Vt. prison violence on the rise

The Vermont corrections commissioner told a panel of lawmakers Thursday that violence in the state's prisons has increased in 2012 and the department plans to explore whether gang activity within the prison system is to blame.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120720/NEWS03/707209935

Published July 20, 2012 in the Rutland Herald Pallito: Vt. prison violence on the rise By THATCHER MOATS VERMONT PRESS BUREAU MONTPELIER — The Vermont corrections commissioner told a panel of lawmakers Thursday that violence in the state’s prisons has increased in 2012 and the department plans to explore whether gang activity within the prison system is to blame. Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito said he will seek the advice of outside experts to find out why there has been an uptick in assaults among inmates in places like prison cafeterias and outdoor areas that have led to trips to the emergency room in some cases. “We don’t know yet. That’s why we want to bring in somebody to take a look and see what’s going on,” said Pallito. “I don’t want to paint the picture that it’s violence gone wild. It’s just it’s more than we’re used to experiencing in Vermont.” Pallito didn’t have the number of assaults that have occurred this year. It’s unclear whether gang affiliations are the reason for the increase, but Pallito said gang activity is “creeping.” “It didn’t exist at this level 10 years ago by any stretch,” he said during testimony before the Legislature’s Corrections Oversight Committee at the Statehouse. Some lawmakers on the committee agree gangs in prison are a problem. “I really think this issue is a sleeper issue that’s out there,” said Rep. Alice Emmons, a Democrat from Springfield who is chairwoman of the House Corrections and Institutions Committee. “It’s bubbling up,” she said. The expiration of a Corrections Department contract last month is limiting the department’s ability to respond to the violence, said Pallito. In June, the state’s contract to house misdemeanor convicts at the Franklin County Jail and House of Detention in Greenfield, Mass., ended. Because the state is not allowed to send prisoners serving time for misdemeanors to the other out-of-state facilities Vermont uses in Arizona and Kentucky, said Pallito, it limits the department’s ability to move around prisoners who pose a risk of violence. “If we had other contracts out of state where we could move somebody, that would help us,” said Pallito. He said the department put out a request for proposals to nearby states but received no responses. In other corrections-related news, Pallito reported that for the second summer in a row there has been a spike in the number of “detainee” status inmates. Detainees are typically defendants who have been arrested and are in prison on bail but haven’t been convicted. The number as of Thursday was 406, well above the 300 detainee inmates the Legislature accounted for in this year’s budget. This is the second consecutive year the Shumlin administration and the Legislature have passed a budget that accounts for 300 detainee inmates only to see the actual number spike in the summer to near record levels. Pallito said the rise in detainees puts pressure on Vermont’s corrections system and the budget and means more inmates housed out of state. The trend concerns him, said Pallito. “Absolutely it does, in terms of managing a department that is safe and within capacity,” he said. Budgeting for 300 detainees is wishful thinking, said Pallito. A better number is likely 350, he said.