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| Idaho Maximum Security Prison's Locking System Fails Again |
| By Idaho Statesman |
| Published: 01/28/2003 |
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Six inmates at the state's maximum security prison refused to return to their cells Sunday after a troublesome locking system failed for the 11th time this month. Department of Correction spokeswoman Teresa Jones said the failure caused 16 cell doors to pop open by themselves and that six inmates, including two murderers, refused orders to return to their cells. 'It's a pretty scary thing,' Warden Greg Fisher said. Security officers armed with a beanbag shotgun and pepper spray hurried in to return the inmates to their cells. Inmates still refused to return to their cells until a security officer chambered a round, he said. One long-time officer could not remember such a show of force being used at the facility, Jones said, adding, 'It's extremely rare.' Usually when the locking system fails, inmates either stay in their cells or immediately return when asked to by officers. 'It happens so frequently, it's not worth reporting,' Jones said. Prison officials decided to report Sunday's incident because weapons were drawn, she said. The electronic locking system has been in use since the maximum security prison opened in 1989. The prison has experienced problems with the electronics that run the locking system for about five years; the past two years, the problems have been worse. Lawmakers approved spending $3 million to fix the locking system. But the state took back $2 million as part of a plan to keep the budget balanced. Some of the remaining $1 million is being used on planning for a new system, Jones said, but it's not enough to fix the system. Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's budget recommendation for the spending year that starts July 1 calls for $2 million to replace the locking system. Some lawmakers are concerned that the system's troubles aren't as bad as what has been reported, even though the lock failure happened once on Idaho's Death Row about 18 months ago. Officers are able to use keys on the cell doors because it is not the locks that are broken but rather the electronic system that operates the locks. 'It's much more labor intensive to use keys, and we aren't staffed for that,' Jones said. There are more than 100 inmates per cell block and three correctional officers on each block at any give time, he said. Jones said most of the times the system fails, correctional officers are able to override the locks and keep the doors from opening. Fisher said the locking system glitches are taking a mental toll on security officers, and the electronic problems are becoming more frequent. 'It's a very tense, fearful environment to work in, in the best of circumstances,' Fisher said. Fisher said he's confident legislators will understand the needs and will be willing to approve the spending to fix the lock problems. 'Just image what it's like for one of those staff members ... to hear 16 doors pop open and then to know behind those 16 doors are the most violent people in the prison system,' Fisher said. |
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