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Herlong's federal prison ready to expand

Lassen County Times
13 Sep 2005
Page 6A

By Mike Parkhurst Staff Writer

The new federal prison in Herlong is short-staffed and Warden Kuma Deboo is searching for more employees as the influx of new inmates will soon require additional hiring, said Executive Assistant Robert Young.

Currently, FCI Herlong, as the prison is officially known, houses only 112 inmates but it has a staff of 185. Young said in the near future the facility expects to increase inmate numbers by about 100 per week and the staff will increase to its full complement of 300.

The prison was built to house 1,500 inmates. Young said the current, low number of inmates has allowed the staff to fine tune procedures, giving everyone time to eliminate potential problems.

Although the $128 million prison is a virtual city in and of itself, with a very complete medical and dental section, there is no doctor yet, said Young.

"In fact, we are looking to hire a full-time physician as well as a physician's assistant." The doctor's salary is set at $130,173 annually and the physician's assistant position pays $50,541 per year to start," said Young.

"We are looking for an automotive industry supervisor, as well, because one of the many training programs we will be offering is auto repair."

Young said another important position to be filled is that of a teacher because "some inmates may be street smart, but they may only have a third-grade education."

As Federal Prison Director Harley Lappin said during his July 12 visit to FCI Herlong, "The real purpose of prisons is rehabilitation of inmates so as many as possible can go back into society as productive citizens."

Because many prison staff members live in Reno or Sparks, a van pool has been established, a helpful procedure "especially now, with the high gas prices," said Young. A van pool is being worked on for staff who may live in Susanville, but it's not yet operational. The prison is a medium security facility which means that most inmates have been convicted of white collar crimes or drug dealing.

Security, security, security Even though "medium security" might conjure up images of a prison population not likely to engage in violence or attempted escape, FCI Herlong - like all federal prisons - maintains a tight system of surveillance and documentation that almost eliminates the possibility that a stolen tool could be turned into a weapon or a means of escape such as with a heavy-duty wire-cutter.

Since inmates get involved in a variety of chores, from painting to mechanical work of all kinds, the security system might even baffle G. Gordon Liddy who, when a prisoner for almost five years, found a way to tap the warden's phone. The tool room contains hundreds of tools. All of them hang neatly organized from pre-determined locations on the walls and partitions.

When a tool is removed, the identification of the inmate to whom it is given is recorded, and a special coin-sized chip is hung on the post from which the tool normally hangs. Therefore, if a correctional officer wants to discover who has that particular tool, all he needs to do is check the list.

Additionally, the exact shape of the missing tool is painted in black directly underneath where the tool hangs. This system makes it easy to spot a missing tool and the chip system insures easy and quick identification of the tool user. If that tool is not returned to the tool room on time, or if the tool is allegedly lost, that inmate is subject to a punishment which he will regret for a long time.

Every single tool is thus identified and tracked, whether a tiny screwdriver or a large sledge hammer. There are no exceptions. Another method of security at FCI Herlong is the fact that none of the correctional officers carry guns. There are no bullets inside the prison. However, officers assigned to outside patrol duty carry loaded guns. There are no control towers but literally miles of razor wire surround the compound.

Cafeteria security

The cafeteria seats about 400 inmates at a time. Each inmate lines up to pick up his pre-heated meal. At that time, his identification card is scanned which records the inmate's number and time of scan.

Each inmate is given just 15 minutes to eat his meal and the card-scanning system keeps track of laggards. Although every inmate gets the exact same portions for each meal, the hungrier appetites can be satisfied by extra trips to the salad bar where rice and beans are also available.

There is no limit to the number of trips for that extra food, although the 15-minute limit is still in effect. It is highly unlikely that any inmate would lend his ID card to another inmate in order for someone else to get a double order of the main entree. This is because, if discovered, the inmate who lent his card to another inmate would lose a lot of privileges. Punishment would also be dished out to the card borrower.

Inmates not only work in the kitchen but also are involved in the serving, but all of those inmates (who are, of course, the most trustworthy) are constantly supervised.

As an extra measure of security, even soup ladles are fastened to the serving tables with strong steel cords. All eating utensils are plastic. They are not discarded after use, however, but thoroughly washed and dried for re-use. Could an inmate steal a plastic spoon, melt it down and form a small weapon? "Of course they could, in theory," said Young, but such a weapon would not be as lethal as a steel knife.

In the event of a lockdown, where all inmates are confined to their cells even during mealtime, cell doors are so constructed that food trays can be slid through a convenient slot. There is a process for providing special meals for inmates with health problems such as diabetes.

Recreation

A basketball court is available and on one wall of it are two handball courts. Prisoners prefer to use the larger balls to hit with their hands, said Young. Two top-of-the-line ping pong tables are in one of the large recreation rooms, and the correctional officer in charge of dispensing materials keeps a sharp eye out for proper and timely return of all balls and paddles.

The recreation store room stocks hundreds of ping pong balls and dozens of rackets as well as handballs and basketballs. Each of the cell blocks is equipped with television sets which may be watched during leisure time. Because the television sets are hung high on support posts and the acoustics in the rooms are mediocre, wire-free headsets are available. The indoor areas between cells also feature chess, checker and backgammon boards built into the table tops. The prison provides the game pieces when requested.

Clothing and laundry

Each new inmate is first given a minimal supply of clothing and toiletries. Then the inmate is given five sets of underwear, several khaki jumpsuits, socks and so forth. The supply is enough for five complete clean sets of clothing per week. In the event the standard issue of clothing does not fit properly, alterations are done by other inmates possessing sewing skills. In the winter, inmates are given three blankets.

Although some federal prisons provide washers and dryers near cells, FCI Herlong has a large central laundry where all inmate clothing and bedding is washed and dried. Every week, each inmate puts his soiled laundry in a bag tracked to the owner. That bag of clothing is cleaned and put in numbered storage bins for easy identification and retrieval.

Cell life

Each cell is supplied with bunk beds that are pretty narrow for extra big men, two movable plastic chairs, two metal lockers, a sink and an all-steel toilet which provides no vestiges of privacy. There is also a small desk under which a permanent stool swings out to conserve space.

Outside security

Since the Staff Recognition Day celebration on July 12 when Lappin, attended official ribbon-cutting ceremonies, extra fencing and razor wire has been installed between buildings which are named Reno, Sierra, etc., in keeping with the area.

"This extra security would just slow down a prisoner trying to escape," said Young. Water drain pipes were initially attached to walls by narrow metal strips. Those strips have been replaced with plastic because, said Young, "those metal strips could have been ripped out and turned into a weapon."

"Now, if someone tries to climb up a water pipe to the roof, he would have to deal with the roll of razor wire." The razor wire is now attached to the top perimeter of the lower buildings, making an attempted rooftop escape almost impossible.

Between the cell block buildings there used to be large areas of sand. The sand has been replaced by small pebbles so the problem of blowing sand has been eliminated, making for a cleaner environment and less maintenance.
 
Expansion timetable

"There is no exact timetable when we will be at full capacity of inmates," said Young, "but we expect to have several hundred more by Christmas. It all depends on from where those inmates will be transferred. "For instance, the federal facility at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas has been closed, and those inmates had to go somewhere."

Visitors

There are no "drop ins" at FCI Herlong. All visitors must first complete a form which requires a lot of personal information such as social security number, driver's license, ID number or passport, home and mailing address, relationship to the inmate and information about the visitor's own crime record, if any. That information is then cleared after a waiting period of weeks except in the event of an emergency such as health or, perhaps a death in the family.

After the visitor is approved and comes to Herlong, he or she must surrender driver's license or passport, cell phone and camera, money and any item that could be construed to be a weapon or made into a weapon. Attempted smuggling of drugs to an inmate, if detected, can result in a felony conviction for the visitor and a minimum fine of thousands of dollars.

Visiting hours are limited to three days a week: Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday visiting hours are 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday visiting hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. For further information about FCI Herlong, phone (530) 827-8000.