Georgia DCOR: Autry State Prison shakedowns net more than 1,000 contraband items

Following an announcement that more than 50 people have been indicted federally, Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) said raids at Autry State Prison resulted in the confiscation of more than 1,000 items of contraband from inmates.

“We have made it a priority in our agency to combat the cell phone issue,” Commissioner Homer Bryson said in a news release. “We are not depending on other people to solve the issue for us.  Instead, we have been proactive internally, making significant changes in some of our operations, and we believe that is making a difference in the number of cell phones we see coming into our facilities.”

At Autry State Prison, a total of 21 tactical and institutional shakedowns have been conducted since January 2015. Those previous shakedowns, along with the one conducted on Jan. 21, resulted in the seizure of cell phones, drugs, weapons and tobacco, officials said.

“Complete shakedowns of each of our 33 state prisons will be conducted in the coming months, and our stance of ‘tough on crime within’ will not only continue but become more apparent,” added Bryson.