FCC Victorville Prison Law Enforcment Officers Hospitalized After Drug Exposure

VICTORVILLE , CA, UNITED STATES, April 13, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Federal Bureau of Prisons' continued failure to protect its staff has resulted in six officers being hospitalized and four officers treated on-site and released in just four days at FCC Victorville, as the agency's inadequate mail screening procedures continue to endanger law enforcement lives.

In a troubling development at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Victorville, ten staff members have been exposed in the past four days due to suspected drug exposure, highlighting an ongoing crisis in federal prisons nationwide. The incident exposes the Bureau's ongoing negligence in addressing a lethal crisis. In Illinois, at FCI Thomson alone, eight staff members have required emergency Narcan administration and hospitalization in the past six months, demonstrating the agency's systemic failure to protect its workforce.

Kendall Bowles, President of AFGE Local 3969, representing 650 law enforcement officers at FCC Victorville. "We lost an officer last August at U.S. Penitentiary Atwater to mail-transmitted drugs, and now more of our staff are in the hospital. The Bureau's leadership continues to force us to process contaminated materials with inadequate protection, showing complete disregard for officer safety."

Making matters worse, Bowles reveals the Bureau's attempts to hide these incidents from union officials. "Under a controversial Executive Order carried over from the Trump Administration, they didn't even notify me when staff were rushed to the hospital and they failed to issue a press release. Their secrecy speaks volumes about their priorities."

Congressman Jay Obernolte condemned the Bureau's failures on April 11: "The recent drug exposure that hospitalized seven law enforcement officers at FCC Victorville is another urgent reminder that our correctional staff are on the front lines of the fentanyl crisis. This is why I've cosponsored the Marc Fischer Memorial Interdiction of Fentanyl in Postal Mail at Federal Prisons Act to stop dangerous substances from entering these facilities through the mail."

The legislation honors Marc Fischer, a veteran mailroom supervisor at U.S. Penitentiary Atwater and former Coast Guard servicemember, who died in August 2024 after exposure to contaminated mail just months before retirement – a preventable death that highlights the Bureau's systemic failures.

Compounding this crisis, the Bureau has stripped its staff of collective bargaining rights through a recent Executive Order, despite these rights being preserved for other law enforcement agencies. This Executive Order is having a devastating impact on our officers," says Jon Zumkehr, President of AFGE Local 4070. "They feel completely unprotected, unsupported, and they're watching their friends and colleagues being carried out of BOP facilities after being revived with Narcan. We need help."

Prison overdose incidents have skyrocketed by 600% as the Bureau's inadequate mail screening procedures continue enabling drug traffickers. "Every day without action puts more lives at risk," Zumkehr warns. "The Bureau's negligence is turning our prisons into death traps for staff."

Federal correctional officers nationwide demand immediate Congressional intervention through H.R. 1046 and call for the U.S. Attorney General to launch an investigation into the Bureau's failure to protect its workforce.

Jon Zumkehr
AFGE Local 4070
jzumkehr@hotmail.com
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