NCJ Number
240141
Date Published
February 2012
Length
105 pages
Annotation
The methodology and findings are presented for an independent quality assessment of Arizona's private prisons.
Abstract
This analysis of Arizona's private prisons found patterns of serious safety lapses in all the private prisons for which data were available. Malfunctioning security systems go unrepaired for months and staff ignored safety protocols. Poorly trained guards and lax State oversight has led to assault, disturbances, and riots among inmates. For-profit prison staff was often unprepared or unwilling to intervene in inmate misconduct, and this risks losing control of the prison. Insufficient rehabilitation programs, educational opportunities, or jobs for the prisoners provide idle time that leads to misconduct. While private prisons in Arizona fall short of correctional standards for prisons, the State has deliberately obscured information that would expose the failure of private prisons. Further, private prisons are not required to measure recidivism rates, and they lobby legislators for additional prison space and an expanded use of incarceration. In summary, for-profit prison corporations are not accountable to Arizona taxpayers. The solution is to provide a structure for greater independent public control over Arizona's prisons in order to ensure they advance the cause of public safety, which includes the rehabilitation of offenders. A list of detailed recommendations for achieving this are offered. In conducting this assessment, every effort was made to collect official data from the facilities themselves. Because private, for-profit corporations are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act or equivalent State laws that require disclosure of documents to the public, the researchers for this assessment sent requests for public records to the government agencies that have sent prisoners to private correctional facilities in Arizona. The records requested sought data that could be used in determining the safety performance, and effectiveness of the various private prisons. 6 tables