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| Prison escape plot timed to guard's lunch break |
| By mercurynews.com |
| Published: 07/07/2011 |
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Following the strangling of an officer at the state prison in Monroe this year, national correctional experts made a simple suggestion for improving safety at Washington's prisons: Eliminate meal breaks for corrections officers. The idea to have the officers munch during their shifts was designed to keep staffing levels constant, rather than having some guards left short-staffed in a dangerous environment while others took breaks. The state Department of Corrections made the change at its complex in Monroe within the past month, switching officers on day and swing shifts from 8.5- to 8-hour work days, and is rolling it out at the state's other major prisons. But it hasn't yet done so at Clallam Bay Corrections Center, where a brazen escape attempt Wednesday was timed to an officer's lunch break. A guard was briefly held hostage during the incident, which ended with a prisoner being shot and killed. "We have a tough economic climate in Washington and we're trying to increase staffing levels without additional expenditures," Washington state deputy prison director Dan Pacholke said Thursday. The attempted prison break Wednesday occurred at the Olympic Peninsula facility's garment shop, where about 70 inmates typically work making offender uniforms and coveralls. The prisoners were supervised by two unarmed corrections officers and a handful of civilian staff members, who are also trained in responding to prison emergencies. Read More. |
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