Town Re-Examines Garner Prison

 Beeper Warning System

By Andrew Gorosko

In a move to improve Newtown’s prison alert system, the town will check with four other towns which host state prisons to learn what type of warning systems they use to alert their residents of emergencies at state prisons.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal Tuesday told members of the Public Safety Committee for Garner Correctional Institution that he will check with the town governments of Cheshire, Somers, Suffield, and Enfield to learn how those towns alert residents when situations at prisons endanger the public safety.

Mr Rosenthal is chairman of the safety committee, which meets quarterly to address public safety issues posed by the presence of Garner on Nunnawauk Road. Garner, which opened in November 1992, held 729 inmates on Tuesday. Garner is a “high security” prison with a “Level 4” security rating in the state Department of Correction’s (DOC) prison system, in which Level 5 is the highest security rating.

Although Garner was wracked by numerous violent incidents after it opened, including a major prison riot and a nighttime double escape in 1993, the massive institution has been relatively quiet during the past several years, with fewer serious problems.

Newtown’s prison alert system employs a network of electronic beepers which are activated to alert users of public safety problems posed by incidents at the prison. However, because the prison has been relatively quiet during the past several years, there has been little need to use the system.

Acting Police Chief Michael Kehoe told safety committee members that during a recent test of the beeper system in which the police asked beeper users to contact police by telephone if they received the alert system test message, only two beeper users contacted police.

The prison alert system is not effective, Acting Chief Kehoe said, noting that more effort needs to be expended to make the system effective.

The town distributed about 50 prison beepers in 1994, when the prison alert system started. The devices are battery-operated electronic alphanumeric pagers which provide brief text messages to users when the beepers are activated. The state assumed costs for the beepers. The telephone company covered costs for the beeper service. The devices were to have been returned to the town when people moved away.  

In about 50 letters mailed last fall to people who were issued beepers in 1994, the town sought to learn if those users: still have the beepers; use the beepers for notification of Garner emergencies; and believe there is a need to continue operation of the prison beeper system.

Of the two dozen people who have responded to the survey, 17 people said they have the beepers, 11 people said they use the beepers for notification of Garner incidents, and seven said they believe the beeper system should remain in operation. Of those responding, nine people said they do not use the beepers for notification of Garner incidents and nine people said they believe the beeper system need not continue.

Based on the results of the poll, Mr Rosenthal said Tuesday, “There’s sort of a mixed feeling about whether it [beeper system] should be continued.”

Wendy Beres, a safety committee member, stressed that some type of prison alert system should remain in effect. No prison is foolproof, she said, adding that if there is a public safety emergency at Garner and there is no prison alert system in effect, there would be a public uproar over the lack of an alert system.

Ms Beres said the beeper system organized by town had its advantages. “It was mobile. It was quiet,” she said. But the pagers had to be maintained by users to remain effective, she said. The devices are powered by dry-cell batteries, which last about four to six weeks in operation.

“I think it’s the responsibility of this town” to have a prison alert system in place, she said.

Ms Beres alleged that real estate agents have not notified the buyers of local homes of the availability of prison alert beepers. New homes have been built near Garner during the past several years, she noted. 

The use of warning sirens to notify residents of prison emergencies has been discounted, she said.   

Ms Beres said employing a series of telephone calls, known as “phone chains,” to alert residents of prison problems would not make for an effective warning system.

Dom Posca, who heads the public school system’s buildings and grounds department, said the schools have two prison alert beepers, but the devices are now considered obsolete.

Based on the weak response to the town’s survey on prison beepers last fall, Ms Beres asked what happened to the many beepers which were issued by the town.

Safety committee members surmised the devices may simply be sitting in people’s homes unused and unreplenished with fresh batteries, may have been discarded, or may have left town with residents who moved away.

Safety committee member Joy Previdi suggested that the town offer a prison alert system to residents as a purchased service, which users would pay to have.

Acting Chief Kehoe said some new technology may be available to provide an effective prison alert system for residents.

Garner Warden Giovanny Gomez said that coded telephone messages could be used to alert residents of public safety hazards posed by situations at Garner.

Warden Gomez said there is no single perfect system to alert people of problems at prisons, so the town would have to employ the best compromise available. Warden Gomez said he would notify Acting Chief Kehoe of any available technology he learns of which would improve the local prison alert system.

Mr Rosenthal said, “We should be looking for some method of notification,” whether it involves beepers or some other technology. Although there has been no serious public safety situation posed by incidents at Garner during the past several years, it is easy to become complacent about the potential public safety hazards posed by the prison’s presence, he said.