Lawmakers call for safer correctional facilities in MA

BOSTON (WWLP) – Dozens of Massachusetts lawmakers signed a letter to the governor calling for immediate action to make the state’s correctional institutions safer for officers and inmates alike.

This letter comes after a September 18 incident in the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in central Massachusetts, which resulted in the hospitalization of 5 correctional officers.

The letter outlines some new policies lawmakers would like to see put in place, including:

• Regular tactical searches
• Swift prosecution of assaults on correction officers
• Creation of a safety and security task force
• Monthly safety meetings

22News spoke to a western Massachusetts senator who signed the letter to the governor and recently visited Souza-Baranowski. He says officers there explained that they should be allowed to carry pepper spray to reduce violent incidences.

“All of them, universally, have said give us pepper spray, “CO,” to protect ourselves so that if something violent does happen we can stop it quickly or even deter it,” said Senator Ryan Fattman. Representative Carlos Gonzalez of Springfield chairs the public safety commission that oversees prisons. He says state lawmakers are working with prison officials to make sure correctional officers are safe.

“No inmate, regardless of what situation they find themselves in, has the right to attack anyone else, including our correctional officers. And they must be held accountable at all costs,” said Gonzalez. Lawmakers are not the only ones calling for change–150 Souza-Baranowski inmates have filed a class action lawsuit alleging mistreatment by guards.

From inmates, officers, and lawmakers alike the message is clear: more needs to be done to prevent violence in Massachusetts’ correctional facilities.

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