When Michigan Department of Corrections Director Dan Heyns told Rick Snyder’s Chief of Staff Dennis Muchmore that he was “concerned about [Aramark] losing control of a joint” in FOIAed emails released by Progress Michigan, he was predicting the future, it appears. This morning, the Detroit Free Press is reporting that an Aramark employee has been arrested for bringing drugs into prisoners at the St. Louis Correctional Facility:
An Aramark kitchen food worker is facing charges related to drug smuggling after five prisoners at St. Louis Correctional Facility were found with heroin, marijuana, cocaine and tobacco Monday, a Corrections Department spokesman confirmed.In all, 39 packets of the contraband drugs and tobacco were found in a series of searches that followed an investigation, Russ Marlan told the Free Press.
An Aramark Correctional Services worker was turned over to the Michigan State Police and is expected to face charges, Marlan said.
Karen Cutler, a spokeswoman for Aramark, had no immediate comment when reached late Monday.
The incident at St. Louis Correctional Facility is at least the second in which an Aramark employee has been caught smuggling drugs into a Michigan prison since the Philadelphia-based company began a three-year, $145-million contract in December.
We can only hope that, at some point, the Snyder administration admits that its experiment of privatizing essential government services is a colossal failure that needs to be abandoned immediately. At some point, they are going to realize what so many of us have been pointing out since Day One of this predictably bad idea: when you privatize government services to for-profit corporations, corners will be cut to enhance their profits, profits derived 100% from taxpayer dollars.
It’s not like it’s rocket science, folks.
UPDATED: Governor Snyder was asked about the arrest of the drug smuggler today. His response?
Those are concern points.
Rick Snyder: Master of the Understatement.
Also, how would you like to be a prison guard in a prison where there are prisoners on heroin and cocaine? Something to contemplate.
Fire Aramark, Governor Snyder. Enough is enough.
