By C1 Staff
NASHVILLE — A former Tennessee prison warden is accusing state corrections officials of reclassifying inmates in order to save money, thus leading to increased violence aimed at both officers and inmates.
Former warden Jerry Lester provided a PowerPoint presentation that he said was given by Corrections Commissioner Derrick Schofield in 2012 that outlined a plan to reclassify maximum-security prisoners and integrate them with medium-security prisoners, according to The Tennessean.
Those maximum-security prisoners deemed dangerous enough to be in their cells 23 hours a day and requiring two officers to escort them were reclassified as “close” security prisoners. “Close” security prisoners are kept in small pods of 24 and only half are allowed in communal areas at once.
Lester then said that wardens were directed to reclassify “close” security prisoners again, designating them as medium-security prisoners and placing them in general population.
General population has just one correctional officer per 128 inmates.
Lester then asserted that assaults were reclassified as provocations in order to avoid documenting the increasing violence.
A request for comment from the Tennessee Department of Corrections has not been returned.
According to TDOC annual reports, the number of prisoners classified as maximum security dropped by nearly half between 2012 and 2014. Maximum-security inmates are the most expensive to guard.