Riot
January 14, 2012
Prison officials remain quiet on details of October riot in Sayre facility (by Calif. inmates)
A lack of charges filed against inmates involved in an Oct. 11 riot at the North Fork Correctional Facility highlights an ongoing issue between private prisons and authorities, a local prosecutor said.
More than three months after the riot, private prison officials have yet to release details about what exactly caused the melee.
The nature of the injuries suffered by dozens of inmates also remains a mystery...
LINK - NewsOK.com
January 11, 2012
Inmates riot at Kern Valley
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced today that approximately 300 inmates began rioting at Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP). The inmates started the riot at approximately 1:45 p.m. on the Facility A recreation yard, a level IV general population facility. Correctional officers responded and utilized less lethal rounds, chemical agents, and two warning shots fired from rifles to quell the disturbance. Several inmates received stab, puncture, and slashing type wounds, none of which were life threatening and no staff members were injured...
LINK - CDCRToday.com
January 10, 2012
Guards quash inmate riot at Corcoran State Prison
Guards at Corcoran State Prison used pepper spray and other less-than-lethal weapons Tuesday afternoon to break up a riot by inmates, authorities said.
The riot broke about noon on a maximum-security yard and involved about 60 inmates, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said...
LINK - LATimes.com
January 10, 2012
Calif. Inmate’s Perspective on Riot at CCA Prison in Oklahoma
In our struggle for freedom, that weapon has been and will continue to be Truth. I am a California prisoner who was sent involuntarily to NFORK CCA (the Corrections Corporation of America’s North Fork Prison), a private prison in Oklahoma, where I have been for over a year. California thought they could more effectively silence my protests and lawsuits by hurling me hundreds of miles away.
I am once again calling on the Bay View, i.e. Voice of the People:
On Oct. 11, 2011, a riot kicked off where Black inmates were fending off inmates from every other demographic. We faced insurmountable odds and some people were in critical condition afterwards, but the biggest odds against us has yet to be pointed out and is now working diligently to manufacture cover stories to conceal their liability; the odds I speak of is the role of CCA NFORK and COCF (Sacramento-based California Out-of-State Correctional Facility, a unit in CDCR, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) in setting the stage for such a catastrophic event to take place...
LINK - SFBayView.com
December 21, 2011
Crowley (private) prison riot: New details of unheeded warnings emerge in epic lawsuit
Seven years ago inmates at a private prison in southeastern Colorado went on an all-night rampage, chasing the shorthanded staff from the premises, attacking suspected snitches, setting fires and causing millions of dollars in damages. Now documents filed in a long-running legal battle confirm what many prisoners have been saying all along -- that prison officials received ample warning of impending trouble but failed to take action in time.
The 2004 riot at the Crowley County Correctional Facility, operated by the Corrections Corporation of America, has emerged as a kind of case study in the multiple ways things can go wrong in a for-profit prison...
LINK - Westword.com
December 12, 2011
Homicide Investigation Underway at CSP Sacramento
California State Prison officials from the Sacramento Investigative Services Unit are investigating the death of an inmate who was discovered in his cell Saturday, authorities said.
The inmate was identified as Anthony Steadham, 38, and he was taken to an outside hospital for medical care after he was found inside the prison's maximum security unit about 3:10 a.m. He was pronounced dead at 5:04 a.m., authorities said...
LINK - KCRA.com
December 10, 2011
Private prison officials say they have no cause they can release for Oct. prison riot in OK
A private prison in the western Oklahoma town of Sayre still does not have a cause it can release for a riot among inmates that occurred nearly two months ago, a spokesman for the facility says.
And the police chief said he has received no information from Corrections Corp. of America regarding the Oct. 11 riot at the North Fork Correctional Facility that resulted in 16 inmates being hospitalized...
LINK - TheRepublic.com
November 18, 2011
63 Pelican Bay inmates riot last Sunday
A riot involving 63 inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison broke out on Sunday morning.
Inmates began attacking each other at about 9:15 a.m. in general population yard A, said Lt. Christopher Acosta, prison public information officer.
Numerous correctional officers responded to quell the outbreak using pepper spray, pepper spray grenades, and guns that shoot 40mm rubber balls, Acosta said...
LINK - Triplicate.com
November 4, 2011
Riot at Salinas Valley State Prison spurs inquiry into use of deadly force
A use-of-deadly-force investigation is under way following a riot Thursday afternoon at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad in which correctional officers fired live rounds to quell the fighting. No inmates were hit.
"CDCR [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] has sent a deadly force investigation team," said department spokeswoman Terry Thornton. She said this is done anytime deadly force is used to see if that force was within department policies and state law...
LINK - TheCalifornian.com
November 3, 2011
As many as 120 inmates involved in Soledad prison fighting
Four inmates were hurt in a huge fight involving as many as 120 inmates at the Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad this afternoon, according to preliminary information, said California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton.
Two inmates were stabbed and two others received multiple head injuries but no staff was injured, said Thornton.
“They (guards) used chemical agents, pepper spray and less lethal munitions and finally resorted to using lethal rounds from mini-14 rifles,” said Thornton. No inmates were hit by the lethal rounds, she said. “It does sound serious,” she said...
LINK - TheCalifornian.com
October 18, 2011
Oklahoma: 4 Cal CCA inmates still in hospital
Four inmates who were injured in a prison riot at the North Fork Correctional Facility last week remain hospitalized.
Corrections Corporation of America spokesman Mike Machak (MAY'-chak) said Tuesday the prisoners were still being treated at area hospitals. Machak said he couldn't elaborate on the inmates' medical conditions.
A total of 46 inmates were hurt during the riot between prisoners from California. Thirty were treated by prison medical staff and 16 initially were hospitalized...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
October 11, 2011
Multiple people suffer injuries in Sayre prison riot
A Sayre Memorial Hospital spokeswoman said prisoners were taken to that hospital in the wake of a riot at North Fork Corrections Facility in Sayre, though she could not confirm what their injuries were or how many prisoners had been hospitalized.
Also, Bill Barrett, spokesman for Great Plains Regional Medical Center in Elk City, said multiple patients were taken to the hospital with injuries. He said some were sent to the emergency room and were being attended to by a comprehensive medical team.
Barrett said the hospital expected to receive more patients in the next few hours. Two helicopters were at the facility to quickly transport victims. It was unknown whether the patients are inmates or prison guards, he said...
LINK - NewsOK.com
September 9, 2011
Attica Prison Riot: Painful memories linger 40 years later
The village of Attica was hardly a spot on the map in 1971, until what all the locals simply call “the riot.”
The community nestled in the hills of rural Wyoming County became a household name across the country because of intense media coverage of the September 1971 uprising at Attica Correctional Facility.
The village was a company town and the company was the prison. Everybody worked there or knew someone who did...
LINK - TheDailyNewsOnline.com
August 23, 2011
Riot at GEO private prison in Oklahoma
LAWTON, Okla. – A huge fight at Lawton's GEO Prison has left a number of people injured. It happened around 4:30 p.m., at least 15 people are injured, six of which have been taken to the hospital. The prison is on lockdown.
A 7News crew has seen three ambulances leave the prison. There is a fourth still parked outside. We are not sure how many people were involved in the fight or where it took place. But police suspect the fight was gang-related...
LINK - NewsChannel110.com
June 30, 2011
CCPOA Member Alert: Rival Gangs Riot at CMC
June 23, 2011
AMAZING: You won’t believe how one guard handles rioting inmates!
EDITOR'S NOTE: Watch this video with your speakers up - the sound makes a BIG difference in the message!
May 23, 2011
Four hospitalized in San Quentin riot
Four San Quentin State Prison inmates were seriously injured during a dining hall riot involving nearly 200 convicts Sunday, a prison spokesman said.
The men suffered stab and slash wounds after the massive brawl erupted around 6:50 p.m., spokesman Lt. Sam Robinson said. No staff members were injured in the fight, Robinson said.Ten inmate-made weapons were discovered after the melee, which lasted for a couple of minutes. Guards stopped the brawl using nonlethal bullets and pepper spray, Robinson said...
LINK - SFExaminer.com
May 20, 2011
CCPOA Member Alert - Large Scale Riot at CSP Sacramento
At approximately 10:00 a.m this morning, roughly 180- 200 inmates were involved in multiple melees within the maximum-security B-Facility at CSP Sac. At this time there has been just one report of an officer suffering an injury during the incident...
May 16, 2011
Fight at Alder Camp called “riot”
A scuffle at Alder Conservation Camp in Klamath on Thursday led to 13 inmates being transferred to Pelican Bay State Prison.
At about 9 a.m. Thursday, 13 inmates got into a fight inside a vehicle that transports them to project sites, said Margaret Pieper, an administrative assistant and public information officer at the California Correctional Center in Susanville.
“The fight broke out inside the vehicle,” she said. “It hadn’t left the camp yet.”
Pieper didn’t know what the fight was about, as it’s still being investigated...
LINK - Triplicate.com
December 24, 2010
CDCR issues press release on AZ riot, praising CCA?
Eloy Police Department investigators, managers from private prison operator Corrections Corporation of America and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation investigators are examining a riot that broke out at the prison Thursday afternoon.
Ten inmates were injured and seven of them transported to outside hospitals for treatment of moderate to serious injuries. One of the seven remains hospitalized Friday for treatment of injuries, which are described as not life-threatening...
LINK - 2010 PR Archive
December 24, 2010
CA inmates riot at AZ private prison
...The incident, during the lunch hour in an area that only houses California inmates, involved approximately 110 inmates. No staff was hurt during the incident, which drew trained response teams from other areas of the prison as well as mutual aid from the Eloy Police Department as a precautionary measure.
According to a press release, prison staff responded immediately and quelled the disturbance, having to use pepper spray to dispel the altercation. Inmates complied with orders, and within 10 minutes they stopped fighting and lay down.
The 1,596-bed Red Rock Correctional Center is owned by Corrections Corporation of America and houses medium-security male inmates for the state of California and the state of Hawaii and detainees of the U.S. Marshals Service...
LINK - TriValleyCentral.com
December 24, 2010
More on CA inmate riot at AZ private prison
Officials with a privately run prison near Eloy are continuing to investigate a riot at the Red Rock Correctional Center, where about 50 Hawaii inmates are housed.
Initial reports were that Hawaii inmates were not involved in the riot.
A news release issued yesterday by Corrections Corporation of America said facility staff has identified 43 inmates who are believed to have been involved in the incident.
The prison was locked down and inmates were in administrative segregation pending further investigation and disciplinary action...
LINK - StarAdvertiser.com
October 21, 2010
Riot at Calipatria State Prison Under Investigation; Inmates Injured
Calipatria State Prison investigators and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Deadly Force Investigation Team are investigating a riot that broke out at the prison late this morning.
The incident involved approximately 120 inmates in the Facility A general population maximum-security yard. No staff was hurt during the incident, which drew trained response teams from other areas of the prison.
Preliminary reports indicate that 14 inmates were injured, with 10 being taken to outside hospitals for treatment of moderate to serious injuries...
LINK - CDCRToday.blogspot.com
October 19, 2010
More than 100 inmates involved in riot at Calipatria state prison
Calipatria state prison in Imperial County was placed on lockdown Tuesday after a riot broke out, prison officials said Tuesday.
More than 100 inmates were involved in the melee at Facility A, a maximum security prison yard for general population prisoners, authorities said. Fourteen inmates were injured, with 10 hospitalized for injuries ranging from severe cuts to gunshot wounds.
Guards used pepper spray to help quell the violence, which erupted about 10:38 a.m. Monday, according to officials with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation...
LINK - LATimes.com
September 20, 2010
Prison reopens dormitory
The California Institution for Men has reopened the dormitory that was closed after inmates destroyed the housing unit in a riot last year.
Reception Center West at CIM has been redubbed "CIM West" and has a grand opening ceremony scheduled for Oct. 6. Contractors have finished refurbishing about half of the area's eight dormitories. The housing area is expected to be completely refurbished at the end of the month, said Lt. Mark Hargrove, CIM spokesman, at a cost of $6million. As of last week, 461 inmates had been moved into CIM West.
Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have decided that the refurbished dorms will no longer house higher-risk reception center inmates...
LINK - SBSun.com
August 28, 2010
Guards open fire during ‘major riot’ at California prison
Staff at California's Folsom State Prison worked Saturday to determine the cause of a "major riot" in the prison yard a day earlier that involved 200 inmates, officials there said.
The Friday night melee sent seven inmates to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries, prison spokesman Lt. Anthony Gentile said Saturday.
There were no fatalities, said spokesman Luis Patino of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
No corrections officers were injured...
LINK - CNN.com
August 27, 2010
Riot at old Folsom State Prison sends seven inmates to area hospitals
A riot that broke out Friday night at the main yard of old Folsom State Prison left seven inmates injured. Officers fired on rioters in an attempt to quell the violence.
The injured inmates were transported to area hospitals, said Luis Patino, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It is unknown how many of those taken to hospitals suffered gunshot wounds, Patino said.
Patino said the fighting broke out about 7 p.m. and involved about 200 inmates...
LINK - SacBee.com
May 14, 2010
Vermont prisoners in lockdown after riot
Around 10:35 p.m., 35 male inmates housed in West Tennessee Detention Facility in Macon, Tenn., refused to return to their cells, according to Corrections Corp. of America, which operates the facility 40 miles east of Memphis.
The inmates ignored orders to return to their cells for the night and began damaging property inside the housing unit, said prison public information officer Melissa Nuce, who described the damage as minimal.
Corrections officers deployed nonlethal chemical grenades — similar to tear gas — in the housing unit and subdued the inmates. The incident resulted in no injuries to either inmates or prison staff. After undergoing chemical decontamination, the inmates were returned to their cells, where they remain on lockdown, Nuce said...
LINK - TimesArgus.com
May 1, 2010
Guard error at private prison led to riot of alaska inmates in Colorado
The company that operates a Colorado prison for Alaska inmates said an error by a guard led to an uprising at the Hudson Correctional Facility.
A correctional officer in a central area electronically unlocked the cells of 41 inmates, Cornell Companies spokesman Charles Seigel told The Anchorage Daily News on Thursday. The mistake at 1:20 a.m. on April 14 allowed prisoners into corridors of the segregation unit, which holds problem inmates.
At least eight prisoners refused to go back into their cells and attempted to break into an office where two guards had barricaded themselves. A prison tactical team ended the disturbance six hours later. Some inmates suffered minor injuries...
LINK - NewsMiner.com
March 17, 2010
State issues report on 2009 Calif prison riot
A state report issued Tuesday on a gang and racially motivated riot at a California prison last year recommends changes in managing inmate gang members as well as improvements in communication and use of technology to identify inmates during disturbances.
The report by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation analyzed a two-hour rampage that erupted at the California Institution for Men in Chino on Aug. 8 as a result of Hispanic and white inmates attacking black inmates at a portion of the facility where inmates are received into the prison.
Nearly 1,200 inmates were involved, including 249 who required medical treatment for injuries. Six dormitories at CIM's Reception Center West were heavily damaged...
LINK - Google News (AP)
December 10, 2009
Four months after fact, CDCR announces CIM riot was based on fight between gangs
A riot at a Southern California prison that left more than 200 injured and two buildings destroyed was triggered by an "ongoing racial street war" between black and Hispanic gangs, corrections officials say.
The Aug. 8 fight erupted in a section of the California Institution for Men in Chino that houses newly arriving inmates from Southern California and ex-convicts returning to prison for parole violations.
Unaffiliated inmates joined the brawl after gang members began fighting, Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Wednesday…
LINK - Google.com AP News
October 7, 2009
Riot at Folsom this morning - 8 inmates injured
A riot involving more than 100 inmates broke out Wednesday morning in a dining hall at Folsom State Prison and injured eight prisoners, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The disturbance broke out at 7:30 a.m. and involved about 120 inmates, according to corrections spokeswoman Michele Kane.
"Inmates used their food trays and fists in the scuffle, " Kane said. "Officers were able to bring the situation under control within 15 minutes by using gas grenades and pepper spray."
No officers were injured in the riot and the prison remains under lockdown…
LINK - News10.net
September 23, 2009
11 inmates still hospitalized in Avenal State Prison violence
An outbreak of violence caused by Latino gangs at Avenal State Prison in Central California left nearly a dozen inmates hospitalized today, including one in serious condition, officials said.
A total of 193 inmates were involved in the fighting that started in the yard Monday shortly after 8:30 p.m., said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Twenty-four inmates were injured so seriously they had to be hospitalized outside the prison that houses 6,395 minimum- and medium-security inmates, Thornton said. Eleven remained hospitalized today…
LINK - LATimes.com
September 23, 2009
Calif. prison on lockdown after multiple fights
Authorities say inmates at a California prison used canes, walkers and wheelchair parts as weapons in fights that sent 24 prisoners to hospitals and forced the facility to be put on lockdown.
Administrators are investigating the violence Monday between rival Latino gangs at Avenal State Prison.
Spokeswoman Terry Thornton of the California Department of Corrections says the fights began around 8:30 p.m. in the yard of one of six dormitory complexes on the prison grounds. Fights later erupted in other dormitories…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
September 9, 2009
Nevada realizes prison furloughs won’t solve budget problems
The head of Nevada's prison system Tuesday said his fears of requiring correctional staff to take furloughs were exacerbated by last month's prison riot in Southern California.
Howard Skolnik reiterated to the state Board of Examiners that he doesn't believe furloughs at state correctional institutions can be safely implemented.
In August, 175 inmates were injured during a riot at the California Institution for Men in Chino, where seven of eight housing units were left uninhabitable.
"On the day they had their incident, approximately 15 percent of their officers were on furlough," Skolnik said. "I personally don't believe that having those officers present would have stopped that incident from taking place, but I think 15 more staff could have significantly reduced the time and amount of damage that was done…"
LINK - MercuryNews.com
September 7, 2009
Inmate stabbed during riot at Avenal
An inmate riot at Avenal State Prison sent one man to the hospital over the weekend.
According to Lt. Douglass Snell, the riot, which involved 21 inmates, broke out in Facility 2.
One of the inmates involved in the riot was stabbed and transported to a nearby hospital where he was treated for his wounds. Snell says the injuries are not life threatening…
LINK - KMPH.com
September 2, 2009
California State Assembly Approves Prison Legislation
The California State Assembly narrowly passed legislation on Monday to reduce the state prison population by 27,000 inmates and the state corrections budget by about $1 billion. After several hours of debate in Sacramento, the bill passed 41 to 35, without any Republican support and only about half of the Democratic majority.
The bill was significantly weaker than a version that the State Senate passed last month. It will shorten sentences for some nonviolent prison inmates who participate in rehabilitation programs, reduce parole supervision for some infirm and nonviolent offenders, and increase monitoring for parolees with violent criminal records.
Law enforcement groups played a central role in pushing Democrats to strip the bill of provisions that would have reduced sentences for some nonviolent offenses and would have established a public safety commission to redo prison sentencing guidelines…
LINK - NYTimes.com
September 2, 2009
CIM officers say riot could have been avoided
A riot that injured more than 200 inmates at the California Institution for Men in Chino and gutted one of the prison's reception centers might have been avoided had administrators responded properly to concerns raised by state auditors and complaints from the facility's staff, according to some corrections officers at the prison.
Auditors in recent years uncovered major deficiencies in the upkeep and maintenance of the prison's facilities and warned that failure to follow proper procedures for segregating high-risk inmates from those with less serious offenses might pose a danger to the facility, its staff and inmates housed there.
Current and former staffers made similar complaints in union grievances filed over the past year and said in interviews that the improper placement of high-risk inmates in the minimum security Reception Center-West was likely a factor in the riot, which began about 8 p.m. Aug. 8 and wasn't quelled until the following morning…
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
August 19, 2009
Schwarzenegger tours devastation after prison riot
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday toured the Southern California prison where 175 inmates were injured in a riot earlier this month, likening the devasation to a scene from one of his movies.
More than 1,000 inmates were involved in the Aug. 8 riot at the California Institution for Men in Chino. The melee left dormitories so badly damaged that inmates have been shipped to other prisons while the dorms are being repaired. One unit was burned, while toilet seats, pipes and other materials were ripped out to be used as weapons.
"Entire housing units were burned," Schwarzenegger said during a news conference after surveying the damage. "It looks like a scene from one of my movies, except this is real danger here and real destruction…"
LINK - Google.com (Associated Press)
August 19, 2009
Governor highlights his prison plan at site of a recent prison riot
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today visited the California Institution for Men in Chino, the site of a prison riot earlier this month that sent 55 inmates to hospitals and caused millions of dollars worth of property damage.
Schwarzenegger said his main motivation was to thank prison guards who were able to quell the unrest without "loss of life," but the governor wasted no time in making a pitch for his prison reform package that would save the state $1.2 billion this year by reducing the state prison inmate population by about 27,000.
Prison overcrowding has been one of the biggest issues for the state, and the issue was highlighted when fights broke out among inmates at the Chino prison, where nearly 6,000 prisoners are housed in a facility built for 3,000 inmates…
LINK - SFGate.com
August 18, 2009
Lawmakers tackle prison overcrowding in wake of riot
With the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation dealing with the aftermath of a bloody prison riot here, state senators will vote Thursday on a proposal to reduce prison overcrowding.
Experts said overcrowding may have been a major factor in the racially-motivated riot on Aug. 8 at the California Institution for Men's Reception Center West.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a plan to cut the state prison population by 27,000 inmates, which would trim the state budget by $1.2 billion.
Democrats support the plan, while Republicans have reservations…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
August 17, 2009
Latest on Chino riot…
Last weekend's riot at the California Institution for Men was violent, destructive, and a grave danger to inmates and prison staff members.
It was also predictable.
In their most recent audit of the Chino facility, completed in November, state auditors noted numerous problems at the prison, including overcrowded conditions and crumbling infrastructure.
Auditors also found that dangerous, high-security-risk inmates were improperly housed with low-level inmates in Reception Center-West - where last weekend's riot took place - posing a safety risk for inmates and staff members…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
August 16, 2009
Prison problems: Legislature Opinion Pieces in the San Bernadino Sun
Prison reform will be one of the most contentious issues the state Legislature has to deal with when it returns to session on Monday.
Last month's budget deal included a $1.2 billion cut to the budget of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders proposed saving that amount through reforms that would result in reducing the prison population by about 27,000. But Republican legislators balked at the plan, endangering the two-thirds vote needed to pass the budget.
So the prison cost savings became part of the budget package, but with the specific avenues for cutting expenses left to be determined later…
LINK - SBSun.com
August 14, 2009
State briefs sheriffs after prison riot
Counties around the state were trying to determine how a weekend prison riot that damaged seven housing units and displaced more than 1,100 prisoners might impact local lockups in the weeks ahead.
Sheriffs from California's 58 counties were invited to participate in a conference call Thursday to discuss the effects of the riot at the California Institution for Men in Chino, Scott Kernan, undersecretary of adult operations for the state prison system, told The Associated Press.
Kernan said it was too early to tell if local jails would feel the impact from the lost beds at the prison's Reception Center West but warned a backlog could occur…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
August 13, 2009
Update on August 8 Riot at California Institution for Men
Following the August 8 riot at California Institution for Men (CIM), the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has completed the transfer of approximately 1,150 inmates who were displaced by the riot.
Inmates were transported to Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County, Correctional Training Facility in Monterey County, and California Rehabilitation Center in Riverside County.
More than 700 inmates from CIM were temporarily housed in a vacant facility at the nearby Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino…
LINK - CDCR.ca.gov
August 13, 2009
CCI remains on lockdown
The California Correctional Institution in Cummings Valley remains on a modified program as of Wednesday, Aug. 12 in response to the serious inmate disturbance at the California Institution for Men in Chino over the weekend.
A modified program is not as severe as a lockdown, in which all inmates are confined to their cells, said California Correctional Institution (CCI) Public Information Officer Jon Bartelmie.
The Chino disturbance erupted Saturday, Aug. 8. Bartelmie said that CCI sent 79 officers, supervisors and medical personnel to assist at the Chino facility. The last one returned Tuesday, Aug. 11…
LINK - TehachapiNews.com
August 13, 2009
CIM inmates sent to Stark after riot
More than 700 adult inmates left with no place to stay after last weekend's prison riot are being housed near juvenile inmates at the nearby Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility.
The adults are among the 1,155 California Institution for Men inmates moved to other state prisons from CIM's Reception Center West, where incoming prisoners are housed for evaluation.
The reception center was badly damaged in the melee.
Among public concerns is the safety of Stark's youth wards, said CIM spokesman Lt. Mark Hargrove…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
August 12, 2009
Calif. struggles to desegregate its prison inmates
The riot that ravaged a Southern California prison and injured 175 inmates began with a fight between black and Hispanic gang members, a stark reminder of the difficulty of race relations behind bars and the challenges of desegregating inmates.
In the nation's largest state prison system, black, Hispanic, Asian and white gangs generally don't mix. When they do, trouble typically follows.
"It isn't that everybody in the inmate population is against integration — they like their teeth," said David Miles, a 46-year-old black inmate at another prison, Sierra Conservation Center…
LINK - Google.com Associated Press
August 12, 2009
At Chino, mute evidence speaks of violent riot
Charred cotton mattress stuffing is heaped on a scruffy lawn outside Joshua Hall dormitory at the California Institution for Men, the interior ankle-deep in ash and evidence of inmate-on-inmate brutality that has destroyed precious space in one of the state's most volatile prisons.
In neighboring Otay Hall, dried blood stains a lower bunk mattress where a reclining inmate's chest would be, two deep gashes in the fabric suggesting a stab wound.
Between the two dorms — one destroyed by fire, the other smashed and debris-strewn — stands an empty carton marked "White Kittey," testifying to the racial divides that run deep among the facility's 5,900 prisoners…
LINK - LATimes.com
August 12, 2009
Prison riot to cost California millions in repairs
California's corrections chief says it will cost taxpayers $5 million to $6 million to make repairs and clean up from last weekend's prison riot.
Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said Wednesday it will cost more if the state rebuilds a dormitory destroyed by fire at the California Institution for Men in Chino.
Cate says the state does not expect significant costs from transferring 1,155 inmates to other facilities after the riot Saturday in San Bernardino County. Employees from the damaged prison are being sent to oversee those inmates at the other facilities…
LINK - Google.com Associated Press
August 11, 2009
Prison officials had warning that a disturbance was likely in Chino
Corrections experts warned two years ago that overcrowding at the California Institution for Men at Chino created "a serious disturbance waiting to happen," foreshadowing the weekend riot that injured 175 prisoners, destroyed or damaged six dormitories and forced relocation of at least 1,000 men.
The Chino prison housing 5,900 inmates, nearly twice its designed capacity, remained on lockdown Monday, as did nine other state prisons from which officers were called to help quell the violence Saturday night and begin sorting through the wreckage.
California Institution for Men at Chino
Rampaging inmates set fire to one dormitory of the Reception Center-West and smashed bunks and lavatories in five others in a four-hour melee that corrections officials said was linked to racial tensions between Latinos and blacks…
LINK - LATimes.com
August 11, 2009
Expert warned officials of crowded Calif. prison
A weekend riot at an overcrowded California prison that injured 175 has come at a critical time for the state's prisons.
Next week, lawmakers begin deciding how to cut $1.2 billion from the corrections budget, and will also consider Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to trim the state inmate population by about 27,000 inmates to save money.
Inmates at the California Institution for Men in Chino tore doors from their hinges and broke off toilets and sinks in a four-hour riot Saturday, and many fear the crowding that may have helped escalate the brawl — which appeared to be racially motivated — will only get worse with budget cuts…
LINK - Google.com Associated Press
August 10, 2009
Lawmakers question origin of prison riot, future of inmates, prisons
As state prison officials investigated the cause of the weekend riot at the California Institution for Men in Chino, local leaders and lawmakers started using the riot - which hospitalized 55 inmates - to frame the debate over a federal order to reduce the state's overall prison population.
While some officials said the apparently race-motivated riot is evidence that prisoners are dangerous and should be kept behind bars, others said the riot shows how dangerous the state's overcrowded prisons have become."Without a doubt, given that racial tensions exist, they are only exacerbated by the fact of our overcrowded prisons," said Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, chairman of the state Senate Public Safety Committee. "This could happen at any moment at any one of our overcrowded facilities. It would not take much to spark it."
The Reception Center West at the Chino facility, where Saturday's riot took place, was housing 1,280 men at the end of July. It was designed to hold only about 615…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
August 10, 2009
Riot at crowded California prison as budget cuts loom
Inmates at an overcrowded California prison tore doors from their hinges and broke off toilets and sinks in a four-hour riot that injured 175 people, and many fear the crowding that may have helped escalate the brawl will only get worse with $1.2 billion in budget cuts.
A national expert warned 20 months ago that the Chino prison, which held nearly twice as many men as it was designed for, was "a serious disturbance waiting to happen" because of crowding.
Budget cuts
The fight, which appeared to be racially motivated, comes at a critical time for California prisons…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
August 10, 2009
Chino prison still locked down
The California Institution for Men remained on lockdown Monday after a 4-hour riot over the weekend hospitalized 55 inmates and injured 175.
All 10 prisons in Southern California were placed on lockdown until further notice, said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Prison spokesman Lt. Mark Hargrove said 80 officers responded to the riot Saturday night, which involved some 1,300 inmates in eight barracks. The uprising lasted for about four hours. At least one housing unit caught fire…
LINK - SBSun.com (San Bernadino Sun)
June 21, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: Corcoran Prison Under Lockdown
Sunday at approximately 12:08 p.m., a riot involving two Hispanic prison gang factions, Northern and Southern Hispanics occurred in the Facility-C Maximum Security General Population yard at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and state prison resulting in injuries to 11 inmates who were transported offsite to area hospitals for medical attention.
The incident involved approximately 75 inmates, some of which utilized inmate manufactured stabbing and slashing type weapons. One of the 11 inmates sustained serious enough injuries, requiring helicopter transportation to a nearby hospital. That inmate is listed in stable condition.
Responding correctional staff discharged pepper spray, rubber baton rounds, and two warning shots from a mini-14 rifle to stop the fighting. Following the incident, officers recovered 28 inmate manufactured stabbing and slashing type weapons from the scene.
None of the correctional officers received any injuries as a result of this incident…
LINK - ABCLocal.GO.com
April 17, 2009
San Quentin riot sends guard to hospital
A riot Thursday morning in San Quentin State Prison was quelled after about 15 minutes and resulted in minor injuries to a guard, a prison spokesman said.
The incident began at about 10 a.m. in a dining hall filled with about 450 inmates from a reception area in the prison's west block, said prison spokesman Lt. Sam Robinson.
He said the guard was taken to an offsite hospital for treatment of hand injuries suffered in the riot, but no significant injuries were reported among the inmate population…
LINK - MercuryNews.com
March 19, 2009
1 dead, at least 16 injured in Calif. prison fight
A riot at a California state prison has left one inmate dead and at least 16 others injured.
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton said Thursday that one inmate died of stab wounds inflicted by other prisoners.
Four inmates had been shot by guards and two others suffered stab wounds. They are expected to survive. Several inmates were bruised by blunt projectiles fired by prison guards…
LINK - Google.com AP News
February 12, 2009
GEO Group Guards Get New Contract After Threatening to Strike
Guards at one of the nation's largest immigrant detention facilities have approved a new labor contract rather than strike.
Union workers at the South Texas Detention Facility in Pearsall ratified the new deal late Wednesday that union leaders say promises improved equipment and increases the likelihood of wage increases.
Chief union negotiator Howard Johannssen said the new three-year contract passed by a slight margin but declined to release the vote…
LINK - The Houston Chronicle
February 10, 2009
Guards threaten strike at Texas detention facility
Guards at the largest immigrant detention facility in Texas readied to strike Tuesday in a dispute with the same private contractor running a West Texas prison disrupted by two inmate riots in as many months.
Unionized workers at the South Texas Detention Facility in Pearsall say that unless The GEO Group Inc. agrees to better wages and working conditions Tuesday, more than 300 employees could walk off the job as early as this week.
Negotiations began in August, and union officials said the meeting with GEO in San Antonio was the last chance to hammer out a deal. About 1,400 detainees are being held at the facility because of their immigration status…
LINK - Chron.com (The Houston Chronicle)
February 6, 2009
Texas Private Prison Riot Ends Peacefully
The last of the rioting inmates at a remote West Texas prison gave up their fight Thursday night and returned to secured buildings at the sprawling complex following five days of unrest.
"It's over. It's done. Everyone went in," Reeves County Chief Deputy Victor Prieto told The Associated Press on Thursday night.
Inmates at the jail started rioting Saturday afternoon in protest of conditions, including medical care and food quality, according to authorities and a South Texas lawyer who said he represents at least 50 inmates…
LINK - DallasNews.com (The Dallas Morning News)
February 4, 2009
Boca Private Prison Operator Feelin’ Heat from West Texas
Perhaps the only thing harder to contain than a prison riot is the embarrassment that comes after a prison riot. But still. Boca Raton-based Geo Group has done a ham-handed job spinning the riot that broke out Saturday at a prison it owns in the West Texas town of Pecos. On Sunday it released a statement that the riot ended with a "positive outcome."
Huh? What post-riot outcome could possibly be "positive"? Did everyone learn a valuable lesson?
And considering this is the second prison riot at a Geo Group-owned facility in Texas in less than two months, does the company know why these keep happening and have a plan for making them stop?…
LINK - BrowardPalmBeach.com
February 3, 2009
Company says Texas prison’s damage ‘significant’
The company that runs a federal prison in West Texas says "significant" damage from the second riot in less than two months has left the facility unable to resume normal operations.
The GEO Group Inc. said in a statement Tuesday that inmates in two of the Reeves County Detention Center's three units remain under staff view in a central area of the complex. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company says inmates remain "cooperative and compliant" after a riot that started Saturday afternoon…
LINK - The Houston Chronicle
February 2, 2009
Riot continues at West Texas prison
Law-enforcement authorities worked Sunday to restore order at a privately run federal prison in West Texas, where a riot broke out a day earlier.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said inmates were in the prison yard at one of the units that make up the Reeves County Detention Center. The riot is the second in less than two months at the facility, which includes three units. The first was at the prison's No. 3 unit. Saturday's disturbance was at the center where units No. 1 and No. 2 are housed.
Officers from various agencies, including the DPS, remained on the scene Sunday. Officials at the prison could not be reached for comment. Calls to the GEO Group, which runs the lockup, were not immediately returned…
LINK - The Houston Chronicle
February 1, 2009
Officer: Inmates riot again at West Texas prison
The second riot in less than two months at a privately run federal prison in West Texas involves an area that houses up to 2,000 inmates, a corrections officer said Saturday night.
Matt Guerra of the Reeves County Detention Center said the disturbance that started earlier Saturday was ongoing. He said prison officers were safe but that he wasn't sure whether inmates were injured…
…The GEO Group, based in Boca Raton, Fla., has run the lockup through contracts with Reeves County and the Federal Bureau of Prisons since 2003. The prison holds more than 2,400 inmates…
LINK - The Dallas Morning News
October 1, 2008
Investigation Follows Folsom Prison Riot
Authorities are investigating a riot involving hundreds Folsom State Prison inmates that left seven prisoners injured.
LiveCopter 3 HD captured images of some inmates being put on stretchers shortly after Tuesday afternoon's melee, which started as a fight between black and white inmates and grew to involve about 200 people.
Prison staff had to use pepper spray to control the crowd…
LINK - KCRA.com News Sacramento
October 1, 2008
Old Folsom Prison Riot Triggers Lockdown
Old Folsom Prison remains on lockdown Tuesday night after fistfights in the exercise yard spilled into two buildings, according to corrections officials.
Spokeswoman Lt. Judy Loer said the altercations between white and black prisoners left three inmates with minor injuries. They were transported to an area hospital for medical evaluation. Two prisoners were treated at the prison.
No staff was injured…
LINK - News10.net
September 24, 2008
Corrections officer awarded Medal of Valor for protecting fellow officers during fight
Elizabeth O'Campo doesn't talk much about the day when she put her own life at risk to help rescue two fellow corrections officers.
O'Campo, an Ontario native, was working Oct. 6, 2006, with two male officers searching cells at Ironwood State Prison near Blythe when they discovered drugs and other contraband - which in prison is worth 10 times more than outside, she said.
"You could just feel the tension," O'Campo said. They were pounced on by a group of inmates - more than 20 people joined in on the attack, she said. In the midst of being punched and kicked by the inmates, O'Campo said she could see one of her colleagues down on the ground…
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
September 5, 2008
Tehachapi prison fight breaks out
A fight broke out Thursday evening among scores of inmates at a Tehachapi prison.
Up to 200 people got into a fight at about 7 p.m. at the California Correctional Institution, according to Lt. Brian Parriott, spokesman for the prison. The fight was apparently between inmates from Southern California and people from Mexico.
Two inmates were injured and taken to local hospitals. No correctional officers were injured…
LINK - Bakersfield.com
July 23, 2008
Pontiac Correctional Center: “Remembering a nightmare”
Saturday, July 22, 1978, began as a peaceful day. Pontiac residents were going about their typical Saturday routine, some were playing golf, some were shopping. Lawns were being mowed.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Nothing, that is, until about 9:45 a.m.
It was at that time when armed inmates began a riot that lasted for most of the day. Three guards were killed and three more injured in what has been described as the worst riot in Illinois Department of Corrections history…
LINK - PontiacDailyLeader.com
June 15, 2008
Colorado: Appeals court rules inmates may sue CCA in prison riot
Some inmates at the Crowley County Correctional Facility won a new trial last week.
The 234 inmates had sued the owners of the private prison, Corrections Corporation of America, following the 2004 riot at the Olney Springs lockup, charging that they were punished unfairly for that event even though they said they were not involved.
The inmates sued the prison in two cases filed in Crowley County district court in 2005 and 2006, but saw both cases dismissed by District Judge Michael Schiferl on grounds that they hadn't fully exhausted all their administrative appeals through the Colorado Department of Corrections…
LINK - Chieftain.com (The Pueblo Chieftain)
June 6, 2008
Eight inmates hospitalized following riot at Pelican Bay State Prison
Following a riot at Pelican Bay State Prison this morning, eight inmates, including one who'd been shot by a correctional officer, were taken to a hospital, a news release said.
A riot reportedly involving about 40 inmates broke out on the Facility B maximum-security general population yard at 10:25 a.m. After verbal orders to stop fighting were ignored, officers used pepper spray, rubber baton rounds and fired two rounds from a Mini-14 .223 rifle to stop the riot, the release said.
One inmate was shot in the shoulder and taken to an outside hospital, but his injuries are not believed to be life threatening. Officers reportedly found four inmate-manufactured weapons at the scene…
LINK - EurekaReporter.com
April 21, 2008
Correctional Officers Injured In Small Riot
A small riot that broke out Saturday at the Youth Development and Diagnostic Center in Albuquerque has triggered concerns about staffing at the facility.
The brawl happened Saturday at around 1:40 p.m. Officials said that 24 high-risk juveniles who are being held at the facility were out in a recreation area at the time. A number of them attacked another 20-year-old man who was also in custody. He suffered serious injuries and had to be rushed to the University of New Mexico Hospital.
Three guards were watching the men when the fight broke out. They called in extra correctional officers to help restore order. But, four officers were injured in the melee. One female guard suffered a broken collarbone. Three other guards had more minor injuries…
LINK - KOAT.com
April 21, 2008
2 Killed in Fight at Federal Prison: Fight happened while group honored Adolf Hitler
FLORENCE, Colo. (MyFOXColorado.com) - An inmate fight linked to nazi racism at a federal prison in Colorado has led to the deaths of two people and injuries to at least five others.
U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said authorities believe the fight started when white supremacist inmates targeted minorities on Adolf Hitler's birthday.
The violence broke out Sunday afternoon in the recreation yard of the U.S. Penitentiary in Florence. The inmates' names were not immediately released. Five were taken to hospitals with undisclosed injuries…
LINK - MyFoxColorado.com
April 11, 2008
Opinion: “Dangerously overcrowded; State needs to act now”
A stabbing attack on four officers at the California Correctional Institution near Bakersfield last week should come as a surprise to no one.
Overcrowded prisons are powder kegs.
The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation knows it, the governor knows it and the general public knows it.
What no one seems to know, however, is what can be done to ease the situation…
LINK - TheReporter.com
April 4, 2008
State prison lockdown lifted, but some inmates remain on lockdown
The statewide lockdown for California state prisons, community correctional facilities, and conservation camps, is off Friday night, but some inmates will remain on lockdown.
Usually on Fridays at the California Men's Colony, it is visiting day through Sunday, but because of the statewide lockdown that was put into place, family and friends were unable to see inmates Friday.
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says as a precautionary measure to keep staff and inmates safe, the statewide lockdown was issued…
LINK - KSBY.com News (Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo)
April 4, 2008
50 CIM inmates fight: 12 Hurt Before C.O.s Can Restore Order
Twelve prisoners were injured during a fight between white and Latino inmates on Friday at the California Institution for Men. The fighting started about 9:15 a.m. inside one of Reception Center-West's housing units, according to a CIM news release.
Using pepper spray, guards broke up the fight at the Laguna Hall unit within minutes. Lt. Mark Hargrove, a prison spokesman, said five of the injured inmates were taken to hospitals. He said one inmate had puncture wounds to his abdomen but that none of the injuries were life-threatening.
Hargrove said about 50 inmates were involved in what he called a "riot." A fight - apparently between a white and a Latino inmate - got more serious when the other inmates joined in, Hargrove said.
Laguna Hall is an open dormitory with 198 inmates, according to the news release…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
March 17, 2008
Texas: Brawl blamed on staffing shortage
One inmate was hospitalized. Eight other detainees and three staff members sustained minor injuries.
Correctional officer Clifton Buchanan, president of Local 1030 branch of the American Federation of Government Employees union, said the detention center needs more guards. Last month, he visited Washington, D.C., to share his concerns with Jackson Lee and other members of Congress.
"They're not funding us appropriately," he said Sunday outside the detention center. "There's a fear of retaliation or reprisal, and that's why we're reluctant to say anything."
The incident last week illustrates why employees have filed multiple grievances, allegations of unfair labor practices and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints, he added. Buchanan said administrators followed only certain protocols last Tuesday, which resulted in the "misuse of staff, mismanagement of resources and lack of leadership."
LINK - Chron.com (The Houston Chronicle)
January 21, 2008
Second Riot in Less than 3 Weeks Erupts at Pelican Bay
Investigators are probing the cause of a second riot in less than three weeks at California's maximum security Pelican Bay State Prison. A prison spokesman said violence involving more than 60 inmates broke out in the prison's outdoor exercise yard Friday afternoon…
LINK - SFGate.com
