Sheriff Brian Kozak and the staff of the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office conducted a facility wide shakedown of the Laramie County Detention Center on Wednesday. Deputies worked together with law
enforcement from the Platte County Sheriff’s Office, Wyoming Highway Patrol and Wyoming Department of Corrections to search for contraband within the jail. This was the first time a full shakedown of the entire facility had been completed.
Each inspection team was assigned two K-9s certified in narcotic detection. The K-9s and their handlers
searched each common area and cell within the facility. This was followed by a team that had been trained in inspecting housing areas for contraband, doing an in-depth search.
Sheriff Kozak said he ordered the massive shakedown to set a new tone of accountability within the facility as the agency introduced a new policy that will require deputies to inspect jail cells daily. Inmates will be required to make their beds, tidy their cells, and follow rules, such as not covering lights and air ventilation vents.
Inmates who participate and pass inspections will receive timeout of their cells in the common area of the pod to watch television, exercise and socialize. Additional timeout will be provided for inmates who complete intervention programs dealing with addiction and violence. Religious services will also be introduced into the facility.
Sheriff Kozak will inspect the pods once a month and the cleanest unit will receive additional privileges. The goal of the new policy is to provide incentives for inmates to follow the rules because this is what we expect when they are released from jail.
The facility shakedown did not find any drugs or weapons in the jail. Sheriff Kozak said that the employees should be commended for doing a great job in keeping this contraband out of the facility. The only item of contraband discovered during the shakedown was a rope made from a shirt. The inmate who had the item was transferred to a suicide watch and received mental health treatment. Sheriff Kozak said the shakedown may have saved this person’s life.
The agency will conduct random shakedowns in the future.