A new prison in Oahu may have to get a lot bigger in the near future

New projections released on Thursday suggest that the prison that will replace the Oahu Community Correctional Center will have to accommodate more than twice as many inmates as the original Kalihi prison was designed.

Consultant Pulitzer / Bogard & Associates examined years of data on the OCCC inmates and concluded that the new prison will require 1,012 prison beds for investigative and other inmates by 2024 and an additional 393 fewer if the Hawaiian criminal justice system continues its current path Beds to house convicted felons who will soon be released.

Longtime prison reform advocate Kat Brady told the Hawaii Correctional Systems Oversight Commission after a presentation by Pulitzer / Bogard that she was “appalled” that the state was considering building a new prison that could house up to 1,405 prisoners at a time could become.

The prison was originally designed for 628 inmates, but over the years has an “operating capacity” of 954 inmates. withdrawn in many cases.

The OCCC held 887 men and women on July 5, which is significantly fewer than the normal prison population. For example, at the end of July 2019, OCCC held 1,170 prisoners.

Monica Espitia, Field Organizing Director of the ACLU of Hawaii, said correction officers shouldn’t talk about building a new prison until Hawaii takes steps like reforming its bail system and overhauling the way the state handles minor offenders and parole – and bypasses probation violations.

“If you build more beds, they will fill them,” Espitia said in an interview. “They’ll fill these beds, and it’ll be filled with people who don’t have to be there. It will be filled with people who could be better cared for in a clinic, shelter, schooling, or some kind of substance abuse support. “

“There are many other ways to help people instead of caging them in more harm,” she said.

In fact, Pulitzer / Bogard executives told the commission the state can take a number of steps to reduce Oahu’s prison population.

They estimated that the average daily number of inmates could be reduced by 200 or more if the state implemented various criminal law directives, such as reducing the number of people held in prison for suspended sentences and parole violations.

Another move that would reduce the average number at OCCC would be the elimination of the cash deposit for certain minor offenses, which has already been proposed by lawmakers.

Advisors working on the prison project expect the state to launch a call for proposals early next year for bids. A 2017 report prepared for the state estimated that building a new prison in Halawa would cost $ 433-673 million, but state lawmakers have yet to fund the construction.

When asked if the Department of Public Security is in favor of the state building a new prison that could hold more than 1,400 men, a ministry spokeswoman responded with a written statement quoting the population estimate of 1,405 in 2024.

“The goal of the Department of Public Safety is to provide safe accommodation for all inmates who are sent into our custody,” said spokeswoman Toni Schwartz in the written statement. “The current infrastructure and design of the OCCC prisons are outdated, inefficient, overcrowded and no longer meet our requirements.”

“The current OCCC program is being reviewed to ensure that the rooms for reception, housing, administration, treatment programs / services, health care, support and other functional components are the right size for the state of Hawaii to meet its needs without construction.” a facility that is larger or smaller than necessary, ”Schwartz said in the statement.