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| Santa Rosa Prison to House Higher-Risk Inmates |
| By Pensacola News Journal |
| Published: 03/05/2003 |
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Santa Rosa Correctional Institution will be one of three state prisons to house some of the worst-behaving inmates. It means most of the 1,300 current prisoners will find homes in other state prisons while Santa Rosa's facility is converted to accommodate higher-risk individuals. It also means more security will be needed. 'It's changing the whole population,' said Sterling Ivey, state Department of Corrections spokesman. But it's also bringing jobs. More than 70 new workers will be hired, including 42 security guards, to join the staff of about 300. The new inmates are in close custody, meaning they are separated from other prisoners. They get that designation based on how they behave with other inmates. If they fight with others, disobey rules or try to escape, they are kept separately and placed under direct, armed supervision when outside a secure perimeter within the prison. Inmates are expected to begin arriving from other state prisons in May. The change in inmate types doesn't seem to concern at least two nearby residents. Lawrence and Marjorie Tremblay have lived in East Milton for 32 years, long before the state built the prison there in 1996. 'We never thought too much about it,' said Marjorie Tremblay, 74. 'We've never had a problem - not yet.' Ivey said there have been no prison escapes in the state in the last two years. At least $2 million will be spent to upgrade the prison to handle the new inmates. Most of that will go to individual recreation yards, because the prisoners can't mingle. They will receive additional mental-health services and behavior modification through video programs and therapy while in detention, with a goal to reintroduce them back into the general prison population. One women's prison in the state is a candidate for the new program, dubbed the 'Rethinking Personal Choice' program. Santa Rosa's prison already houses every level of inmate, from minimum custody level to the close custody. Maximum-security inmates - those sentenced to death - aren't kept in Santa Rosa prison. They are housed at Florida State Prison near Gainesville. Death row inmates aren't eligible for the program. A small portion of the 1,100 close-custody inmates at the prison will be lower security, so they can serve in support roles. Santa Rosa's capacity will remain at about 1,300. The state could begin hiring more security guards in February, perhaps luring officers away from their county jobs in search of higher pay. Starting pay for a trainee in security at the prison is $25,874 a year. After certification is complete, the pay could jump to $28,000 annually. The other positions include eight jobs associated with implementing the program and 22 jobs related to health services. |
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