| 03/08/2008 |
| Prison fight notice sought |
| By: Shawn R. Beals , Journal Inquirer |
|
State Sen. John A. Kissel on Friday
announced a plan to introduce legislation that would require the
Department of Correction to notify state and local elected officials
within 24 hours of a prison assault. Kissel, ranking
senator on the state legislature's Judiciary Committee, said he is
trying to promote awareness of problems in the prison system and
track patterns in assaults between inmates and assaults on
correctional officers.
The proposal comes on the heels of two serious attacks at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers, a high-security facility. Inmates Lazale Ashby and Antwan Anthony attacked correctional officers unprovoked a few weeks apart and the officers had to be transported to the hospital for treatment. Enfield Mayor Scott R. Kaupin said towns that have prisons should know what is going on inside the walls, and thinks the legislation would be a good thing. "A host community is more than the elected officials and the working officials, it's the community and they're neighbors of ours," Kaupin said. He said the proposal, which is an amendment instead of a bill because it missed a deadline, could "elevate the level of communication between the Department of Correction and the town." Enfield has three prisons: Robinson Correctional Institution, Willard-Cybulski Correctional Institution, and Enfield Correctional Institution. Correction Department Spokesman Brian Garnett said the department has always let the towns know about any serious events in the prison system. "The Department of Correction is extremely conscientious about notifying town officials, state representatives, and the legislature as a whole about any event that affects public safety," Garnett said. Kissel said he would like to see towns receive e-mails or phone calls when an assault happens. Somers First Selectman David Pinney said it is important for people in the prison towns to know what is going on because town residents work in the facilities. "We regard that as an important step in enabling us to have a measure of understanding of how things are going in the prisons," Pinney said. "We have to have some capacity to know what's going on." Somers has two prisons: Osborn Correctional Institution and Northern. Kissel said last month's attacks in Northern were particularly concerning because the officers were specifically targeted, but the incidents were not widely known until they had media coverage. "Correctional officers have one of the most difficult jobs in the world," Kissel said. He said there is an existing notification system that lets officials know when some kind of security breach or escape happens, but the new notifications of assaults would supplement that system. Understanding where the biggest problems are in the prison system could help address staffing needs, Kissel said. Last month, he asked the legislature for more correctional officers in the wake of other attacks at the Osborn and Enfield facilities last month in which correctional officers were targeted and injured in fights. |
