By Colleen Kottke
The Reporter
WAUPUN, Wis. — Waupun Correctional Institution remains in a modified lockdown status nearly a week after an inmate took a dental technician hostage for nearly six hours in the prison’s Health and Segregation Complex.
Although searches of the 153-year-old institution are ongoing in the wake of the hostage situation, some areas are slowly returning to normal operations, said Wisconsin Department of Corrections spokesman Alec Loftus.
“Visits have resumed and a downsized crew of inmate workers has returned to work in the food service operations,” said Loftus. He described the climate inside the institution as “positive.”
All inmate movement throughout the sprawling prison on South Madison Street came to a halt on the morning of Nov. 14 as prison officials called for an emergency lockdown when inmate Stuart Ellanson grabbed dental technician Tracy Zemp and forced her inside of a storage room. After nearly six hours of intense negotiations, Ellanson released Zemp unharmed.
During the total lockdown, civilian (non-security) staff at the institution redeployed to work in areas such as food service and canteen to help the prison run smoothly and efficiently, Loftus said.
“While the civilian staff assumed some of these necessary work duties, overtime was also incurred by both civilian and uniformed security staff as a necessity during the lockdown,” Loftus said.
During a press conference last week, Warden Michael Thurmer said an investigation was in motion to assess the hostage situation and to review current security measures for both security and non-security staff.
“I want a thorough and honest assessment of how this incident happened and what measures we need to take in the future to have the most secure and safe institution possible,” said Thurmer last week.
Ellanson arrived at Waupun Correctional Institution in 2004. The Superior man was charged with first-degree intentional homicide under Wisconsin’s hate crime law, and was convicted in the 1991 murder of gay man.
Copyright 2007 The Reporter