|
|
| Inmate shift raises prison violence fears |
| By Sacramento Bee |
| Published: 05/03/2004 |
|
A "state of emergency" in California's jampacked prisons is forcing the Department of Corrections to move hundreds of inmates into less-secure housing units, raising concerns last Tuesday about the potential for violence. Beginning April 1, prison officials began preparing to clear out Pleasant Valley State Prison, a medium-security housing unit in Coalinga, to make way for 950 maximum-security inmates. The 1,070 medium-level inmates shipped out of Coalinga - serious offenders who require less observation and control than maximum-level prisoners - were ticketed for Folsom State Prison. That movement is taking place even though the 124-year-old Sacramento County institution was downgraded to a Level II minimum-security facility 15 years ago because of problems, such as blind spots where officers can't see inmates. Completing the domino effect, officials will be scattering hundreds of Folsom inmates into triple-bunked gymnasiums, dormitories and day rooms at three other prisons, according to Department of Corrections documents. Among the institutions receiving the Folsom transfers will be Avenal State Prison, the most crowded in the state. Avenal already houses inmates at 244 percent of its designed capacity, according to Department of Corrections figures. "Put it all together," said Lance Corcoran, vice president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, "and you've got a powder keg here." J.P. Tremblay, a spokesman for the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, which oversees the Department of Corrections, downplayed the danger, saying prison authorities actually are initiating the inmate transfers to head off possible violence. But state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-East Los Angeles, said that triple-bunking inmates and cutting their work and school opportunities carry severe consequences. "We're also talking about the potential for violence," Romero said. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think