Calipatria State Prison

Infobox Prison
prison_name = Calipatria State Prison (CAL)

http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Visitors/images/aerialShots/CAL_8x10.jpgAerial View]
location = Calipatria, California, United States
coordinates = coord|33.166|-115.486
status = Operational
classification = maximum, minimum
capacity = 2,308 (but houses 4,180 as of September 2007)
opened = 1992
closed =
managed_by = California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
director = Larry Small, Warden

Calipatria State Prison (CAL) is a male-only California state prison located in the city of Calipatria, in Imperial County. It is in southeastern California, east of the Salton Sea.

Current facility

Although "located about convert|3|mi|km just outside of the city" of Calipatria, CAL is "annexed into the city limits." [ [http://www.calipatria.com/ City of Calipatria official Web site.] Accessed 22 Dec 2007.] Called the lowest prison in the Western Hemisphere, it lies convert|184|ft|m below sea level.California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. [http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Visitors/Facilities/CAL.html Calipatria State Prison (CAL).] Accessed 20 Dec 2007.] As of Fiscal Year 2005/2006, CAL had a total of 1,143 staff and an annual operating budget of $123 million.

CAL "covers a total of 1,227.5 acres (with the prison on 300 acres)." As of September 2007, it had a design capacity of 2,308 but a total institution population of 4,180, for an occupancy rate of 181.1 percent.California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. [http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Reports_Research/Offender_Information_Services_Branch/Monthly/TPOP1A/TPOP1Ad0709.pdf Monthly Report of Population as of Midnight September 30, 2007.] ] Over 2,000 of its housing units are maximum-security Level IV ("Cells, fenced or walled perimeters, electronic security, more staff and armed officers both inside and outside the installation"); the remainder are minimum-security Level I ("Open dormitories without a secure perimeter").California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. [http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Visitors/docs/20071015-WEBmapbooklet.pdf California's Correctional Facilities.] Accessed 22 Dec 2007.]

History

CAL opened in January 1992, approximately 22 months before California State Prison, Centinela (the other state prison in Imperial County). A $1.5 million electrified fence, which could cause "instant death for any inmate trying to escape" and which was the first of its kind among California state prisons, was installed around CAL in November 1993. [Buzbee, Sally Streff. Prisoner Advocates Voice Dismay Over State Facility's Lethal - Fence. "Daily News of Los Angeles", November 21, 1993.] Furillo, Andy. Pressures Building in State's 32 Prisons. "Sacramento Bee", January 19, 1997.] After a number of birds had died by electrocution, "the Department of Corrections... hired an ornithologist to help redesign the fence."Davis, Mike. A Prison-Industrial Complex: Hell Factories in the Field. "The Nation", Vol. 260, Issue 7, pp. 229-234, February 20, 1995. [http://www.radicalurbantheory.com/mdavis/hellfactories.html HTML version.] ]

As of 1995, CAL's problems included "double-celling" (placing two inmates in bunk beds in a cell designed for one), "psychological stress," a "drastic shortage of work" for prisoners, "chronic understaffing" among prison employees, and gang violence. A May 1995 incident in which "five inmates stabbed and beat eight officers" was described in 1997 as "the worst inmate attack on staff [in California state prisons] in recent years."

Angelo Buono, Jr. (also known as the Hillside Strangler) died at CAL in September 2002 of a "massive heart attack." [Saunders, Debra J. Death of a strangler. "San Francisco Chronicle", October 1, 2002.]

An August 2005 "riot" at CAL was "the most violent uprising in the prison's 13-year history."Schmidt, Steve. [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050904-9999-1n4prison.html Calipatria riot reflects troubled prison system. Crowding, violence just part of problem.] "San Diego Union-Tribune", September 4, 2005.] The event "left 25 inmates and 25 prison staff members wounded." A guard "shot and killed" an inmate with a "Mini-14 semiautomatic rifle," which was believed to have contributed to ending the violence. A spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation stated that the disturbance "involve [d] southern Hispanic gang members." [Graswich, R.E. Violent episode at Calipatria prison hard to categorize, officials say. "Sacramento Bee", August 24, 2005.]

References