Has there been a lockdown or riot before? “You can’t cage up someone for that long and not expect a reaction,” a mother of an inmate told the Journal Sentinel. The conditions have family members concerned. “These backups are addressed when they become known,” Beard said.ĭue to being under modified movement, there are no large gatherings taking place inside the prison, Beard said. Beard acknowledged a plumbing issue, but said it was started from people flushing things down the toilets. In recent days, inmates' family members said that some cell halls were experiencing plumbing issues resulting in human waste and water in their cells. ![]() “A majority of the population are living two to a cell” with a bunk, Beard said. Beard added that inmates are provided soap and other hygiene items, and can “clean up” in their cells.Ī few inmates have called the conditions inhumane since they are in close proximity with other inmates all day and say it will only get worse as the weather gets warmer, being that the over 170-year-old prison’s cell halls have no air conditioning. At most, inmates would receive maybe one more shower during the week during normal procedures, he said. Beard said that inmates are receiving a shower only once a week, but said that practice is routine. Many family members raised concerns about the frequency of showers inmates are receiving. What are the concerns of inmates and their family members? prisons have been diagnosed with mental illness, while the American Psychological Association estimates more than half of state prisoners in the U.S. The Department of Justice says more than a third of people in U.S. Inmates who have been diagnosed with mental illness are receiving their medication, according to Beard. Family members are growing frustrated as they’d like to see their relatives and get a sense of their well-being, especially those who were housed at Waupun during the COVID-19 pandemic when visitors were greatly curtailed. ![]() Visitors are currently not allowed during modified movement, but inmates are still allowed to make phone calls, Beard said. A few inmates told the Journal Sentinel they are concerned about the quality of the food, sometimes being served a peanut butter and jelly, or bologna sandwich as the main course. Now, with the prison under modified operations, inmates receive fewer privileges compared to normal operations, like visitors and communal time.īeard said inmates are receiving three meals a day and can order from the canteen menu, which gets delivered once a week. What is the typical protocol for lockdown? Inmates and correctional officers asked that their names not be used citing safety concerns. It’s unclear if it was one specific incident or a series of incidents, but many inmates, their family members, and a correctional officer have told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that there have been death threats to staff at Waupun. John Beard, a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections, said at the end of March that “this action was taken in response to some of the institution population breaking rules that are in place to assure everyone’s safety.”īeard said in late April that the prison was still in modified movement because “some people in our care at Waupun Correctional continue to threaten disruption of the facility, as well as assaultive behavior.” It’s unclear exactly why the prison went into the partial lockdown. ![]() The prison went into partial lockdown, or what it calls "modified movement," on March 29. The situation has been made worse by severe staffing shortages and inmates have expressed concerns about being fed low-quality food and dealing with inhumane conditions like human waste and water in their cells. Those concerns are unsettling to prisoners and their family members, who worry that placing restrictions on inmates for more than a month will result in more violent behavior when they are lifted. There are concerns about how and when it will end. This partial lockdown means no visitors and very little time outside of the cell for inmates, but is not a complete lockdown because inmates are able to communicate with the outside world. ![]() The Waupun Correctional Institution has been on partial lockdown for more than a month and officials are not willing to say when it will end.
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