Review: Force Used Too Often At Fla. Girl's Prison

Article Tools Print This Page | Comments(1) | Suggest a Story

By Associated Press

Published: 07/14/2003

Staff members at the Florida Institute for Girls are using force and restraints too quickly and too often. That's according to a new review of the state's only maximum-security facility for girls. State officials want to see procedural changes at the facility within the next 60 days. And simply providing new training will not be enough to appease Darryl Olson. He's the regional director of the state's Department of Juvenile Justice and says he wants to see 'fundamental changes' regarding the way violent teens are handled at the facility.
Olson says prison staff normally resort to approved methods of physical force without first trying to talk to the girls who are lashing out or involved in altercations.
But there are rare instances where workers lose their temper and hurt an inmate.
Past Department of Juvenile Justice reviews have drawn attention to shortcomings at the institute, including two dozen incidents between April 2000 and February 2003, where workers were accused of sexual impropriety.

Comments:

Login to let us know what you think

MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search