THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409160262
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
This story appeared in some editions of The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star on Sept. 15. It is being repeated here for the benefit of readers who did not receive it.
Lack of information about a proposed minimum-security facility for state prisoners in Bowers Hill has stirred as much fear among residents as the idea of the facility itself.
Residents say the two private companies that would lease the 396-bed facility to the state have done little to resolve unanswered questions about security over 396 parolees and soon-to-be released prisoners who would receive job training and counseling under the plan.
``This is a totally new type of facility for this state,'' said Bruce McDaniel, a member of the Sunray Farmers Association.
The 10-acre site along West Military Highway would be state-funded but owned and operated by Dominion Leasing Inc. and Corrections Partners Inc.
McDaniel and 200 residents packed a Planning Commission meeting Wednesday to ask how the permit request for the site had gotten as far as a public hearing without knowledge of how the facility would impact the area.
``I want to know this,'' McDaniel said. ``Who is going to control the facility on a daily basis? How many other facilities like this do these companies operate? What has their success been? And how do you define minimum security?''
Residents expressed fear about non-violent offenders traveling in and out of their neighborhood with little supervision.
``(Some of) these people are parole violators,'' said Dunedin Civic League president Anne Tregembo. ``What guarantees do we have that they're not going to do it again? You can't turn people like that around in 90 days.''
That fear is heightened, residents say, by the fact that the facility will be privately owned and run.
``When you look at private versus public ventures, the private is bound to want to make the dollars work versus making the security foolproof,'' said Sunray Farmers Association president Gary Szymanski in an interview. ``There would be an incentive to make money and the way you do that is cutting on services.''
Residents also were afraid that Chesapeake would lose control over the facility if the state decided to buy the property once the lease was up.
If that happens, residents say, the state could expand the site or change it to maximum-security without consulting residents or the City Council.
Planning commissioners had little more knowledge about the potential impact of the facility than residents did. They voted 7-2 to hold another public hearing next month, saying it was pointless to debate the issue with so many questions left unanswered.
Those questions included exactly what types of offenders would be housed, how the security staff would be trained and whether crimes rates have gone up in other cities with similar programs.
``The privatization of government work is a topic of large conversation in this country now,'' said commissioner Debbie Ritter. ``It would behoove us to find out how successful the private firms are.''
Though representatives from both firms were present at the meeting, they declined to give a full presentation of the facility. Walton P. Burkhimer, who spoke to the commission on behalf of the firms, said they preferred to wait until the second hearing to make their case. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JIM WALKER
Gary Szymanski, left, prepares to speak to the Planning Commission
about the proposed minimum-security facility for state prisoners.
by CNB