Ill. prison guards describe violence, predict more CHRISTOPHER WILLS, Associated Press Thursday, July 19, 2012 SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Guards at Illinois' overcrowded and understaffed prisons predicted Thursday that Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to close two penitentiaries will lead to more violence, like an incident where a guard was attacked and radioed for assistance, then had to fight off the inmate for five minutes before someone came to his aid. "Five minutes is a lifetime," said Mark Mountain, a union leader and officer at the Western Illinois Correctional Center. He said the officer was punched several times in the face and head on July 7 and suffered a knee injury because there was no immediate backup from the shorthanded prison staff. "This one bothers me when I go to sleep at night," Mountain said at a state Capitol event organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union is trying to build public pressure on Quinn to drop his plans for closing the "supermax" prison at Tamms and a women's facility in Dwight. The Democratic governor says it can be done safely and will save $57 million needed for other important state services, such as child welfare. Union members recounted incident after incident fights between inmates, prisoners attacking guards, more weapons being discovered, gangs growing bolder. "The governor has lit the fuse on a powder keg, and he's not going to be around for the explosion. We are," said Jake Dalton, a sergeant at Pontiac Correctional Center. The governor's office denied its plans will increase the danger for prison staff. "To indicate there is a correlation between prison closures and the number of assaults is simply false," Quinn spokeswoman Kelly Kraft said in a statement. Statistics from the governor's office show attacks on prison staff climbed by nearly one-third over the past five years, to 453 incidents. But that still amounted to less than half the attacks from 12 years ago. Inmate-on-inmate attacks were also up by nearly one-third over the past five years and slightly below numbers from 12 years ago. The Illinois prison population will reach 49,000 by January, according to Corrections Department projections. Under Quinn's closure plan, capacity for the remaining prisons will be just 33,700. Still, the Quinn administration says some facilities aren't needed. The Tamms prison, which houses the most violent and disruptive inmates, is only half-full. And the number of female prisoners has fallen, aides say. "We no longer need all the facilities and that's good news," Kraft said. Employees insist the prisons are needed. Tamms might not be full, but it serves as a useful threat to keep inmates in line at other prisons, they argue. And the plan to close one women's prison involves transferring its inmates to what is currently a men's prison and then shipping the men elsewhere making things more crowded overall, they say. "Somebody has got to bring the governor to his senses and stop these closures," said Gregg Johnson, a supply supervisor at the East Moline Correctional Center.
7/19/2012 7:25 PM St. Charles youth center worker fears Joliet closure Union leader says closing Joliet youth center would have bad consequences By Mike Riopell SPRINGFIELD A worker and union leader at Illinois Youth Center St. Charles said Thursday that Gov. Pat Quinn s plans to close a similar facility in Joliet could reduce safety at the suburban juvenile prison. The Joliet youth center set for closure later this year houses more violent offenders than the St. Charles facility, sometimes young people waiting to be tried as adults. And Janet Bradley says moving them to St. Charles would cause safety problems. We re not equipped to deal with that type of youth, she said. Bradley, a supply supervisor and union president at the St. Charles facility, said some youths already have been moved in anticipation of the closure. Our less violent offenders are mixing with these violent individuals, she said. Bradley and other prison workers from around the state spoke with reporters Thursday at the Illinois Capitol as part of an event arranged by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union. The union opposes Quinn s planned prison closures, which don t hit the suburbs directly. Still, union leaders argued, closures will cause crowding and safety problems elsewhere once youth and inmates are transferred. What s not as obvious is the impact on the system throughout the state, AFSCME Director Henry Bayer said. Quinn has proposed cutting prisons as a way to save the struggling state money. Safety is our number one priority, Quinn spokeswoman Kelly Kraft said. The facts show that the number of inmate-on-inmate assaults remain level with last year while the number of inmate-on-staff assaults are down. To indicate there is a correlation between prison closures and the number of assaults is simply false. Lawmakers approved a state budget earlier this year that included money to keep prisons open, but Quinn decided to move forward anyway. Quinn had targeted Fox Valley Adult Transition Center in Aurora for closure, but changed his mind and now plans to keep it open.
Illinois prison guards describe violence, predict more By CHRIS WETTERICH The State Journal-Register Posted Jul 19, 2012 Illinois prison guards will have to deal with more violence and overcrowding if Gov. Pat Quinn goes through with his plan to shutter four prisons and juvenile detention centers, rank-and-file workers said on Thursday. Twelve members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees described how fellow officers have been punched, spat upon and bitten and said those incidents have gotten worse in recent years because of prison overcrowding. They also said they have more than enough problem inmates to fill up Tamms Correctional Center, the supermaximumsecurity prison in southern Illinois for the state s worst offenders. Quinn has cited the low number of inmates at Tamms and the high cost of housing them as one of the reasons it should be closed. Chad Zumwalt, who supervises food service and is president of the AFSCME local at Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro, said the inmate population there is 1,959 two thirds more than the prison was designed to hold. Before this year, it s hard for me to remember the last time we used chemical agents like pepper spray at Graham to get a situation under control, Zumwalt told reporters. We ve had three incidents where we used them in just the last three months two incidents where inmates refused to cuff up, and an assault on a lieutenant. Quinn communications director Kelly Kraft said there is no connection between violence and the closing of prisons. The taxpayers of Illinois have been funding outdated, half full and very expensive facilities for many years even though our female population, as well as our youth population, have dramatically declined, Kraft said. We no longer need all the facilities, and that's good news. The governor s office also disputed Department of Corrections statistics, provided by AFSCME, showing that assaults on inmates and staff members went up between fiscal years 2007 and 2011. But Corrections statistics for fiscal year 2012, which ended on June 30, showed a reduction in violence from the previous year. The facts show that the number of inmate on inmate assaults remain stastically level with last year while the number of inmate on staff assaults are down, Kraft said. The corrections officers also complained about staffing levels dropping, causing long overtime shifts.
AFSCME: Prison Closures Pose Danger To Corrections System AFSCME Local Council 31, which represents state corrections workers, forcefully argued in Springfield today that Gov. Pat Quinn s planned prison closings put an overcrowded system over the edge and could lead to more prison violence. There is clear evidence the system is overcrowded. Less clear is whether the August 31 closure of Tamms super max prison and Dwight women s prison, along with additional facility closings, will lead to more violence. Corrections employees gave vivid testimony at a forum outside the capitol building earlier today. Kevin Hirsch, president of AFSCME Local 1175, which represents employees at Menard maximumsecurity prison, described a recent incident where one inmate stabbed another inmate repeatedly with an ink pen. Hirsch said these incidents might increase with the closing of Tamms. We already house 500 more inmates than we are designed to hold, he said. We understand we are getting more Tamms inmates, and not getting any more staff to handle them. Rob Fanti, president of AFSCME Local 472, which represents employees at Sheridan medium security prison, claimed that Quinn is pouring gas on a fire by closing Dwight. The facility currently holds 983 female inmates. About 300 more will be routed to Sheridan due to the Dwight closing. According to an April 2012 Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) report, there are 48,308 Illinois prison inmates, or 143 percent of the 33,704 inmates the system is intended to hold. The closing of Dwight and Tamms diminishes inmate capacity by approximately 1,400. Quinn spokeswoman Kelly Kraft wrote in an e-mail that the governor will reduce the inmate population via SB 2621, a law enacted in June to provide early release to some nonviolent offenders exhibiting good behavior. Kraft also notes that that the overall [prison] population is down from its high in October 2011. John Maki, executive director of the John Howard Association, a prison reform group, argues that, Closing the facilities is part of a broad move toward criminal justice reform. However, this reform will happen only if the governor cuts the prison population, Maki added. Until then, prisons will be overcrowded and under staffed. How these problems correlate to violence is unclear. According to data provided upon request by IDOC, inmate assaults on staff in state prison precipitously declined from 941 in fiscal year 2000 to 453 in fiscal year 2012. Amid this decline, though, was a spike between 2007 and 2011.... In addition to safety issues, AFSCME and a bipartisan group of mostly downstate lawmakers are upset Quinn defied the General Assembly. The state legislature passed a budget in May with money to keep Tamms and Dwight open. Also, the governor is forcing hundreds of corrections employees to either relocate or lose their jobs. Henry Bayer, executive director of AFSCME Council 31, said last week that the union plans to work with the legislature to override the closings in the fall veto session.
Prison Guards Say Governor Making a Big Mistake Illinois prison guards say if Governor Pat Quinn goes through with plans to close down prisons, there could be even more violence. A dozen guards took their message to the state Capitol. They say the prison system is already overcrowded and closing the Tamms and Dwight prisons will only make that worse. The guards say that attacks on staff went up 46-percent between 2007 and 2011. The governor says the inmates can be moved to other prisons safely and closing the prisons will free up money for other programs. 7-20 Metrosource News Illinois Prison Staffing Concerns Illinois prison guards say Governor Pat Quinn's move to close correctional centers will lead to more violence. They said, during a rally at the State Capitol in Springfield this week, that assaults are already on the rise due to overcrowding. Twelve prison guards gave graphic and disturbing reports of violence at their institutions. Jake Dalton is a sergeant at the Pontiac prison. He says his facility is drastically understaffed. "The Governor has lit a fuse on a powder keg," says Dalton, "and he is not going to be around for the explosion. We are." The prison guards say Quinn's plan to close prisons in Tamms and Dwight, as well as two juvenile facilities, will make an alreadyovercrowded system even more dangerous. The union for Corrections Department employees says assaults on staff jumped by 46% between 2007 and 2011. The administration counters that such attacks decreased last year. Quinn was asked about prison safety earlier this week. "Well, we have to always be very prepared for anything, any eventuality," said Quinn. "Our director of corrections does that every day. I have confidence in his ability to maintain order." Quinn says all areas of state government... including prisons... need to find ways to save money. Illinois Public Radio
Guards Say Dangerous Conditions Growing In State Prisons Posted: Jul 19, 2012 6:47 PM CDT Springfield - Prison guards are continuing their fight against Governor Pat Quinn's plan to shut down several state correctional facilities. The Legislature voted to fund those facilities in May but the Governor cut the money out of the state budget. The Governor is attempting to close prisons in Dwight & Tamms. Youth Centers in Joliet & Murphysboro. Along with adult inmate transitional centers in Decatur, Chicago & Carbondale. AFSCME, the union representing prison guards, says 49,000 inmates will be packed into the remaining facilities which are designed to only hold 33,000. "I don't know anybody, but the Governor of this state, who thinks it's a good idea to close these facilities," AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Henry Bayer told WAND News. A dozen guards told stories of inmate on inmate attacks in state prisons. And, they expressed fear over a growing number of attacks by inmates on staff. Jake Dalton, a sergeant at the Pontiac Prison, says Quinn has lit the fuse on a powder keg. AFSCME wants the Legislature to override the Governor's veto. However, even if they do, there is the possibility Quinn will not spend the money even if the override is successful. "Richard Nixon did that," stated Bayer. "He impounded money and people didn't think much of tricky Dick. I don't know if tricky Pat would try that or not." An override could come too late for most of the facilities. The Decatur adult transitional facility is expected to close before August 31st. The Legislature does not return for its fall veto session until late November. "He's the Governor," Bayer told reporters. "But he's not a dictator. Maybe he'd like to be, but he's not. I would hope that if his veto's were overridden that he wouldn't go forward."