PONTIAC - Lori Lynn Dechene has good reasons for not wanting Pontiac Correctional Center to close.

The Minonk resident and her husband, Joseph, have been correctional officers for 18 years. Her mother, Judy Ellinger, was a nurse there for 23 years, while her stepfather, Robert Ellinger, has been a corrections lieutenant for 25 years.

Her ex-husband, Kevin Casteel, and her brother, Keith Thrasher, have been guards for 15 years; her sister-in-law, Tina Thrasher, for seven.

"(The prison) tends to be the topic of most of our conversations," Dechene said. "It helps because all of us know what the others are going through."

But the tenor of the conversations changed in May, after Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced he wanted to close the 137-year-old, maximum-security prison and transfer half of its inmates to a mostly unused facility in Thomson by next February. The remainder would be moved into other prisons.

Dechene is among about 600 prison workers uncertain about their future. Many are looking for answers about why Blagojevich and the Illinois Department of Corrections want to shut the prison down.

Safety issue?

One reason that has surfaced in recent weeks has focused on safety. The 137-year old building facility houses 1,600 of the state's 42,700 male inmates, but Pontiac supporters say the age of the prison should not be an issue. And the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents most prison workers, recently issued a report that concluded maximum-security prisons like Pontiac are already 5 percent overcrowded.

Closing Pontiac and disbursing 800 inmates into other prisons, could only add to overcrowding elsewhere, posing risks for both prison workers and inmates, the union believes. The entire system is 35 percent over capacity.

But IDOC spokeswoman Januari Smith said via e-mail that DOC's primary mission is the safety of staff, inmates and the community at-large.

"The agency recognizes that its facilities house convicted felons and the potential for danger is always there," Smith said. "The agency's current maximum-security facilities have always been a challenge to operate because of their design, age and drain on public resources. The agency continues to look at the best course of action to take."

Overcrowding can result in more inmates being double-celled (two prisoners sharing the same cell), or in a smaller number of guards responsible for hundreds of inmates at one time.

"Our ultimate goal is to open the maximum portion of Thomson Correctional Center, a $140 million, 1,600-bed, single cell, state-of-the-art facility that provides better lines of sight," she said.

Assaults decline

Although attacks do occur, Smith said there hasn't been a prison riot since July 1978 when three Pontiac prison workers died and three others were severely injured.

In fact, the number of inmate-on-staff assaults in the DOC system has decreased by more than 50 percent since fiscal year 2001. That year, there were 942 assaults, but that number dropped to 400 in fiscal year 2008, which ended in June. An assault can include fighting, pushing, shoving, striking and even spitting.

Inmate-on-inmate assaults have also dropped more than 23 percent, from 2,153 in fiscal year 2001 to 1,653 in fiscal year 2008.

The number of assaults was reduced after new policies restricted the movement of inmates being taken from one area to another, said DOC spokesman Derek Schnapp. In addition, inmates are now given property boxes, a small box for all personal items, that limits places to hide contraband. The skills of prison guards also play a role.

Schnapp said inmates are also very aware of the discipline they will receive.

"We hold inmates accountable and they know that things like segregation or even prosecution from the state's attorney is a punishment," he said. "Every assault allegation is investigated, and the inmate will be disciplined."

Building improvements

Over the years, physical improvements have also been made to Pontiac to improve safety. They include enclosed food hatches; solid steel doors; non-contact visit areas; and a segregation unit that keeps inmates in their cells for more than 23 hours a day.

Dechene attested to the safety of the facility, despite its age of more than a century.

"Pontiac might be one of the oldest prisons, but it's built very well," she said. "I absolutely feel that the prison is a safe place to work. I feel more scared walking through a parking lot at the mall at night than in the prison."

Still, Smith said moving inmates to Thomson would allow officials to single-cell a greater proportion of Pontiac's inmates. Thomson also has two-tiered, tapered housing units that provide improved lines of sight so single-celled inmates can be more effectively monitored.

But, while the AFSCME report said Thomson facility was designed and built to reduce overcrowding in state prisons, closing one maximum-security facility to open another doesn't solve the problem.

"But because Pontiac is considered the most secure of the state's maximum-security prisons, it has by far the lowest rate of double-celling of any such facility," the report said. "It serves as the safety valve for the prison system, the location to which inmates who attack staff or engage in other acts of extreme violence can be swiftly reassigned."

Dechene said she wants to see Thomson open, but added it lacks something that technology can't provide.

"I'm sure it is a fine facility, but it's all electronic and you can't put the human factor in there," she said. "We are dealing with the worst of the worst, and sometimes you need to make sure that an inmate gets in their cell. This type of safety and security relies on electronics, and nothing is as safe as human contact for this job.

"I would love to see Thomson open, but not with our inmates. It's just not built for that."

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Prison assaults

The chart below lists inmate-on-staff and inmate-on-inmate assaults at Illinois prisons. An assault includes fighting; pushing; shoving; intentionally bumping or tripping; kicking; intentionally striking with an object, hand or other body part; spitting and throwing food, liquids or other material. The fiscal year for the Illinois Department of Corrections begins July 1 and ends June 30.

Inmate on staff assaults

FY01…942

FY02…785

FY03…649

FY04…433

FY05…489

FY06…410

FY07…344

FY08…400

Inmate on inmate assaults

FY01…2,153

FY02…1,957

FY03…1,674

FY04…1,469

FY05…1,430

FY06…1,416

FY07…1,364

FY08…1,653

SOURCE: IDOC