State has stretched prisons beyond limits, officials say
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
An improvised system of nets and cables are strung from the second tier of Module 4 at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center. They're meant to stop inmates from hurling themselves to the hard floor below.
The setup looks more like a zoo's orangutan habitat than a cellblock for inmates with severe or chronic mental illness, including inmates considered serious suicide risks.
The 30-cell unit, where Byran Uyesugi was held after gunning down seven co-workers in 1999 in Honolulu's worst mass-murder, simply wasn't designed for such inmates. It's among many examples of how the state's biggest prison has been forced to do what it shouldn't.
OCCC houses about 1,200 prisoners — almost twice as many as it was meant to hold. The prison was envisioned in the early 1970s as a low-security facility where inmates would serve short sentences, participate in work programs, and transition back into society, said acting warden Francis Sequeira.
"It didn't pan out that way," Sequeira said. "Since the early '80s, to this day, it's been makeshift."
Wings and modules have been added as money became available, and repairs have been made. But the inmate population steadily has increased, and most OCCC prisoners these days are awaiting trial on felony charges. Many have serious drug-abuse and behavioral problems, and the ways to safely control them are limited, Sequeira said.
Nearly a year after a costly plan to replace the aging facility was shelved, officials again are studying how best to deal with a problem that's not going away.
OCCC is outmoded and expensive to operate, with a troubling history of escapes.
"It's amazing that the staff is able to do as good a job as they do with a facility built like this," Department of Public Safety director John Peyton said yesterday during a visit to OCCC with several lawmakers.
But finding money for a new prison — and an acceptable place to build it — have been thorny questions for years. And facilities on the Big Island, Kaua'i and Maui also are nearing the end of their useful life, according to Gov. Linda Lingle.
Several lawmakers said they are impressed with the Federal Detention Center that opened in 2001 near Honolulu International Airport. Its 12-story design is far different than the cluster of two-story modules and single-floor barracks at OCCC, and is considered more secure and efficient to operate.
"The contrast was just amazing. It's phenomenal," said Senate Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha).
Hanabusa said she was deeply troubled by conditions that pretrial prisoners live under at OCCC. Many are held in hot, crowded barracks. Some spend years there as cases grind through the courts.
"It could be anyone," Hanabusa said. "You're not guilty yet, and maybe never will be."
The state spends about $2.6 million per year to rent cells at the federal center to ease crowding at OCCC. And more than $25 million is spent to send Hawai'i inmates to private Mainland prisons because there's no room here.
"I think we do have to upgrade our facilities, and that over the long run we'll see some savings," said House Judiciary Chairman Eric Hamakawa, D-3rd (Hilo, Kea'au, Mountain View).
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano was negotiating with developers to build a $130 million replacement for OCCC in Halawa. But after Lingle was elected, she asked that the project be shelved so her administration could consider options. A study is under way to determine what facilities and programs are needed.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
