Safety
May 2, 2009
Special Review: Inmate Cell Phone Use Endangers Prison Security and Public Safety
During our review, the Office of the Inspector General found that the possession of cell phones in prison facilities by inmates has increased significantly during the past three years and poses a threat to the safety and security of California's prison staff, inmates, and the general public. We also found that the growing number of cell phones in prison facilities is a direct indicator that the methods used by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to interdict their introduction or possession have mostly proven ineffective. The report contains the results of our review including four conclusions and ten recommendations...
July 2, 2008
Atwater prison policies leave staff in grave danger, correctional officers say
It was 3:30 in the afternoon — count time on housing unit 5A at U.S. Penitentiary Atwater. Jose Rivera was a half-hour short of finishing his shift.
He had just announced the count, ordering the inmates under his charge — all 110 or so — to return to their cells. He began locking them down one by one, as he did every time he worked the eight-to-four. It would be the last inmate count he'd conduct.
The two prisoners moved in, at least one of them clutching a sharp handmade shank. Rivera, a 22-year-old Navy veteran who'd started at USP Atwater less than 11 months earlier, hit the panic button on his radio…
LINK - TMCNet.com
December 21, 2007
Early Release Plan Draws Bipartisan Opposition
A Democratic legislative leader and a firebrand Republican promised tough going Friday for a proposal circulating in the Schwarzenegger administration to cut the prison population by 28,000 over the next two years. Assembly Public Safety Committee chair Jose Solorio, D-Santa Ana, said early releases are "DOA" with the Republicans in his chamber and that Democrats will range from questioning the plan to outright opposing it…
LINK - SacBee.com
