Oklahoma DOC - over crowding - my thoughts on the huge issue!
This is on my mind a lot lately. The over crowding issues we have here in Oklahoma with the prisons here in OK. And why is it on my mind more than usual? Because I recently have heard about a few different situations where its just not safe!
Let me just tell you some of what I've heard lately and this is just in the last WEEK! This incident happened last weekend ... yes Christmas Day. Someone just up and WALKED out of one of the facilities!! They found out that he was missing during one of the counts. And then he was picked up early Monday morning and brought back. This isn't the only one that happened. There was also one in/near OK City where a very dangerous man just also up and "walked out" of the facility and he is still on the loose!
Then another situation also that happened I believe this week as well is where someone was caught with a huge duffel bag of contraband that he was just walking across the yard and the guard noticed and took the bag and found all kinds of contraband in footballs and basketballs that was cut open and then taped shut!
So with all of these situations going on just in the last week and I believe that there was another one as well, this isn't safe for anyone! And I blame it on the over crowding as well as the low pay that they are paying the guards at the institutions. They need and deserve to be paid a descent amount. They shouldn't be paid crap when they are in the field of a guard and protecting us. I read an article that said a lot of the guards don't make enough to where they are on state assistance like food stamps. They shouldn't have to paid so little to where they have to be on state assistance to get by!
And the more that people avoid or ignore the overcrowding issue the more dangerous and worse its going to be and get! Someone somewhere needs to start going through each prisoner and letting go some of the ones that are one time offenders of not big offenses or put some on house arrest or some to do community service or something. Something needs to be done!! I believe that the last time I read it said it was over 125% or higher over capacity! so that is absolutely ridiculous and uncalled for!!! They let out some prisoners I believe last year if I remember right BUT they let out ones that had done dangerous crimes. WHY would you allow anyone to let out those guys when there are ones in there that are in there for way lower offenses and or are in on a first offense charge etc.??!! Why can't you give the ones that are less of a threat to people out and give them a number of things such as the community service or put them on parole longer or house arrest or whatever but get them out of there and get them home or somewhere so that they will not be overcrowded! They aren't going to be as dangerous as the ones that are in on major offenses or multiple charges etc. Why would you let someone out that has a very high chance of being a re-offender?? That is just stupid and ignorant!!
And this issue isn't going anywhere and its not going to just up and go away if we keep avoiding it! Its just going to get worse and then what? 20 prisoners a day or week are going to figure it out and just up and "walk out"?!! Then what??
And back to the thing with the guy that got caught with all the contraband. So they were saying that the people that threw the stuff over the fence would be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Okay really??? So you are again going to put MORE people in prison when its light offenses! Now by NO means do I okay the fact of what they did was wrong, yes of course its wrong BUT when you have people just up and "walking out" of prisons 2-3 in a week and when you already have an overcrowding issue then those people need to be dealt with in another way!! That's just going to add onto the already huge issue and whose it going to help?
I hope that someone SOON rather than later gets a plan in place and lowers sentencing from the 85% down to the 65% which had been talked about or something because the overcrowding is just getting worse by the minute and there are just more coming into the system and less going out.
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