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| Prison camp begins troubled new chapter as county detox facility |
| By enterprisenews.com- Neal Simpson |
| Published: 06/05/2017 |
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PLYMOUTH - Deep in the woods of Myles Standish State Forest, away from the bicycle paths, swimming holes and Boy Scout cabins, a cluster of low-slung buildings sit on the edge of a pond shaped like a heart. Men in orange jump suits amble from building to building as security guards, some with dogs, stand watch. Everywhere along the two roads leading to the buildings there are signs: “Department of Correction, No Trespassing.” The complex, known at various points in its history as Restoration Camp #1, MCI-Plymouth or simply “the forestry camp,” has operated in the heart of the largest publicly owned park in Southeastern Massachusetts for more than 60 years, barely noticed by visitors or residents who live along its rural fringes. Those who were aware of the prison camp typically held it in high regard because the men who stayed there, usually prisoners nearing the end of their sentence, were frequently dispatched to clear forest trails, work on municipal buildings or clean up town properties. But all that changed last month when the state Department of Correction, responding to an opioid epidemic that is claiming hundreds of lives in Massachusetts each year, moved nearly 200 civilly committed patients into the camp to be treated for life-threatening addictions, typically against their will. In the first month after the program’s move from Bridgewater to Myles Standish, there were four escapes involving 13 patients, prompting a series of manhunts in the 12,400-acre forest that at times involved police, dogs and helicopters. Park visitors’s cars were searched and neighbors were terrified by rumors of inmates sneaking through backyards. Read More. |
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