Expanded Surveillance System In Operation At Garner Prison

By Andrew Gorosko

A new, expanded video surveillance system at Garner Correctional Institution has been fully installed and is now in operation, providing state Department of Correction (DOC) staffers with improved visual coverage of the 245,000-square-foot high-security prison at 50 Nunnawauk Road.

Garner Warden James Dzurenda announced the surveillance system’s full operation to members of the Public Safety Committee for Garner Correctional Institution at a March 27 session. The panel meets quarterly to address public safety issues posed by the presence of Garner.

On that day, the prison held 550 male prisoners, 367 of whom were categorized as mental health inmates and 183 of whom were listed as general population prisoners. The prison specializes in housing and treating mental health inmates.

Warden Dzurenda said the new surveillance system works well and is simple to operate compared to the previous surveillance equipment used at the prison, which opened in 1992. Warden Dzurenda has said the presence of the new equipment will be “a big plus for surveillance.”

The updated surveillance system significantly improves the DOC’s ability to monitor inmate activity within the prison. The camera/recorder system is similar to surveillance networks that are in use at other DOC prisons in the state. The Garner surveillance system was budgeted at approximately $300,000.

The project expands Garner’s surveillance system to more than 230 camera positions from the previous 162 camera positions. Besides adding new cameras to the system, the existing cameras were upgraded by new equipment.

Much of the work in installing the surveillance system involved routing electronic cabling through the prison to locations where cameras are positioned.

All of the cameras in the surveillance network are digital, in contrast to the previous system which was analog.

After a prison incident occurs, the applicable recorded surveillance photos are located on the recording system and played back, providing visual evidence of the incident.

With the new video gear in place, it is simpler for prison staff members to provide state police with visual evidence to be used in state police investigations of prison incidents. That visual evidence is recorded on DVDs, which state police can easily view. Obtaining evidence from the previous system was a more cumbersome process, involving the use of specialized videotape machines.

The former cameras recorded sequential time-lapse still frames to VHS videotape cassettes. The new cameras record still frames more frequently and more clearly to DVD discs. The new surveillance system records more individual still images across a given time span. The new equipment records in color, in contrast to the previous black-and-white gear.

Video surveillance is done in “common areas” within the prison such as cellblocks, corridors, and recreation areas, not in prisoners’ cells.