HUNTSVILLE, Texas – For the primary time in over a decade, Texas prisons have been below a statewide lockdown from Sept. 6 to Oct. 16.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice officers mentioned the lockdown was once induced because of the amount of violence, medicine, and contraband inside prisons being at an all-time top.
As of Oct. 4, there were 21 homicides at TDCJ prisons in 2023. In 2022 and 2021, there have been seven and 9 homicides, respectively.
According to TDCJ’s website, a lockdown at each and every facility “will limit the movement of inmates and their contact with those outside the prison. Inmates and staff will undergo intensified searches to intercept and confiscate contraband.” The lockdown contains complete searches with K9 officials and specialised seek groups.
Investigates was once granted unique get right of entry to inside a prison whilst this lockdown was once taking place to look firsthand the issues.
Wynne Unit consult with
Our consult with to the Wynne Unit in Huntsville highlighted all the safety protocols in position recently for guests to the prison.
The workforce we have been with went via a number of screenings to get inside the prison itself; steel detectors, K9 officials, pat-downs, and locked gates.
During our excursion of the unit, we have been proven the Wynne Unit mailroom, the place staff are seeing an higher effort of drug smuggling and different contraband pieces during the mail formulation.
At the gymnasium, the inmates from one cellular block waited with their assets to be totally searched.
While that was once taking place, an intelligence staff aided by way of K9 officials performed a thorough seek to seek out contraband hidden or left in the back of in cells of inmates.
Read everything of Part One of Investigates “The Texas Prison Lockdown” sequence right here.
What induced the statewide lockdown
Over the previous 5 years, there’s been a important building up within the quantity of contraband discovered inside Texas prisons, like mobile phones, alcohol, medicine, and guns.
“All of our facilities go through some type of shake-down procedure each year, but to take a whole system down at once had not been done since 2008,” mentioned Bobby Lumpkin, director of correctional establishments divisions for TDCJ.
Lumpkin mentioned a lockdown of this magnitude is a primary disruption for daily existence inside prisons.
“It is very concerning. We’ve also had some serious assaults, some assaults of staff. Also, inmate homicides,” Lumpkin mentioned.
Homicide numbers
As of Oct. 4, there were 21 homicides at TDCJ prisons for the yr 2023.
In 2022 and 2021, there have been seven and 9 homicides, respectively.
Fatal overdoses
On best of the murders, there were 17 deadly overdoses this yr as of early October.
That is an identical quantity as all of 2022 and 5 greater than in 2021.
Read everything of Part Two of Investigates “The Texas Prison Lockdown” sequence right here.
Possible answers
To struggle the bobbing up issues inside the TDCJ formulation, officers are checking out some important adjustments, beginning with the mailroom.
Before the lockdown started in September, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced its transition to a absolutely virtual mail formulation.
After a a hit pilot release, TDCJ determined to roll issues out system-wide.
All mail now involves a designated facility in Farmers Branch, out of doors of Dallas.
The virtual formulation is an effort to break the circulate of contraband being smuggled during the mail formulation.
TDCJ may be ramping up safety with new millimeter wave scanners. Those will likely be getting an improve quickly.
Why the upward thrust in issues?
With all the adjustments and efforts, one query stays: What’s using the rise?
Chief of Staff Jason Clark issues to a few causes.
“Back during COVID, inmates did receive stimulus checks, so there was a significant amount of money, millions and millions of dollars that came into inmate’s hands,” Clark mentioned.
Another large reason why is staffing demanding situations.
Across the TDCJ formulation, there may be a scarcity of roughly 6,500 correctional officials.
Read everything of Part Three of Investigates “The Texas Prison Lockdown” sequence right here.
Rehabilitation methods
Christopher Carter oversees the Rehabilitation Programs Division inside of TDCJ.
Carter mentioned his staff inside the Rehabilitation Programs Division is all the time taking a look at new techniques to complement incarcerated peoples’ lives so they have got a higher likelihood of luck after they’re launched.
“We have a program called Go for the Goal,” Carter mentioned. “We have individualized treatment plans for each individual that’s in prison. And with those plans, it enables my staff to develop treatment assignments for them in certain areas that they need to focus on in order to achieve their rehabilitation.”
The Go for the Goal program creates an road for TDCJ to method any individual who is simply getting into the prison formulation and lend a hand them lay out a trail for luck.
“This covers anything you want to go to, any kind of education you want to pursue, need anything religious, overcomers, manhood, you name it. It’s endless of all the opportunities that they’ve given to us,” Raymond Ramirez, an inmate on the Wynne Unit, mentioned.
Whether it’s a substance abuse remedy program, intercourse perpetrator remedy, volunteer products and services, or secondary schooling, TDCJ is attempting to hide each side of rehabilitation to create a more secure atmosphere inside and out.
The rehabilitation methods have been impacted right through the lockdown as a result of inmates weren’t ready to be out in their cells for lengthy classes of time, except the in depth searches. However, the methods weren’t stopped altogether.
“During lockdown, we have what we call alternative assignments. Therefore, it’s not going to stop the programs, so to speak,” Carter defined. “Their programs, their treatment assignments, they’re just in a different way. They have phase-specific assignments. For example, if you have someone in an orientation phase and a treatment program, they receive orientation-related curriculum and assignments.”
Read everything of Part Four of Investigates “The Texas Prison Lockdown” sequence right here.
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