Garner CI To Begin Using CT Alert For Emergency Messages

By Andrew Gorosko

People who want to receive public safety messages concerning emergencies at Garner Correctional Institution may enroll for a free new notification service being offered by the state Department of Correction (DOC) known as the Everbridge System, or the Connecticut Alert Notification System (CT Alert), according to Garner Warden Scott Semple.

Warden Semple told members of the Public Safety Committee for Garner Correctional Institution on September 4 that the test message that was transmitted by the prison’s existing Garner Community Notification System on September 1 was the last test message that would be sent to that system’s users. Warden Semple said that the existing notification system has been transmitting its test messages to 78 recipients in the area over the past several years.

The warden emphasized that the people who have received messages via that notification system will need to register for the new CT Alert to continue receiving Garner-related messages.

Warden Semple noted that since at least 2005, the Garner notification system has not transmitted any actual emergency messages, but only test messages to its users.

The new CT Alert system will not transmit monthly test messages to system users. The former system transmitted test messages on the first Saturday of each month.

To receive free public safety messages concerning Garner, people must register by visiting the website www.ctalert.gov. System users may receive emergency messages by several different means, including home telephones, mobile telephones, e-mail, fax, and text messages, among other means. Users can also set the sequence of message transmission for their various communications devices, among other communications options.

Several prisons in the state already have made the transition from prison-based notification systems to the CT Alert system with no apparent issues or concerns, according to Warden Semple.

The warden said that people seeking clarification on the changeover from Garner’s prison-based notification system to the CT Alert system should contact him at the prison at 203-270-2810.

The CT Alert system would be used to notify its users of major prison emergencies such as inmate riots or escapes, prison fires, or the need to evacuate the prison in the event of some emergency, such as an extended electrical outage.

Under the CT Alert system, an emergency message would continue to be sent to users until the users confirm that they have received the message.

Other Business

In other business at the September 4 session, Warden Semple said that Garner held 640 male inmates that day, including 294 mental health inmates, 195 general population prisoners, 142 unsentenced inmates, and nine youth development prisoners.

Garner specializes in the treatment and housing of mental health inmates for the DOC prison system.

Warden Semple said that 53 of the 640 inmates in Garner on September 4 were being housed in the prison gymnasium stemming the DOC’s prisoner population “overflow” situation.

The inmates housed in the gym are unsentenced prisoners, or those awaiting trial on pending charges. As such, they are prisoners who are transported to and from various courts as their criminal cases are underway.

The high-security prison at 50 Nunnawauk Road opened in November 1992.