Luke
09-10-2002, 02:46 AM
The Associated Press
03/31/2002
A new inmate classification system should help prevent escapes like the one at the Connally Unit in South Texas that led to the death of an Irving police officer, prison officials said.
The changes affect inmates serving lengthy prison terms, as well as those with a history of past escape attempts, preventing them from working low security jobs. "If you asked me, is this going to stop escapes, I'll say no. But it's going to make it harder for them to leave our system," Ed Owens, operations division director for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said in Sunday's editions of the Houston Chronicle.
The previous system labeled inmates who showed they had adjusted to prison life by serving without incident or incurring disciplinary action as "minimum in." It made them eligible for low-risk job assignments and dormitory housing. Under the new policy, which takes effect Monday after a year of review, inmates must serve a minimum of 10 years before they can receive a low-risk classification.
The rules come after a study commissioned by the TDCJ found that an inmate's current offense, prior criminal history and time remaining on sentence were considered during the initial classification but ignored in subsequent reviews.
Under the new policy, six of the seven inmates who fled from the Connally Unit near Kenedy on Dec. 13, 2000, after tricking and overpowering guards and civilian workers, would not have had their low-security jobs in the prison maintenance department in the first place.
All were serving time for violent crimes and were the subjects of a nationwide manhunt and accused of killing Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins. After six weeks on the run, six were captured in Colorado and one killed himself. George Rivas and Donald Newbury received the death penalty for Hawkins' murder. Four others are awaiting trials.
Under the changes, about 700 of 4,000 inmates previously classified as "minimum in" will be reclassified to a higher-risk rating. In February, John William Roland III escaped from the maximum-security Robertson Unit in Jones County, marking the first Texas prison escape in 2002. Harold Laird, serving a 99-year sentence for capital murder, escaped from the Styles Unit in Beaumont on Sept. 12. He was captured two days later in Mississippi.
In 2000, 16 convicts escaped from Texas prisons while six escapees were reported in 1999
03/31/2002
A new inmate classification system should help prevent escapes like the one at the Connally Unit in South Texas that led to the death of an Irving police officer, prison officials said.
The changes affect inmates serving lengthy prison terms, as well as those with a history of past escape attempts, preventing them from working low security jobs. "If you asked me, is this going to stop escapes, I'll say no. But it's going to make it harder for them to leave our system," Ed Owens, operations division director for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said in Sunday's editions of the Houston Chronicle.
The previous system labeled inmates who showed they had adjusted to prison life by serving without incident or incurring disciplinary action as "minimum in." It made them eligible for low-risk job assignments and dormitory housing. Under the new policy, which takes effect Monday after a year of review, inmates must serve a minimum of 10 years before they can receive a low-risk classification.
The rules come after a study commissioned by the TDCJ found that an inmate's current offense, prior criminal history and time remaining on sentence were considered during the initial classification but ignored in subsequent reviews.
Under the new policy, six of the seven inmates who fled from the Connally Unit near Kenedy on Dec. 13, 2000, after tricking and overpowering guards and civilian workers, would not have had their low-security jobs in the prison maintenance department in the first place.
All were serving time for violent crimes and were the subjects of a nationwide manhunt and accused of killing Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins. After six weeks on the run, six were captured in Colorado and one killed himself. George Rivas and Donald Newbury received the death penalty for Hawkins' murder. Four others are awaiting trials.
Under the changes, about 700 of 4,000 inmates previously classified as "minimum in" will be reclassified to a higher-risk rating. In February, John William Roland III escaped from the maximum-security Robertson Unit in Jones County, marking the first Texas prison escape in 2002. Harold Laird, serving a 99-year sentence for capital murder, escaped from the Styles Unit in Beaumont on Sept. 12. He was captured two days later in Mississippi.
In 2000, 16 convicts escaped from Texas prisons while six escapees were reported in 1999