New security measures at the prison in Trumbull County are focused on not just keeping inmates inside, but drugs and substances out.

The Trumbull Correctional Institution is working with Warren Township police to engage neighbors to help stop the ongoing problem of people smuggling drugs and other contraband to the prison inmates.

"We would like to be there and try to stop them and catch them and prosecute them," Chief Don Bishop says, Warren Township police.

Salon owner Cleda Sanderson says people trespass onto her property on a routine basis to cut through the wooded area to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the prison. 

The prison's warden says they've upgraded security surveillance outside the facility and cleared trees to eliminate places to hide.

But in order to make more headway, they're working with local officers and are asking for nearby neighbors to help. The prison and police are in the process of setting up a meeting to reach out to those whose homes surrounding the facility.

"They're pretty alert and if they see somebody they call us right away and that's all we're trying to do is get the people around the perimeter to give us a call," Bishop says.

The crimes are often in exchange for payment.

Warren Township police are working with the prison and have stepped up patrols surrounding the institution's perimeter along South Leavitt, Risher and Layer roads and Burnett Street.