FILE - An aerial view captures the Danbury Connecticut Federal Correctional Institute Sept. 24, 2004. Two U.S. senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, they were denied access to major parts of the prison while trying to examine conditions there. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Two US senators said Wednesday that they were denied access to parts of a federal prison in Connecticut while trying to examine conditions there in response to complaints about a staffing shortage and lack of coronaviruses.
The Bureau of Prisons said there were concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
Two state lawmakers, along with labor union leaders, visited the federal prison with two senators. Murphy said that they were able to see a men's unit after a fight, despite being barred from the main women's facility.
Murphy said that there was a decision made to stop them from seeing some of the conditions at the prison.
It should be open for inspection during good times and bad times. If the Bureau of Prisons decided that the U.S. lawmakers wouldn't be able to see what was happening in these prisons during a crisis, that would be a problem.
The itinerary given to the senators was rejected at the last moment, according to Blumenthal.
The officials here said they would love for you to come back when COVID is over. That was the whole point.
The Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that Murphy and Blumenthal were given a tour of the prison based on current safety protocols.
The statement said that the tour was adjusted for health and safety reasons after an increase in COVID-19 cases.
The bureau did not respond to questions about staffing and coronaviruses. Responses were being prepared by the bureau.
The senators were kept away from areas where inmates were, according to the executive vice president of the local prison staff union. He said prison officials had no objections to the original itinerary.
Boylan said the tour was changed to include a dining room for men and secure areas just outside the housing units.
According to the bureau, the prison complex houses over a thousand inmates. Murphy and the union say 40% of the inmates are in isolation because of the coronaviruses.
In federal prisons, the virus has been spreading again. The Bureau of Prisons has 145,000 inmates in institutions and community-based facilities.
More than 1,640 of the 36,000 staff members are currently affected by the coronaviruses, according to data from the bureau.
Staffing levels and virus infections at prisons have been concerns under outgoing bureau Director Michael Carvajal.
Boylan said a shortage of staff is forcing many officers to work double shifts. He said that officers are exhausted and that conditions are dangerous.
Staffing problems are resulting in officers working in several units, which may be helping to spread the virus. He said that it was taking too long to get the test results for staff.
Boylan said that they don't have the staff to stop the spread of coronaviruses because they are using shortened numbers of staff.
Boylan said there are more than 80 correctional officers at Danbury, compared with 115 two years ago and 72 officers short of meeting Bureau of Prisons staffing guidelines. He said that the staff to unit ratio is 1 to 3 and that the bureau's goal is one officer per prison unit. The officers are out of work because of the illness.
The union doesn't agree with the number of people that the bureau says are in Danbury.
Blumenthal said he will be asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate staffing at federal prisons.
Murphy, Blumenthal and other Democrats called for a federal investigation of the prison complex after they received reports of officials not following coronaviruses protocols.
The Bureau of Prisons follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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