Prison Workers Say Closings Lead To Overcrowding, State Says Otherwise
By Jeff Cohen - WNPR
Published: Aug 22, 2011
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Unions: Closing A Prison Leads To Overcrowding
Some Connecticut correctional workers say the state's recent shutdown of a prison has led to overcrowding. But as WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports, state officials see it otherwise.
Bergin Correctional Institution in Storrs was closed earlier this summer. The state has long said that it and others like it are closing for a simple reason -- Connecticut has fewer prisoners than it used to.
But two union locals say the state's closure of Bergin has led to more than 800 prisoners being housed in what they called "non-conventional" ways -- on floors, in offices, and in other situations that could pose a danger to them and the guards.
"In New Haven I have 131 non-conventional, in Bridgeport I have 179, in Brooklyn..."
That's Lisamarie Fontano, head of AFSCME Local 387. She says the prisons are overcrowded and understaffed, and that reopening Bergin would get that 800 figure closer to zero.
"I think zero is reasonable. We can get to zero. We have plenty of beds to accommodate. If you open Bergin back up, I can get you to zero."
But Mike Lawlor, the governor's Under Secretary for the Criminal Justice Policy and Planning, says closing prisons hasn't contributed to any overcrowding issues. If there's an increase in the population, Lawlor says it's seasonal.
"So that number goes up a little bit in July and August and it comes down in September. So this is an annual phenomenon in the summer and by a month from now you'll probably have nobody sleeping on the floors anywhere."
Two union locals have asked a state court judge to get in the way of the Bergin closing. A hearing in that case is scheduled for next month.
For WNPR, I'm Jeff Cohen.
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