Date: Fri 04-Dec-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Garner-public-safety-Acosta

Full Text:

Warden Reports All Is Quiet At Garner

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Members of the Newtown Public Safety Committee met Tuesday at the Booth

library to discuss public safety issues posed by the presence of the state's

high-security Garner Correctional Institution on Nunnawauk Road, but they

quickly realized there isn't much to talk about right now.

Garner Warden Remi Acosta told committee members "It's very quiet.

"The whole (Department of Correction/DOC) is that way," the warden said as he

knocked his knuckles on a wooden table.

"It's been really quiet. There isn't much for me to communicate," he said.

"Maybe it's the holidays. Maybe people are calming down for the holidays. I

just don't know...We had a holiday dinner with all the trimmings," he said.

The warden acknowledged that the prison contains many dangerous criminals and

the prevailing quietude there could dissipate at any time.

Warden Acosta pointed out the DOC has many strict policies in place designed

to keep Garner inmates in check while incarcerated.

As of Tuesday, Garner held 732 inmates. Of those, 368 men are designated as

gang members, 204 are mental health patients, and 160 are in Garner's general

prisoner population.

The prison which opened in November 1992 has been designated as the DOC

facility where gang members are incarcerated while the state seeks to

rehabilitate them and have them renounce their gang affiliations.

Garner also contains some of the most advanced mental health facilities in the

state prison system for inmates with psychiatric problems.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, who is chairman of the safety committee,

thanked Warden Acosta for the DOC's efforts to improve Town Hall South.

During the past several weeks, two Garner inmates, supervised by a DOC

corrections officer, have painted the exterior of Town Hall South, brightening

up a building which had become weatherbeaten.

"I really appreciate it. It's going to save us a lot of money in labor costs,"

Mr Rosenthal said of the painting project.

Committee members selected meeting dates for their quarterly sessions in 1999.

The committee meetings are scheduled for March 2, June 1, September 7 and

December 7. Meetings alternate between Garner and town facilities.

The committee, which was created by the state legislature, files an annual

report with the state detailing its activities.