DOC Commissioner To Attend

Dec. 4 Session On Garner

By Andrew Gorosko

State Department of Correction (DOC) Commissioner John Armstrong is scheduled to discuss public safety issues posed by the presence of Garner Correctional Institution when he attends a meeting of the Newtown Public Safety Committee Monday, December 4, at 5 pm at Booth Library, 25 Main Street.

Mr Armstrong is slated to give a talk about the state’s prison system, with emphasis on Garner, a high-security prison at 50 Nunnawauk Road, which holds approximately 730 inmates.

Garner opened in November 1992. The town opposed its planning and construction in court battles.

Wendy Beres, a member of the public safety committee, said this week she plans to pose several questions to Mr Armstrong. These questions concern the prisoner transportation system for Garner inmates, the prisoner classification system, and the security levels of the state prison system, among others, Ms Beres said. The committee meets quarterly to discuss prison-related issues.

Also at the December 4 session, committee members are scheduled to discuss the local prison alert system, which uses electronic beepers to notify beeper holders in the event of a public safety emergency at Garner. The beepers are battery-operated electronic alphanumeric pagers, which provide brief text messages to users when the beepers are activated.

Garner was the scene of a major riot and a double escape in 1993, prompting the town to institute the beeper system in 1994 to alert residents of public safety hazards posed by incidents at the prison.

Garner is a “Level 4” prison. In the DOC’s prison classification system, only Level 5 prisons have higher security ratings.

The town recently conducted a survey of the residents who are registered to use the beepers to learn if the alert system remains a worthwhile effort. 

Survey responses provided a mixed review.

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.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal has said the responses from the residents would be used to determine whether the town should keep the beeper notification system in effect.