Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

If you would like to be involved please go to our website and become a member.


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Inmates Considerig Escape from DOC Find the Bar Raised

The Denver Post

All 50 inmates who escaped from Colorado prisons since 2000 were captured, most within 24 hours of absconding.
Corrections officials credit changed search protocols and more accurate assessments of weak links in prison building security.
"Something different had to be done," said Jay Kirby, chief investigator for the Colorado Department of Corrections. "More and more escapes were taking place."
In the mid-1990s, the DOC developed a command center in the agency's Colorado Springs headquarters. There, investigators calculate where an escaped inmate might seek solace, and they coordinate the hunt with other agencies.
Also, the DOC began conducting vulnerability assessments in 2003 on facilities to discover weaknesses,

DOC Chief Investigator Jay Kirby sits in the command center the DOC uses to track and coordinate the apprehension of escaped inmates on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at DOC headquarters in Colorado Springs. Since 2000, 50 inmates - 47 male, three female - have escaped various prisons in a variety of manners, according to officials, with all 50 having been captured. (THE DENVER POST | Seth A. McConnell)
spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said."That made a big difference," she said.
The escapees — 47 men and three women — were captured due to the changes.
Despite perception, officials said escapes occur more frequently than people realize. In 2003, 11 inmates escaped, the most in a single year since 2000.
Although most of the 50 inmates escaped from work crews and lower-level facilities, other prisoners were far more bold, Sanguinetti said.
"In 2010, one at Sterling went through a lethal fence that should have killed him," she said.
The inmate escaped by crawling over razor wire and under an electrified fence, she said. He was eventually captured after taking a woman hostage in her home.
That inmate's route out of the prison has since been eliminated.
"That is not going to happen again," Sanguinetti said.
Another inmate ended up literally running around the streets of downtown Denver in 2003 after he escaped from Buena Vista Correctional Complex in the back of a trailer hauling saddles that were made at the prison, Sanguinetti said.
Along with a few others, these inmates did not have a plan in place for what they would do once out, an oversight
officials said is not uncommon. "Many just think it through up to the point where they are over the fence," Kirby said.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

DOC and the Post have their facts wrong, as usual. DOC statistics show that they have 236 escaped criminals on the loose right now in the community. They have pictures of about 40 of them on their website. You can never believe the post or the judicial/industrial complex in this state. They are a bunch of liars.

Frannie Lamb said...

How do I hold the Colorado Justice System accountable for destroying my child’s life?

He was sent to DYC at the age of 15 for a misdemeanor and skipping school (a kid learning to grow up) he has been abused by the Colorado Justice System for the last 5 years now... and it still continues... this System has taught him how to survive in a hanis world. A world which began as a foreign world to a my child who was simply in the midst of learning life’s natural lessons.

Thank you Justice System for the HUGE interruption. You've not been all that helpful, taking hold of my child and teaching him the skills to survive in your misguided world. You the Justice System has taught him many things through your murderers, child molesters, drug abusers, gang members, and the list goes on...

What does Justice System think they are doing when they put a little kid in the mix with hardened criminals? Shame on them for destroying our youth. The Colorado Justice System and any other System which conducts itself in the manner of youth destruction NEEDS to be held accountable. Any other organization, system, or individual would surely be brought to "justice" for any one of the single child abuses which are being imposed on our young innocent children through our "Justice System".

Where is the justice?

Frannie Lamb