VTDigger.com
VERMONT, Ky. — A longer-than-usual lockdown of Vermont inmates in a Kentucky prison is prompting state officials to question whether there is adequate staff in that facility, Department of Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito said Thursday.
Since Jan. 15, 205 Vermont prisoners in a Beattyville, Ky., for-profit facilty have been locked in their dormitory after a series of assaults and fights, a DOC employee told lawmakers Tuesday afternoon. The state has developed a plan with the private company that runs that prison to remedy the situation is calling on the company to carry it out, Pallito said.
“We need to make sure they follow through on the plan,” Pallito said. He said the unusual length of the lockdown is allowing officials to gather information about the violence. The lockdown was sparked by a series of incidents that included hitting, punching and one person who slashed another with a short “shank,” or homemade knife. The violence was not sexual, Pallito said.
DOC will also examine the number of staff at the Lee Adjustment Center, he said. Vermont facilities have one guard per unit, a DOC staff member told lawmakers Tuesday. In Kentucky, staff cycle between three pods.
The lockdown is now a “modified lockdown,” a spokesman for Corrections Corp. of America, which operates the prison, said Thursday. That means inmates are given limited time outside their cells daily in the “day room areas.” CCA spokesman Steve Owen said the lockdown was precautionary and allows CCA and DOC officials to review the reported events and enhance security to avoid future problems.
“CCA is firmly committed to providing safe, secure housing and high-quality rehabilitation and re-entry programs to the Vermont inmates,” Owen wrote in an emailed statement. The incidents in Kentucky appear to be gang- or debt-related, Pallito said between two hearings on a DOC budget adjustment request Thursday.
“(The incidents) happen quick, which is always why it’s the hardest to ferret out,” Pallito said.
Full story: State calls on Ky. prison to carry out staffing plan