| 03/11/2008 |
| Union renews call for more prison guards |
| By Christine McCluskey , Journal Inquirer |
|
SOMERS - Correctional officers
gathered outside Northern Correctional Institution on Monday to
advocate for increased staffing in the state's prisons in the wake
of several recent attacks on officers by inmates.
He said prisons are overcrowded and a bill that's scheduled for a public hearing before the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, which would require a formula to determine prison staffing levels, would take into account the number of employees who are available to work and prevent staff burnout. Last month, there were two attacks on correctional officers at Northern, the state's only maximum security men's prison. Northern holds about 600 prisoners, including those on death row. Northern is also the facility to which prisoners who assault correctional officers are sent. In addition to the attacks at Northern, on Feb. 18, there were fights at Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers and at the Enfield Correctional Institution that involved several inmates and injured correctional officers. One of the Northern attacks, on the evening of Feb. 14, was by Lazale Ashby, 23, who is on death row for the rape and murder of a Hartford woman. Jeffrey McIntyre, the correctional officer Ashby attacked, said Monday that he told Ashby to quiet down because he was making a lot of noise in his cell. Shortly afterward, when Ashby came out of his cell unrestrained to go take a shower, "he sucker-punched me," McIntyre said. "He punched me right in the face." McIntyre said he defended himself using techniques he'd learned in training until the quick arrival of other staff members. He missed one day of work after the assault. "I think it's going to happen again," McIntyre said. He said correctional officers know there's always a possibility they could be assaulted, but the chances of that happening would be lower with higher staffing levels. "I'd like to see more staff in all the prisons," he said. McIntyre added that death-row inmates such as Ashby should be restrained when leaving their cells. Rep. Karen Jarmoc, D-Enfield, said she and Rep. Kathleen Tallarita, D-Enfield, proposed the bill that would use the formula to determine staffing levels because the level of violence in the prisons lately has concerned them. She said she couldn't predict exactly how many additional correctional officers the complex formula, which is used nationwide, would produce, but said it would be "a substantial increase." Sen. John A. Kissel of Enfield, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, also has proposed increasing the number of correctional officers, as well as requiring the Department of Correction to notify state and local elected officials within 24 hours of any prison assault. Kissel has said that while he applauds Gov. M. Jodi Rell's plan for 125 additional correction officers in her proposed budget, he wants to leave open the possibility of increasing staffing even more. Brian Garnett, spokesman for the Correction Department, said Monday that, especially with Rell's proposal, "We believe that our facilities are appropriately staffed." "Unfortunately, we have assaults in our facilities," particularly at Northern. "We do not tolerate that," Garnett said, but added that correctional officers know theirs is a difficult and dangerous profession. "These men and women do a very, very difficult job," Garnett said. He also said the Correction Department is willing to consider revisions to rules on when restraints are used on inmates and on notification rules. |
