Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network

Massachusetts Police News, Information and Discussions on MassCops

Posted by: kwflatbed

Cons trash the joint to make weaponry



Photo by Nancy Lane

Jeffrey Padula, left, and Superintendent Peter St. Amand look over a table full of weapons confiscated from prisoners at MCI-Cedar Junction.

Dangerous inmates at the state’s maximum security prison in Walpole are ripping apart the aging facility to arm themselves with lethal weapons that threaten the safety of staff and prisoners.
The “Walpole weapons factory” at MCI-Cedar Junction, a 650-bed penitentiary opened in 1955, is emblematic of a crumbling prison system hampered by antiquated facilities and little public support, concerned safety officials say.
“It’s like our bridges and tunnels. You can’t just let them go and not invest in them and be surprised when they have a problem,” said former Attorney General L. Scott Harshbarger, who led the Governor’s Commission on Corrections Reform in the wake of the 2003 prison death of defrocked priest John J. Geoghan.
“We are spending more money on corrections than on public higher education and what are we getting? People don’t want to hear about it. It’s not a priority. We only have to wait for some tragedy before we focus on what can be done that’s practical, efficient and cheaper,” Harshbarger said.
During the first half of 2007, correction officers at the Walpole prison confiscated 128 weapons from inmates, according to state Department of Correction figures. In all of 2006, 244 weapons were confiscated and in 2005, correction officers took 188 weapons from inmates, the DOC said.
Those weapons were responsible for two attacks on staff in 2006 and one attack on a prison staffer during the first six months of this year, the DOC said. There were no such assaults in 2005, it said.
Attacks on other inmates are more common, with DOC figures indicating there were six assaults on prisoners as of July 1. There were 17 armed inmate-on-inmate attacks last year and 21 incidents in 2005, the DOC said.
“I want to make sure that we keep it safe for both employees and inmates. Saftey is the No. 1 concern,” said Mary Beth Heffernan, undersecretary for criminal justice at the Executive Office of Public Safety, which runs prisons.
The state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance is about to launch a yearlong review of the state’s 19 prisons and the jails run by elected sheriffs in 14 counties. DOC and public safety officials hope the master plan will provide solutions to an array of problems vexing the system, from overcrowding and failing buildings to a lack of medium-security beds and mental health services.
From 1993 to 2004, the DOC’s budget rose from $287 million to $438 million, according to the Harshbarger report. In fiscal 2005, the budget was $430 million, the report said. This year’s budget is $474 million, state figures show, and last year it was $452 million.
Heffernan said weapons manufacturing by prisoners in Walpole is a problem, but it’s not the most pressing issue facing the DOC.
The Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union argues there aren’t enough correction officers on the job to conduct the searches necessary to uncover weapons before they are used.
“We think worst-case scenarios. I know the weapons. I’ve seen the weapons. I’ve been involved in the altercations with those weapons. Most of the people who work in management haven’t,” said union president Steve Kenneway. “That’s why it’s not high on their priority list - they have never had to think about being stabbed or slashed.”
Housing unit officers search Walpole cells monthly in addition to random searches by the prison’s Inner Perimeter Security (IPS) unit, said Lt. Jeffrey Padula, an IPS member. Top-to-bottom weapons searches of the facility are conducted quarterly as well.
In recent years, reforms have been made to rid the prison of weapons made from popular items such as Plexiglas, light fixtures, typewriters, lockers and toilets.
“The caliber of the inmate at a maximum security prison is different,” said Superintendent Peter St. Amand, who estimated 98 percent of all weapons are confiscated before they are used. “They know who likes to make weapons.”

http://bostonherald.com/news/regiona...icleid=1030275

---

Posted by: K.Lavoie

Your first line of defense is the correctional officer conducting his cell searches on each shift. This will reduce the amount of contraband kept in the cell and place the inmate on edge. A cell search can be quick and yet very effective.

---

vBulletin Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited.
vB Easy Archive Final ©2000 - 2008 - Created by Stefan "Xenon" Kaeser