NCJ Number
133443
Journal
American Jails Volume: 5 Issue: 5 Dated: (November-December 1991) Pages: 38-41
Date Published
1991
Length
4 pages
Annotation
When the new modular correctional facility in Middleton (Massachusetts) was completed, law enforcement and correctional managers had to supervise the transfer of over 500 prisoners, including pre-trial detainees and regular inmates, from facilities in nearby Salem and Lawrence.
Abstract
In addition to massive security problems, correctional authorities had to try to overcome grassroots opposition to the placement of the new facility in the suburbs instead of a larger city. A countywide information campaign, educating the public about the new facility, preceded the transfer by several months. Planning meetings were held weekly as the date for the transfer loomed. Because of manpower requirements, the old institutions had to be closed down as soon as the new one began operation. The transfer operation was assigned to the Tactical Team to allow authorities to keep the upper hand over inmates, who realized that the new facility would give officers much more control. In fact, the prisoners in both old facilities were confined to their cells for the 3 days prior to the transfer. By the time the first inmates arrived at the Middleton complex, corrections and support officers were already in place. Within 3 weeks of the original transfer, additional arrivals of State prisoners, Federal detainees, and county prisoners brought the total number of inmates at Middleton to over 730.