By Graham Lee Brewer
The Oklahoman
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla — The classic image of correctional officers manning prison towers with rifles in hand may soon vanish from Oklahoma.
The state Corrections Department is considering decommissioning the use of towers at its facilities, according to an internal memo provided to The Oklahoman.
In an Aug. 13 memo sent to the wardens of the six state prisons that have operational towers, division managers David Parker and Greg Williams requested staff at each facility evaluate the necessity of the towers and whether or not they could be closed immediately without complications.
Corrections officials say the move would be part of an effort to make state prisons more efficient, while opponents of the idea argue it could reduce safety at overcrowded facilities.
The memo was sent to wardens at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, in McAlester; the Oklahoma State Reformatory, in Granite; the Mack Alford Correctional Center, in Stringtown; the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center; the Joseph Harp Correctional Center, in Lexington; and the Dick Conner Correctional Center, in Hominy.
It was sent as part of a staffing evaluation, state Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie said. The department is trying to gain perspective on how staff operates at each facility in an attempt to make state prisons more efficient. Massie said the evaluation started about a month ago and should continue for close to two additional months.
Massie said some of the towers at the state penitentiary in McAlester have been decommissioned for years, adding that most modern prisons are no longer built with towers, as advances in motion-sensor and camera technology have made them less than ideal for prison operations.
Masie said all of the state’s secure prisons — those enclosed by a wall or security fence — have officers who patrol the perimeter of the facility, and every fence has motion sensors.
Massie, who has been the department’s spokesman since the mid-1980s, said he has no recollection of an inmate being shot by an officer in a tower.
Still, some feel the towers and guards that staff them should be kept.
“I think those towers are absolutely necessary,” said Tony Scarborough, mayor of Granite, home of the Oklahoma State Reformatory. “I don’t know why anyone would think about getting rid of them.”
Scarborough said his uncle was victimized by inmates at the prison, when the uncle was kidnapped and robbed as a teenager decades ago. The mayor said while he personally does not feel unsafe having the prison in town, it’s important for the officers patrolling the walls to be able to see incoming traffic to combat contraband.
Contraband concerns
Much of the contraband that makes its way into Oklahoma prisons, such as cellphones and illegal drugs, is simply tossed over prison walls, state prison guards say. At the Dick Conner Correctional Center, prison staff have at times resorted to stringing chicken wire between buildings near the fence to act as a canopy and catch bags thrown into the facility.
Sean Wallace, head of the Oklahoma Corrections Professionals, which represents prison workers, said with such low staffing levels in state prisons, officers feel much safer knowing there is an extra set of eyes in the tower.
“I’ve heard from officers at pretty much every one of those facilities, and they have all expressed concerns,” Wallace said. “There are officers at Mack Alford that feel like the support staff would be at more risk than they are. There’s a separate building that houses medical staff, and the officer in the tower is pretty much their only security.
“Most of my officers feel (corrections officials) are willing to sacrifice the officer’s safety to save a little bit of money.”
Staffing is low
Staffing levels in Oklahoma prisons remain close to 60 percent. An audit of the Corrections Department released in July found the department’s offender monitoring system did not properly track the number of inmates in custody, suggesting the prison system may be over-capacity.
“Those guys in the towers kind of control what is going on out in the yard,” Wallace said. “If you have several hundred inmates and one officer out there, that officer really likes having that guy up there.”