IDOC sends staff member to review training

BOISE-The Idaho Department of Correction is sending a staff member to the Newton County Correctional Center in Newton, TX to review training procedures for use of force techniques.

IDOC administrators have just completed the review of a report from the GEO Group Inc. indicating a use of force incident took place on May 30. According to the report, an offender was refusing to comply with an order to be moved from his cell. In the process of gaining compliance, the offender was pepper sprayed, his injuries did not require medical care.

"We just want to be 100 percent sure about the training provided to staff in Texas. Use of force should always be a last resort to gain inmate compliance," said Pam Sonnen, administrator of operations.

No action has been taken on the correctional staff in Texas, pending the outcome of the reviews. The Newton County Correctional Center houses 419 Idaho offenders; it is managed by the GEO Group Inc. which has indicated it will also send a staff member to the facility to review training procedures.

Since the contract with the GEO Group was signed in March, the Idaho Department of Correction has sent numerous employees to the Texas facility to assess contractual compliance and to assist offenders in the transition process. This is standard procedure.

Idaho offenders are being sent out of state because Idaho's prisons are full, and have been for several years. Currently Idaho has 6,994 inmates and a prison capacity to house 5,967 inmates. County jails help house overflow, but another out of state transfer is expected sometime within the next six months. Based on offender population growth, the Idaho Department of Correction forecasts 1,400 Idaho offenders will be incarcerated out of state by the year 2010.