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Post by Greener on May 13, 2009 15:54:34 GMT -5
INDIANAPOLIS — A state fiscal committee on Tuesday approved $950,000 in security upgrades at Branchville Correctional Facility.
The state prison will use the money to replace its chain-link fence with an electric security parameter fence.
The new security measure comes after three inmates escaped from the prison in March. The men were captured in Nebraska.
"A chain-link fence is inadequate to protect the communities surrounding the Branchville prison, which is located in my district," said Rep. Dennie Oxley Sr., D-Taswell.
The upgrade, said Rep. Russ Stilwell, D-Boonville, will prevent prisoners from escaping.
The Indiana Department of Correction also has reclassified the Branchville prison. Rather than medium security, it is now a low-medium security prison.
The state has transferred nearly 100 inmates as a result of that change. The prison also uses sentry dogs to patrol the prison's outer areas.
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Post by doc2 on May 14, 2009 19:18:10 GMT -5
Prison gets cash for security upgrades
Branchville escapees nabbed in Nebraska
Security changes made at Branchville
BRANCHVILLE, IN (WFIE) - New security changes are on the way to a Perry County prison.
These changes come after three inmates escaped in March.
The Branchville Correctional Facility will get nearly a million dollars to tighten their security.
The prison plans to use the money to replace a chain-link fence with a high powered electric one.
Back in March, police said three inmates injured a maintenance worker and escaped.
They were captured in Nebraska after also injuring three brothers in Kentucky.
Their escape led the Indiana department of corrections to make big changes at the prison including new brightly colored inmate uniforms, canines patrolling the perimeter of the facility, and reclassifying the prison.
It's now considered to be "medium security". That means more serious offenders have been transferred elsewhere.
The money for the new electric fence was approved by a state fiscal committee.
Officials hope these changes will keep prisoners from escaping in the future.
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Post by Shocker on May 16, 2009 5:47:20 GMT -5
Perry County prison to get electrified fence
The Courier-Journal • May 15, 2009
Indiana State Budget Committee has released money to construct an electrified fence around the Branchville Correctional Facility in Perry County following the March escape of three inmates who later attacked three men in Kentucky.
The panel released $950,000 to put up fences at both Branchville, near Tell City, and the Correctional Industrial Facility in Pendleton.
Doug Garrison, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Correction, said the fences were planned long before the March 20 escape of Christopher Marshall of Monon, Bobby Cockerell of Jeffersonville and Jerry Sargent of Dry Ridge, Ky.
At the time of the escape, Sargent was serving 50 years for robbery and criminal confinement, Marshall was serving 50 years for dealing cocaine, and Cockerell was serving 20 years for burglary. The inmates reportedly cut the prison’s current chain link fence with a pair of pliers taken from the welding shop where they were assigned to work.
Garrison said the new perimeter detection fences, commonly referred to as “stun” fences, “both detect someone attempting to climb them and also provide a shock if an attempt is made, which will deter” breakout attempts.
“The offenders know what these things are. They’re not up there just for show,” Garrison said.
Fence construction is set to begin within 30 days, and completion should be within four months after that.
Correction officials have already taken steps since the March incident to reduce the risk of future escapes from Branchville, which houses about 1,330 inmates. In April they changed the facility from medium security to low-medium security.
About 80 prisoners who did not fit the new classification were moved elsewhere, officials said. The prison now houses offenders with only eight years or less remaining on their sentences.
Sentry dogs also were added to maintain security between the prison’s dual perimeter fences.
“There’s always a risk of escape from any facility,” Garrison said. He said both Branchville and Correctional Industrial were due for upgrades under the prison system’s long-range planning.
Marshall, Cockerell and Sargent, who were captured in Nebraska six days after they escaped, have been indicted on federal charges of being felons in possession of firearms. They are scheduled for trial in June in U.S. District Court in Lexington, Ky.
“They won’t be going back” to Branchville, Garrison said.
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