NCJ Number
215903
Journal
Corrections Today Magazine Volume: 68 Issue: 5 Dated: August 2006 Pages: 50-53
Date Published
August 2006
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes how Louisiana's Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS&C) met the challenges of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
Abstract
The DPS&C was prepared when the crisis struck, because its emergency plan had been tested through many hurricane seasons. Inmates were evacuated from low-lying parish and municipal jails to State institutions. Institutional tactical teams and probation and parole officers from around the State were called in to assist with security. Boats were used to ferry inmates from the facility to a staging area where inmates climbed scaffolding to get to the caravan of buses and vans that took them from the city. Some inmates went directly to State institutions or parish facilities. The majority, however, went to a staging site at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, where they were fed and waited for a more permanent housing assignment. In a nonstop process, the evacuation of Orleans Parish Prison took 3 days and was completed without any serious injuries or death to either staff or inmates. Bed space was secured at parish and private facilities across the State. This was facilitated by partnerships created between the department and local sheriff's departments. Paper records for inmates were under water, and computer records required lengthy retrieval time. Meanwhile, medical and mental health staff evaluated the inmate evacuees, while classification and other staff identified each inmate. After the evacuation, probation and parole officers performed security functions for the New Orleans Fire Department. Other correctional departments across the country sent officers to help with inmates. These included medical staff and social workers. Necessities and other supplies came in by the truckload, and financial resources were sent for employees and their families impacted by the hurricanes.