August 9, 2011
Private prison problems exposed
When Florida inspectors arrived June 13 for a surprise audit of Geo Group Inc.’s South Bay prison in Palm Beach, they couldn’t get anyone to let them in. For 20 minutes, the state inspectors pressed an alert button to signal the prison’s control room, flashed lights at the security cameras, and tried to get the attention of someone – anyone – at the facility. Finally, they gave up and left.
Geo Group, of Boca Raton, Fla., is one of four companies bidding for a contract with the Arizona Department of Corrections to provide up to 5,000 new private-prison beds. Public hearings are being held this week and next to gauge community sentiment. Geo is proposing to build a new prison with 2,000 or 3,000 beds in San Luis, south of Yuma, or a new one with 2,000 to 5,000 beds near the existing Perryville state prison in Goodyear...
LINK - TucsonCitizen.com
