staff
members.
CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Introduction
The available research and peer reviewed articles are limited, however significant studies and certain articles have been found to support this thesis. The majority of the articles found dealt with communicating with inmates, contraband, and terrorism within the prison system. The American Public University Systems online library was used to find the majority of the following scholarly articles. These articles vary in scope and depth; some may cover just a piece of the puzzle, while others give a broad range of information about the topic at hand.
B. Theoretical Framework
This research will be utilizing four different intelligence models. These models were selected based on their difference from one another and their capability to be used in a prison setting. The three models are: the Special Investigative Support Units, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the Sacramento Intelligence Unit. Each of these specialized units plays a particular role in gathering, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence with U.S. prisons.
The end goal of this paper is to find areas of improvement or areas missed in the field of prison intelligence.
This research seeks to understand what intelligence models or combination of models would efficiently work to effectively detect, deter, and prevent terrorist activities and organized criminal activity within the U.S. prison system. Each of the listed specialized units has an area of intelligence they cover. This could be from local gangs to terrorist organizations. In addition to gathering intelligence, the ability to properly analyze and share this information should be at the forefront of every
institution.
Dynamic security plays a huge role in the intelligence gathering area of prison. This is type of security is the ability for officers to develop good rapport with inmates and to understand the inmate’s relationships with each other and to understand their relationships with other officers. This also includes consistent and daily interaction with inmates and the timely sharing of information to staff through observations and communications.
Furthermore, this thesis will discuss he uses of operation intelligence and strategic intelligence. These two terms are used on a daily basis within the walls of prison. Operation intelligence identifies a specific threat to security and safety, such as, a planned escape, attack on staff or information about contraband. Strategic intelligence looks at the inmates and the world around them.