Aug 19, 4:01 PM EDT
Arizona official: State didn't detect prison flaws
By FELICIA FONSECA and PAUL DAVENPORT
Associated Press Writers
PHOENIX (AP) -- A privately operated Arizona prison where three inmates escaped last month, setting off a massive search, had poor operational practices that led to the unstaffing of a perimeter post, the state's prison director said Thursday.
The state Corrections Department released a report on security at the Kingman prison Thursday.
Numerous false alarms led to lax responses by prison personnel, Corrections Department Director Charles Ryan said. He also cited operational practices that led to a gap in permitted staffing during an evening when the July 30 escape occurred.
The three escapees from the prison's medium-security unit included two convicted of murder. Two of the three convicts have been recaptured, and authorities have linked some of the escapees to the killing of an Oklahoma couple.
Ryan said 148 inmates were being transferred to other prisons because of new restrictions on which inmates can be assigned to the Kingman facility, which has both minimum- and medium-security units.
He said his department has accepted a security improvement plan by the facility's operator, Centerville, Utah-based Management & Training Corp.
"This is a terrible tragedy, and the department and the contractor have a lot of work to do," Ryan said, referring to the killing of the Oklahoma couple linked to two of the escapees.
The burned bodies of Greg and Linda Haas of Tecumseh, Okla., were found Aug. 4 on a remote ranch near Santa Rosa, N.M. They had been traveling to Colorado on an annual camping trip.
TBO.com - News From AP
Arizona official: State didn't detect prison flaws
By FELICIA FONSECA and PAUL DAVENPORT
Associated Press Writers
PHOENIX (AP) -- A privately operated Arizona prison where three inmates escaped last month, setting off a massive search, had poor operational practices that led to the unstaffing of a perimeter post, the state's prison director said Thursday.
The state Corrections Department released a report on security at the Kingman prison Thursday.
Numerous false alarms led to lax responses by prison personnel, Corrections Department Director Charles Ryan said. He also cited operational practices that led to a gap in permitted staffing during an evening when the July 30 escape occurred.
The three escapees from the prison's medium-security unit included two convicted of murder. Two of the three convicts have been recaptured, and authorities have linked some of the escapees to the killing of an Oklahoma couple.
Ryan said 148 inmates were being transferred to other prisons because of new restrictions on which inmates can be assigned to the Kingman facility, which has both minimum- and medium-security units.
He said his department has accepted a security improvement plan by the facility's operator, Centerville, Utah-based Management & Training Corp.
"This is a terrible tragedy, and the department and the contractor have a lot of work to do," Ryan said, referring to the killing of the Oklahoma couple linked to two of the escapees.
The burned bodies of Greg and Linda Haas of Tecumseh, Okla., were found Aug. 4 on a remote ranch near Santa Rosa, N.M. They had been traveling to Colorado on an annual camping trip.
TBO.com - News From AP