Advertisement Lockdown lifted at Nebraska State Penitentiary, limitations still in place

The lockdown has been lifted at the Nebraska State Penitentiary as of Friday.Officials with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services said although the lockdown is lifted, but will remain on modified operations through weekend.Director Scott Frakes said outside visits are still canceled but the updated status will allow inmates to have some controlled movement outside of their cells.Frakes said inmates started receiving notice of the planned changes on Thursday night. See our one-on-one interview with Director Scott Frakes:Previous storyThe Nebraska State Penitentiary is on lockdown Wednesday, according to Director Scott Frakes.Due to a recent rise in assaults, drug exposure and contraband, Frakes said he is taking action.The entire facility has been placed on lockdown since Wednesday morning.“That will continue to be the case until further notice,” said Frakes. “During this time we will have staff members doing organized and intensive searches of housing units, looking specifically for alcohol, drugs, weapons and cellphones.”All visitations have been canceled through Friday. During the Labor Day holiday, visitations were canceled due to limited staffing. Frakes said the decision to go into lockdown was taken to address safety, not due to lack of staffing. He said that use of the synthetic cannabinoid K2 into the penitentiary has been on the rise. Staff members have confiscated K2 in the past month, but individuals continue to be intoxicated.Lynn Moreno says these issues are just the tip of the iceberg. The Omaha mother tells KETV her son, Gino Inserra, an inmate at the prison calls her endlessly about problems. "He says they keep hiring people, they go through all the training, and then when they get out there they don't know how to talk to the inmates," said Morena. "They treat them disrespectful, it causes problems."Corrections confirms with KETV, assaults on staff and even with inmates among themselves has increased. Prison Inspector Doug Koebernick said assaults aren't the only issue in the prison."Over the last month, theirs been such a significant increase in number of K2 incidents and assaults, especially in the last week," said Koebernick. According to Koebernick, the prison is understaffed and overcrowded, he calls that the root of the problem. "Right now is operating at 185 percent of its designed capacity," Koebernick added. "It's gonna take a joint effort, I really believe by the governor, legislature, the department to come together and try figure out what do we have to do on this."In the next few days, penitentiary staff and additional staff from other facilities will be conducting thorough searches of inmates' cells, bathrooms, dayrooms and other areas.Members of the Corrections Emergency Response Team will assist, along with the agency’s trained K-9 team.