California State Prison, Centinela
 Aerial View | |
 | |
| Location | Imperial County, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°49′23″N 115°47′20″W / 32.823°N 115.789°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Minimum-Maximum |
| Capacity | 2,308 |
| Population | 3,318 (143.8%)[1] (as of March 1, 2018) |
| Opened | October 1993 |
| Managed by | California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation |
| Warden | Raymond Madden[2] |
California State Prison, Centinela (CEN) is a male-only state prison located in Imperial County, California, approximately 20 miles (32 km) from Imperial and El Centro.[3] The facility is sometimes referenced Centinela State Prison.[4]
Facilities
CEN is situated on 2,000 acres (810 ha).[4] Of its housing units, 2 Level IV, 1 Level III, 1 Level III SNY yards ("5 two tier buildings on each yard, 100 Double occupancy cells per building, razor wire cinder block/ chain link fenced perimeters and armed coverage") all surrounded by an additional electrified fence protected by two razor wire atop chain link fences and 1 Level I yard (2 buildings, open dormitory, maximum capacity of 200 inmates each, with secure chain link fence perimeter). Facility also includes a "CTC" ("Correctional Treatment Center", treating medical, dental, and mental health issues with an integrated hospital type area/ department)."ADSEG" (administrative segregation) has a maximum occupancy of 175, and a Firehouse (Centinela Fire Department, CEP is the three letter identifier) that houses 8 Level I inmates actively trained as structural/ wildland firefighters. Centinela Fire Department is part of the institutions rehabilitation program. It provides rigorous and accelerated training meeting state fire certification, equivalent to a volunteer structural/ wildland firefighter. A library facility was established in 2016. [4][5]
Population and staffing
As of Fiscal Year 2007/2008, CEN had a total of 1,266 staff and an annual institutional operating budget of $161 million.[4] As of December 2008, it had a design capacity of 2,383 but a total institution population of 5,097, for an occupancy rate of 213% percent.[6]
As of March 1, 2018, the population was 3,318, for an occupancy rate of 143.8%.[1]
History
CEN was named after Cerro Centinela, the Spanish name for Mount Signal which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. The prison opened in October 1993,[4] approximately 22 months after Calipatria State Prison located approximately 40 miles (64 km) north.[4]
A 1994 statute "require[d] the U.S. attorney general either to agree to compensate a state for incarcerating an illegal immigrant or to take the undocumented criminal into federal custody."[7] In January 1996, the administration of Governor Pete Wilson "tested the law" by asking Immigration and Naturalization Service agents "to take custody of a 25-year-old illegal immigrant serving time in Centinela State Prison for drug offenses"; however, the agents refused.[7] Therefore, in March 1996 Wilson sued the federal government to enforce the 1994 law.[7]
As of 1997, CEN was the "most overcrowded prison in the state" as it ran at "259 percent of designed capacity."[8] By 2007, however, Avenal State Prison was the California state prison system's "most overcrowded facility."[9]
In August 2006, a quadriplegic inmate died after the air conditioning failed in a van carrying him and another inmate from California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran to CEN.[10] According to a reporter's summary of statements by "the federal official now in control of medical care in the state's prison system," the death was "proof of a broken system"; according to the reporter's summary of statements by representatives of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the death was "a terrible event caused by happenstance."[10]
Notable prisoners
References
- ^ a b "California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: Monthly Report of Population as of Midnight February 28, 2018" (PDF). California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Internal Oversight and Research. March 1, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ CDCR. "CDCR - Centinela State Prison (CEN)". www.cdcr.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
- ^ California State Board of Equalization. Prison Impact Study. Supplemental Report of the 2001 Budget Act for FY 2001-02. March 28, 2002.
- ^ a b c d e f California State Prison, Centinela (CEN) (2009). "Mission Statement". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original on August 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. California's Correctional Facilities. Archived 2007-12-14 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 24 Dec 2007.
- ^ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Monthly Report of Population as of Midnight September 30, 2007.
- ^ a b c Holding, Reynolds. Wilson Sues Over Cost of Illegal Immigrants - Again. He says U.S. broke law by not accepting inmate. San Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 1996.
- ^ Furillo, Andy. Pressures Building in State's 32 Prisons. Sacramento Bee, January 19, 1997.
- ^ Furillo, Andy. Health care crisis behind bars: Three deaths in two months focus federal attention on state's most overcrowded facility. The Sacramento Bee, May 4, 2007.
- ^ a b Martin, Mark. Inmate stuck in van for hours died in desert heat. The San Francisco Chronicle, November 17, 2006.
