Date: Fri 31-Oct-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

public-safety-DOC-Beres

Full Text:

DOC Reviews Directive On Safety Panel Leadership

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The state Department of Correction (DOC) is reviewing its directive on the

operation of the Newtown Public Safety Committee, an ad hoc panel which was

formed to keep open the lines of communication between the town and the DOC

over safety issues posed by the presence of Garner Correctional Institution.

DOC spokeswoman Captain Beverly Pace said Tuesday Garner Warden Remi Acosta is

currently the committee's chairman. The October 1 directive issued by DOC

Commissioner John Armstrong which appointed Warden Acosta as the chairman is

being revised, Ms Pace said. The content of the revised directive is yet

unclear, she said.

The issue of who chairs public safety committee meetings surfaced at an

October 20 committee session. After lengthy discussion, committee members

failed to agree on the committee's line of succession.

Committee member Wendy Beres said Warden Acosta's recent chairmanship of

committee meetings has worked well, but she added Mr Acosta may be moved to

some other DOC post in the future, leaving the committee's relations with some

future Garner warden unclear.

Mrs Beres stressed she doesn't want the DOC to assume dominance of the safety

committee. In recent months, an increasing number of DOC employees have

attended the committee meetings as safety committee members.

When the committee was initially formed, First Selectman Robert Cascella and

former Legislative Council chairman Joseph Mahoney served as co-chairmen of

the panel. After Mr Mahoney resigned from office, the leadership duties fell

to Mr Cascella.

At the October 20 session, committee member Joy Previdi urged that the

position of committee vice chairman be created to have someone to fill in for

the chairman if he is not present. Ms Previdi urged that a vice chairman be

chosen from the public representatives on the committee, not a DOC employee.

Such a vice chairman would be more approachable by the general public, Ms

Previdi noted.

Mr Cascella said the recent directive issued by Commissioner Armstrong clearly

spells out the functioning of the public safety committee.

In the October 1 directive, Mr Armstrong wrote the DOC will have a public

safety committee in each of the towns where it operates a prison or jail. Each

of the those committees will be chaired by the warden of the facility or by

the warden's designee, according to that directive.

According to the October 1 statement: each committee will include

representatives appointed by the chief elected official of the community.

Other people, such as elected and appointed government officials, and

representatives of community agencies and schools, DOC personnel, and the

general public, may be invited to serve as members at the discretion of the

warden, according to that directive. The general public and the press may

attend committee meetings. The panel will meet at least quarterly.

The three main goals of the committee are: promoting positive relations

between prisons and the public; keeping open the lines of communication; and

resolving problems.

The public safety committee is expected to discuss its organization and

leadership when it meets again in January. The revised directive on public

safety committees may be available by that meeting.