By Robert Mayer
Rocky Hill Patch
ROCKY HILL, Conn. — Rocky Hill resident Mike Lombardo has a unique perspective on the controversial proposal to put a nursing home here for terminally ill and mentally incapacitated state prisoners.
Lombardo lives here with his wife and son, three minutes from the proposed facility. He’s also a corrections officer with the state’s Department of Corrections and is a union rep for AFSCME local 1565-np-4 correctional officer bargaining unit. In short, Lombardo thinks the proposed nursing facility is a bad fit for the neighborhood and the town.
“There are a number of reasons that this is wrong in this space but my biggest fear is that they are using private security that is untrained and unskilled and doesn’t have the mandatory training in dealing with these prisoners,” Lombardo said. “People will visit these prisoners at the home. If they visit at a correctional facility they have to go through a background check and we have a K-9 drug sniffing dog they have to pass by. Most visitors are compliant but what about the ones that aren’t. They won’t have a K-9 unit there. I would bet they don’t have an emergency response plan and what is their chain of command. It is a huge recipe for disaster.”
Full story: Rocky Hill Corrections Officer Gives Unique View Of Proposed Prisoner Nursing Home