Stefanowski goes after Lamont on prisons
Republican candidate points to staffing shortages, unreliable air conditioning under governor’s watch
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski campaigned outside a high-security prison in Cheshire this week, complaining that the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont has failed to heed complaints of staff and inmates about staffing levels and unreliable air conditioning.
“I don’t know why this afternoon Gov. Lamont couldn’t go to Home Depot and buy 30 standalone [A.C.] units and get them in there. That’s what I’d do,” Stefanowski said. “If I were governor, I’d hop in my black SUV, or, better yet, I’d hop in my pickup truck.”
Echoing complaints of the union that represents correction officers, Stefanowski said staffing shortages require mandatory overtime in poor conditions and that new minimum standards for time outside cells are endangering staff and contributing to an increase in inmate fights and assaults on officers.
“So I’m here today to advocate for them,” Stefanowski said, standing in a public park across the street from the prison. “I’m here because I don’t think correction officers and inmates should have to wait for me to win this election, which we are going to win, to have bearable working conditions.”
Sean Howard, a correction officer and the president of the AFSCME local that represents Cheshire officers, said in an interview that periodically inadequate air conditioning has been an issue for years in some of the housing units. The union was not represented at the campaign event.
Assaults on correction officers have increased markedly in the past year, but a Department of Correction spokeswoman disputed Stefanowski’s account of conditions at Cheshire and his interpretation of DOC policies on security, staffing and discipline.
Stefanowski said Lamont’s policies “have handcuffed correction staff and made inmates and the staff both less safe,” and he asserted that the administration has prohibited lockdowns necessary to periodically sweep facilities for contraband, including makeshift weapons.
He displayed a photo provided by Howard’s Local 347 of two shivs seized a month ago at the Level 4 prison, the second-highest security classification in the system. The prison opened in 1913, but the only cell blocks still in use date from 1993.
Stefanowski said Lamont is solely responsible for new standards established by a law passed in April with the support of high-profile Republicans, including Stefanowski’s running mate, Rep. Laura Devlin of Fairfield.
Effective on July 1, the new law codifies standards for lockdowns, use of isolation cells, and minimum time inmates get out of their cells.
“Correction staff are no longer allowed to lock down facilities,” Stefanowski said. “Now here’s the problem with that. The lockdown was the best way to find hidden weapons or contraband. So they can’t do it anymore.”
That is not what the new law says, nor is it DOC policy, said Ashley Mccarthy, a former correction officer at Cheshire who is the director of communications and training at the Department of Correction.
The law prohibits the use of lockdowns to train staff for more than 24 total hours in a 30-day period, but it imposes no limits on the use of lockdowns deemed necessary to maintain security.
“It is not related to our ability to lock down for a safety issue,” Mccarthy said.