Garner To Get Community Warning System For Prison Emergencies

By Andrew Gorosko

The state Department of Correction (DOC) plans to install a public safety warning system at the high-security Garner Correctional Institution on Nunnawauk Road to inform the public of emergencies that may occur at the prison.

Members of the Public Safety Committee for Garner Correctional Institution last week reaffirmed their interest in having such a warning system installed to notify the public of possible emergencies at the 260,000-square-foot facility, which houses approximately 630 male inmates. Garner is a “Level 4” prison in a prison system in which the highest security is Level 5. The prison has about 300 staff members.

Garner is the DOC’s prime prison for inmates with serious mental health disorders, with six of its seven cellblocks reserved for mental health inmates.

The planned warning system, which is expected to be operating by October, involves the use of computerized telephone-dialing equipment that places sequential telephone calls to a list of telephone numbers submitted by people who want to be notified in the event of a prison emergency,  explained Garner Warden James Dzurenda.

A prioritized calling list would be created, establishing the sequence of telephone numbers that would be called.

People receiving the telephone calls would hear a recorded message describing the nature of the emergency at the prison. Such emergencies would include prisoner escapes, riots, and fires, among others. Prison incidents requiring a prison evacuation and the transfer of inmates to other state prisons would activate the warning system.

The specific incidents that would warrant the use of the warning system would be at the warden’s discretion.

The automated warning system would leave messages on telephone answering machines, if such devices intercept the incoming calls of people on the calling list, Warden Dzurenda said.

Such automated warning systems are in use at other DOC prisons, he noted.

The DOC would cover costs for the system, Warden Dzurenda said. The public would not be charged for being on the calling list.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe said residents who want to be on the calling list for prison emergencies should contact Lieutenant James Mooney at the town police department, telephone 426-5841. Written applications will be required.

Garner opened in November 1992. In its first year of operation, Garner experienced a prison riot, plus a nighttime escape of two inmates. The DOC later heightened security to forestall such incidents.

Following those early emergencies at Garner, the DOC created a prison warning system based on the use of alphanumeric pagers or “beepers.” That warning system started in 1994, but has fallen out of use.

By 2001, during a test of that beeper system conducted by police, only two beeper users responded to a test message that sought a response from beeper system users.  

Public safety committee members later surmised that the beepers may simply be sitting in people’s drawers unused and unreplenished with fresh batteries, may have been discarded, or may have left town with residents who moved away.

After it became apparent that the beeper system was no longer an effective way to notify people of prison emergencies, public safety committee members considered installing a warning siren for public notification of prison emergencies, but later dropped that idea.

The public safety panel meets quarterly to address the public safety issues posed by the Garner’s presence.