ADCRR Expands Safety and Security Measures
The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, & Reentry (ADCRR) announces an expansion of measures to improve safety and security in high custody units.
Following recent incidents of inmate violence across close-custody units statewide, ADCRR put in place custody-level lockdown measures to quickly and methodically reduce inmate violence. While these strategies are showing early signs of effectiveness, the curtailing of specific out-of-cell activities for ADCRR’s approximately 5,000 close-custody inmates will continue. This is necessary to further reduce the risk of violence in housing units by ensuring greater structure, order, and oversight of inmate dynamics and movement. Inmates in these units will continue to have some out-of-cell time, access to phones, showers, mail, tablets, legal visits, mental and physical health appointments, medication, in-unit work, and programming, as appropriate and safe. Additional activity will be considered when it is safe to do so.
The following housing units will be excluded from this operational step, due to the operations and programming needs of the inmates housed there:
- ASPC-Tucson, Rincon Unit
- ASPC-Lewis, Eagle Point Unit
- ASPC-Perryville, Lumley Unit
ADCRR has developed additional strategies to immediately and noticeably improve staff safety, the safety of our inmate population, and the operational functions within housing areas. The following two measures will go into effect in the coming weeks:
Beginning May 1st, the Department will deploy Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) in Close-Custody Units, followed by BWC deployment in other High-Custody Units. Body-worn cameras are known to be an effective tool for holding inmates accountable and improving safety in a prison setting. Video footage can also be quickly viewed, improving investigations while providing future opportunities for staff to learn and grow.
Staff at the close-custody ASPC-Rynning Unit have already begun training on the effective use of BWCs and will implement them as part of a day-to-day operations pilot beginning May 1st. Further training of staff in high-custody units (close-custody, detention, mental health, and max-custody) will begin May 12th and run through mid-summer, with each unit implementing BWCs once training is complete. The ADCRR expects to have more than 1,000 BWCs in use by July.
BWCs have proven effective for other correctional departments across the country. ADCRR believes they will be an effective tool of deterrence against problematic inmate behavior and support the safety of staff and inmates.
Expand the use of high-risk assignment pay (HRAP). Beginning May 10th, officers working in close-custody units who meet appropriate Departmental criteria will be eligible to receive high-risk assignment pay. Additionally, this pay rate will be increasing from the current rate of $0.95 an hour to $2.00 an hour. These units are challenging environments, and each day, staff uphold the Department’s mission of rehabilitation while ensuring the safety and security of inmates and their coworkers. This expansion of HRAP, already available to eligible staff in other high-custody units, is important for recognizing our staff's service and extra effort.
As these initiatives are implemented across the state, along with others to be announced, ADCRR is confident they will support the safety among staff and the incarcerated population.
“Violence in our prison complexes is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” said ADCRR Director Ryan Thornell. “The Department is responding to the recent uptick of violent incidents with strong and immediate actions to hold inmates accountable, prevent future violent incidents, and keep everyone at our complexes safe from harm. These actions are the latest, but certainly not the last, that the Department will be taking to protect both staff and inmates.”