Halawa prison checked for building flaws
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
Acting Public Safety Director James Propotnick says he wants to know if any design and construction flaws at the Halawa high-security prison were factors in the escape of three inmates April 4, and if contractors may be liable.
Albert Batalona, Warren Elicker and David Scribner escaped from Module C, which was added to the prison 16 years ago. The men, who broke through an interior wall and squeezed through a plumbing space into an unlocked storage room below their cells, then made their way outside, were recaptured last week.
PROPOTNICK
The director said he is also exploring having the National Institute of Corrections send a security evaluation team to look at Halawa. "We want to ask them, 'What are we looking at and not seeing?' The answer won't embarrass us, it will educate us," Propotnick said.
Meanwhile, Propotnick told all wardens and their top staff this week that although the prisons undoubtedly need more workers, they are unlikely to get them, "so we have to get smarter with what we have."
The director said Halawa Warden Nolan Espinda, transferred to an administrative job this week, wasn't reassigned principally because of the escape at that facility. But "it helps to get fresh eyes up there," Propotnick said.
The fresh eyes at Halawa belong to O'ahu Community Correctional Center Warden Clayton Frank, a career corrections official given the warden's job at Halawa this week.
Frank, who will meet with staff at Halawa today and actually takes over on Monday, said he looked at the space the escapees wormed their way through and was amazed.
"I'm speculating, but I'll bet they had to soap themselves up to slip through that space," Frank said.
And the fact that the three escapees were fairly slight of build — Batalona lost an estimated 40 pounds preparing for the break — was a key to their success, Frank said.
Propotnick said he believes that Halawa, with a single escape in its history, is "ahead of the game" compared to similar institutions around the country.
And while Halawa eventually should be replaced, the staff has to deal with its shortcomings till then, Propotnick said.
The entire physical plant is being re-examined, but Propotnick said that he believes the weak points the escapees found were the only ones. He said he does not believe anyone else can break out now. But he added that the pukas the escapees discovered weren't known to the authorities until the escapees "pointed them out to us."
He said the age of the facility and crowding there apparently did not play a role in the escape.
"We are at capacity, and we can handle what we have. Crowding strains security just because there are more people to deal with, but it is the same building."
Propotnick said Espinda — now on vacation — has been reassigned to the director's office for administrative duties involving all prisons.
"He wasn't moved principally because of the escapes," Propotnick said, noting that other wardens, including Frank, have had escapes at their facilities as well.
"It can happen and it will happen again," the director said.
Halawa compares well with many other institutions around the country with its history of only one escape, Propotnick said.
"Men build prisons and men can beat them, and it's up to us to augment the physical plant itself with live security, knowing the inmates are watching us, too."
Deputy OCCC Warden Francis Sequeira takes over as acting warden there, Propotnick said.
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
