Posted at 10 a.m., Wednesday, August 8, 2001

Prison launches surprise shakedown

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

State sheriffs hand-searched inmates and police dogs sniffed for drugs today in the first day of a surprise shakedown at the Oahu Community Correctional Center, according to the facility's warden.

The shakedown is the first conducted this fiscal year and will last probably until Friday, said warden Clayton Frank.

All visitations, except for attorney visits, will be postponed and all workline activities will be stopped until the shakedown is completed, Frank said. The facility still continues medical treatment and will feed inmates during the shakedown, Frank said.

Frank said OCCC's population has steadily increased since April and officials decided to launch the shakedown today out of concern for the safety of staff and inmates. Frank said no one incident sparked the shakedown.

"We're looking for contrabands, weapons or drugs," Frank said. "It's a good opportunity to look at our operation in the housing units and everything else."

In past shakedowns, guards have found makeshift weapons made from sanded-down toothbrushes or crude clubs made from towel racks, Frank said.

"You never know what you will find until after the shakedown," Frank continued. "It runs the gamut from shanks, drugs, tattoo machines, extra pens, pencils."

Frank said an influx of inmates in the recent months from the Weed & Seed program and additional arrests has overcrowded OCCC and forced inmates to triple-bunk. OCCC currently has about 1,200 inmates which is about 100 inmates above the operating capacity of 1,107, Frank said.

An inmate who is found with an illegal item faces disciplinary segregation ranging from 14 to 60 days, depending on what is found, Frank said. Frank said OCCC officials usually conduct shakedowns in the summer and sometimes in the fall.