Closing to affect law enforcement jobs in Connecticut
Posted on April 8, 2017
The closing of a prison will affect law enforcement jobs in Connecticut.
As a result of the continuing decline in the state’s crime rate and the resulting drop in the prison population, the Connecticut Department of Correction (DOC) has closed the Radgowski Annex Building at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville.
The closure of the building, which is capable of holding up to 254 inmates, will save the state approximately $3 million in annual operating costs.
“As crime in Connecticut has dropped to its lowest level in two generations and the prison population has subsequently declined to its lowest level in 23 years, we’ve been able to create efficiencies by closing outdated prisons and portions of facilities, and reallocating these resources toward efforts that will further enhance public safety initiatives and keep our neighborhoods even safer,” Governor Malloy said. “Across the nation, elected leaders from both sides of the aisle are recognizing that these kinds of reforms are working, and Connecticut is leading these efforts. Violent, high-risk inmates are serving more of their original sentences than ever before. We are making real progress and in the process, improving lives and bettering our communities.”
The Radgowski Annex opened in 1957 when it was then known as the Montville Correctional Center. It closed in 1991 for a brief period and then re-opened in 1997 as part of the Radgowski Correctional Institution, which later merged with the Corrigan Correctional Institution in 2001 and was renamed as the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center under a consolidation plan.
The facility confined both pretrial and sentenced offenders, and serves Superior Courts in Danielson, New London, Norwich, and Windham.
“The closing of infrastructure is a good indication that fewer people are returning to prison,” DOC Commissioner Scott Semple said. “The reduction in the offender population not only speaks to successful criminal justice reforms, but also represents the dedicated work of the men and women of the Department of Correction.”
According to the FBI, reported crime in Connecticut is now at its lowest level since 1967. Statewide arrests, jail admissions and recidivism are at historic lows as well. For example, the total number of prisoners returned to prison within one year of release for those released in 2014 was 900 lower than for those released in 2011.
Today, the state’s total inmate population is approximately 14,560. The all-time high population peaked in 2008 at 19,894 inmates.
