 | |
 | |
| Location | Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County, near Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Managed by | Pennsylvania Department of Corrections |
The State Correctional Institution (SCI) at Camp Hill, commonly referred to as SCI Camp Hill, is a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections prison in Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County, near Camp Hill in Greater Harrisburg. [1] [2] Its current superintendent is William Nicklow. It has around 1,800 inmates. [3]
SCI Camp Hill opened in 1941 as the Industrial School at White Hill for Young Offenders and received Huntingdon Reformatory's juvenile population en masse. In 1975 it was ruled that SCI Camp Hill was not an appropriate place to house juvenile offenders, and in 1977 the institution began housing adult male offenders. It now serves as the state's sole diagnostic and classification center for men and houses adult male offenders. [4]
According to a study by the United States Department of Justice released in August 2010, 1.2% of inmates who responded to a survey reported that they had been sexually victimized at the prison. [3]
For three days in late October 1989, inmates rioted at SCI Camp Hill. One hundred thirty-eight correctional staff and 70 inmates were injured in the riots. Seventeen people were held hostage and 14 buildings (of the prison's 31 buildings) were destroyed. Sleeping quarters for 500 inmates were lost in the rioting. A number of prison officials resigned or were let go in its aftermath. Overcrowding was ruled a major factor.
At the time of the riots, SCI Camp Hill was nearly 45 percent over capacity, with 2,600 inmates in a 52-acre (210,000 m2) complex intended for 1,820. [5] Robert Freeman was Superintendent at the time of the riots, and John Palakovich (who later became superintendent) was assistant to the superintendent. Senate and House investigations blamed several factors for the riots, including overcrowding, understaffing, a militant group of prisoners, mixing violent and nonviolent inmates, lack of leadership and poor construction. Prisoners were angered by the sudden change of two important prison policies affecting visitation and access to medical care. After the riots, the state of Pennsylvania spent millions to repair and improve the prison. [6] One of the hostages later described the fallout of his experience, including post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism. [6] [7]
A number of Correction Officers later alleged that the administration ignored their reports that an inmate rebellion was planned.
The riots began on October 25. Around 3 P.M., as about 1,000 inmates were being moved through a recreation area, one inmate attacked a Correction Officer and the inmates then overpowered the other CO's. Some CO's locked themselves into a secure area, but officials said that inmates tore down the walls, beat them, and took eight of them hostage. Within minutes, inmates set at least five major fires, which destroyed a food service area, the prison hospital, the auditorium of the educational building, a gate house and part of an industrial building where inmates built furniture, roasted coffee beans and put tea into teabags. (The smoke cast the smell of brewing coffee for miles around.) About 10 PM, several hundred state police officers marched into the prison. Inmates released some hostages and police rescued the others. In the first round of rioting, inmates removed metal covers over the boxes that controlled the locks of their cells.
Early the next morning, Sgt. Richard Gavin of the Corrections Department pointed out the broken lock-control panels to officials. He asked his supervisor for 43 locks to secure the inmates in his area but received only 19.
Superintendent Freeman met for an hour with six of the inmates who helped negotiate an end to the previous night's siege. He learned that the inmates' grievances included a rule change barring families from bringing food on visits and complaints of access to health care. [8]
Guards later alleged that they knew after the first night of violence that inmates might riot again because prison officials had failed to fix control boxes and broken cell locks that were broken in the first riot. Over 15 correctional officers said the prison administration was alerted but ignored the problem after the first night of riots. Several prison guards also alleged that officials lied about the time they had secured the prison after the first night of riots. [5] A Corrections Department spokeswoman stated that the prison was under control when officials said it was, at 10 P.M., but guards said that some inmates were loose hours after that.
At 7pm on October 26, the second riot began as guards were locking up the inmates. Many inmates were able to reach up above their cell doors and release themselves from their cells due to locks damaged the night before, and they seized control of the prison within hours. The inmates took five new hostages and set more fires. Police spoke with the inmates over a telephone and the inmates "asked for certain items", including a television, Superintendent Freeman said. "I don't know what their grievances were, but they didn't get their demands", he said. Firefighters fought the fires and hundreds of the state police and police departments of five surrounding towns were called in as reinforcement. The police tried to regain control of the prison several times, unsuccessfully. According to one corrections officer quoted by the New York Times, "Last night was a riot. Tonight was war." [9]
The morning of October 27, Pennsylvania State Troopers stormed the prison, rescued five hostages, and regained control of the prison. [8] According to officials, the state police stormed a kitchen area where the most militant inmates were holed up and subdued them. The police then rescued one hostage from an adjoining cell-block, and as the police took control, inmates released the remaining hostages. All inmates surrendered by 9 AM.
Some inmates were held in the four cellblocks not destroyed in the riots, and the rest were held outdoors in two recreational fields, surrounded by police in riot gear. Officials said that many inmates had stayed clear of the rioting.
744 of the 2,600 prisoners were immediately transferred to other state penitentiaries, and officials quickly sought to transfer 150 more. The Bureau of Federal Prisons agreed to allow Federal penitentiaries in Pennsylvania to take up to 800 inmates (not the Camp Hill inmates, but state prison inmates whom they displaced after the transfer). [10] Nineteen inmates were bused to SCI Graterford on Nov. 6. According to an indictment by United States Attorney Michael Baylson, they were met by 50 guards, half of whom were in riot gear, and 15 of the inmates were led in handcuffs through a gauntlet of guards who beat them with batons, kicks, and electric stun guns. [11] A lawsuit later by the family of one beaten prisoner, Richard Mayo, said he died seven months later as a result of his injuries and lack of medical care after the beating. A prison spokesman said officials believed Mayo died of complications associated with AIDS. Thirteen guards were indicted in the assault on the inmates at SCI Graterford.
On October 29, Governor Robert P. Casey appointed an independent commission to investigate the riots and bring criminal charges against inmates responsible. [10] As of October 30, five inmates were still believed missing.
On October 31, prison officials announced that all inmates were accounted for. [12] Hundreds of inmates who slept outdoors for three days were returned to cells.
On November 1, Superintendent Freeman was suspended by State Corrections Commissioner, David S. Owens Jr., pending an investigation. [13]
An inmate who was transferred to Camp Hill weeks after the riots described conditions for the inmates: "They took everything from us... No phone calls, no visitors, nothing to read, no one to talk to. Twenty-four hours per day for 45 days... They delivered our food in brown paper bags, and because we were unable to contact anyone, I couldn't contact my family. They had no idea where I was or if I was OK. That was the worst part — that I couldn't call my mother and tell her where I was. I was afraid and miserable. We didn't have soap, no deodorant, no anything. I remember everything was burnt. I was just existing and praying." [14]
A 25-year-old inmate, William Diggs, serving 3 to 6 years for robbery, was the first inmate charged after the riots. [15]
Artifacts, photographs, video footage, and more information can be found at the Pennsylvania State Police Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
The Attica Prison Riot, also known as the Attica Prison Rebellion, the Attica Uprising, or the Attica Prison Massacre, took place at the state prison in Attica, New York; it started on September 9, 1971, and ended on September 13 with the highest number of fatalities in the history of United States prison uprisings. Of the 43 men who died, all but one guard and three inmates were killed by law enforcement gunfire when the state retook control of the prison on the final day of the uprising. The Attica Uprising has been described as an historic event in the prisoners' rights movement.
The New Mexico State Penitentiary riot, which took place on February 2 and 3, 1980, at the Penitentiary of New Mexico (PNM) south of Santa Fe, was the most violent prison riot in U.S. history. Inmates took complete control of the prison and twelve officers were taken hostage. Several inmates were killed by other prisoners, with some being tortured and mutilated because they had previously acted as informants for prison authorities. Police regained control of PNM 36 hours after the riots had begun. By then, thirty-three inmates had died and more than two hundred were treated for injuries. None of the twelve officers taken hostage were killed, but seven suffered serious injuries caused by beatings and rapes.
Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP), also known as Parchman Farm, is a maximum-security prison farm located in the unincorporated community of Parchman in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region. Occupying about 28 square miles (73 km2) of land, Parchman is the only maximum security prison for men in the state of Mississippi, and is the state's oldest prison.
Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility.
A prison officer (PO) or corrections officer (CO), also known as a correctional law enforcement officer or less formally as a prison guard, is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the security of the facility and its property as well as other law enforcement functions. Most prison officers or corrections officers are employed by the government of the jurisdiction in which they operate, although some are employed by private companies that provide prison services to the government.
The State Correctional Institution – Graterford, commonly referred to as SCI Graterford, known prior as Eastern Correctional Institution, Graterford Prison, Graterford Penitentiary, and the Graterford Prison Farm, was a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections prison located in Skippack Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, near Graterford. The prison, located on Graterford Road off of Pennsylvania Route 29, was about 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Philadelphia.
Pontiac Correctional Center, established in June 1871, is an Illinois Department of Corrections maximum security prison for adult males in Pontiac, Illinois. The prison also has a medium security unit that houses medium to minimum security inmates and is classified as Level 3. Until the 2011 abolition of the death penalty in Illinois, the prison housed male death row inmates, but had no execution chamber. Inmates were executed at the Tamms Correctional Center. Although the capacity of the prison is 2172, it has an average daily population of approximately 2000 inmates.
Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), also known as Oregon State Prison, is a maximum security prison in the northwest United States in Salem, Oregon. Originally opened in Portland 173 years ago in 1851, it relocated to Salem fifteen years later. The 2,242-capacity prison is the oldest in the state; the all-male facility is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC). OSP contains an intensive management wing, which is being transformed into a psychiatric facility for mentally ill prisoners throughout Oregon.
Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women is a prison facility for women of the state of New Jersey Department of Corrections, located in Union Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, near Clinton. Its official abbreviation is EMCFW. The facility was named for Edna Mahan, one of the first female correctional superintendents in the U.S.
Menard Correctional Center, known prior to 1970 as Southern Illinois Penitentiary, is an Illinois state prison located in the town of Chester in Randolph County, Illinois. It houses maximum-security and high-medium-security adult males. The average daily population as of 2007 was 3,410.
The Oklahoma State Penitentiary, nicknamed "Big Mac", is a prison of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections located in McAlester, Oklahoma, on 1,556 acres (6.30 km2). Opened in 1908 with 50 inmates in makeshift facilities, today the prison holds more than 750 male offenders, the vast majority of which are maximum-security inmates. They also hold many death row prisoners.
The Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord (MCI-Concord) was a medium security prison for men located in Concord, Massachusetts in the United States. Opened in 1878, it was the oldest running state prison for men in Massachusetts. It was under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. The facility had a total capacity of 614 general population beds, but with a long-term decline in the number of men incarcerated for the entire state, the population as of January 2024 had decreased to about 300, which made Governor Maura Healey announce a plan to close the prison in the summer of that year and transfer the remaining prisoners to other facilities.
The Pendleton Correctional Facility, formerly known as the Indiana Reformatory, is a state prison located in Fall Creek Township, Madison County, near Pendleton and about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Indianapolis. Established in 1923, it was built to replace the Indiana State Reformatory located in Jeffersonville after a fire severely damaged the original property. The Pendleton facility currently offers maximum and minimum-security housing for adult males over 22 years old. The maximum-security portion is made up of 31 acres (130,000 m2) surrounded by a concrete wall. It has an average daily population of approximately 1,650 inmates. Located on the grounds outside the enclosure, the minimum-security dormitory holds approximately 200 prisoners on a daily basis.
Michigan State Prison or Jackson State Prison, which opened in 1839, was the first prison in Michigan. After 150 years, the prison was divided, starting in 1988, into four distinct prisons, still in Jackson: the Parnall Correctional Facility which is a minimum-security prison; the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility where prisoners can finish their general education; the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center which is the common point of processing for all male state prisoners sentenced to any Michigan prison; and the Cooper Street Correctional Facility which is the common point for processing of all male state prisoners about to discharge, parole, or enter a community center or the camp program.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) is the Pennsylvania state agency that is responsible for the confinement, care, and rehabilitation of approximately 37,000 inmates at state correctional facilities funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The agency is headquartered in Hampden Township, Cumberland County in Greater Harrisburg, near Mechanicsburg.
The Missouri State Penitentiary was a prison in Jefferson City, Missouri, that operated from 1836 to 2004. Part of the Missouri Department of Corrections, it served as the state of Missouri's primary maximum security institution. Before it closed, it was the oldest operating penal facility west of the Mississippi River. It was replaced by the Jefferson City Correctional Center, which opened on September 15, 2004. The penitentiary is now a tourist attraction, and guided tours are offered.
Northern Nevada Correctional Center (NNCC) and Stewart Conservation Camp (SCC) are part of a prison complex located in Carson City. The correctional center was established in 1964 and is managed by the Nevada Department of Corrections. The medium security center housed 1,444 male and 9 female inmates as of September 2010. It is designed with a capacity for 1,619 inmates and employs a staff of 373 as of 2008.
State Correctional Institution – Chester is a medium-security, all-male correctional facility in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
The State Correctional Institution – Pine Grove is a Pennsylvania state prison located in Indiana township. The prison contains 19 buildings including 8 housing units.
The State Correctional Institution – Phoenix is a state prison in Skippack Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with a Collegeville postal address, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Operated by Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, it was named after the phoenix bird.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)40°13′00″N76°55′41″W / 40.21667°N 76.92806°W
| Maximum security |
|
|---|---|
| Close security | |
| Medium security | |
| Minimum security | |
| Female institutions | |
| Private | |
| Closed | |
Above facilities are male-only unless noted by ♀(female) or ♂♀ (unisex) | |
