SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Governor Schwarzenegger’s plan to transfer thousands of California inmates to facilities in other states is faltering. One of the main causes is thought to be intimidation.
Sources familiar with the prison system disclosed to the San Francisco Chronicle that gangs concerned about losing numbers and power are ordering their members behind bars not to cooperate with corrections officials looking for volunteers to move to prisons in other states.
The state’s prison system has been at what Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn calls a “crisis level” of overcrowding for some time. With a shortage of volunteers for the transfers, corrections officials may be forced to move inmates to other states against their will, an idea both inmate advocates and prison guards adamantly oppose.
The administration has resolved to continue the transfers until a better solution comes along, according to Mendelsohn.
"The governor declared an emergency and started moving prisoners out right away. We will continue to do that until we have a better way to address the prison overcrowding," he said.
Meanwhile, prison guards are working massive amounts of overtime because of overcrowding and other strains on the system. Six thousand officers’ salaries have been bumped to over $100,000 a year. That’s a rise in overtime costs of 24 percent in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period this year, according to the Los Angeles Times.
(RdD)
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