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Read: Correction officers implore Healey not to close Concord prison

“This closing will no doubt place our officers throughout the Commonwealth in grave danger,” the correction officers union warned.

An aerial view of MCI-Concord prison, which opened in 1878. David L Ryan/Boston Globe Staff, File

January 26, 2024

3 minutes to read

Correction officers are urging Gov. Maura Healey to press pause on plans to close MCI-Concord, a move they say could strain the state’s other prisons and put officers and inmates at risk.

Healey’s administration announced earlier this week that MCI-Concord, Massachusetts’s oldest men’s prison, will close by this summer amid a decline in the state prison population. MCI-Concord is currently operating at 50% capacity with a population of about 300 inmates.

In a Wednesday press release, the state’s Department of Correction predicted that closing the prison will save nearly $16 million in operating costs and negate the need for $190 million in capital projects and deferred maintenance at the facility, which opened in 1878.

“The strategic consolidation of resources eliminates redundancies and empowers us to enhance efficiency and ensure a more effective and impactful correctional system for our incarcerated population, the people who work there, and the community,” DOC Commissioner Carol Mici said in a statement Wednesday.

Previously:

Yet the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union took a hard stance against the closure, asserting that closing MCI-Concord or any other state facility “will burden our already violent and dangerous prisons.”

Citing the possibility that higher risk inmates could be relocated to lower level facilities, they asked Healey to halt the closure until a comprehensive transition plan is in place. Closing a correctional facility and disposing of the property requires the state Legislature’s approval, the DOC explained in its press release Wednesday.

“It’s easy for the Governor, and her staff to cut, reduce and eliminate state programs and facilities, but the true test of leadership and management comes with solutions and answers to those cuts, which has been conspicuously absent from the administration,” the union’s executive board said in a statement. “This closing will no doubt place our officers throughout the Commonwealth in grave danger.”

The union expanded on those concerns in a letter to Healey Thursday, with legislative representative Kevin Flanagan noting that the union saw a “tremendous increase” in assaults on staff and inmates after MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole closed and its inmates were transferred to Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster.

“We understand that the number of inmates is down from years past but the inmates that are currently incarcerated are some of [the] most dangerous and violent offenders,” Flanagan wrote. “Concord closing would be the fourth prison in three years, and that stretches the system too thin, with no viable plan to house these most dangerous inmates. This would force higher security inmates to co-mingle with lesser security inmates and place them at risk.”

The union asked for a seat at the table when it comes time to classify inmates, so as to “ensure that inmates with violent or disruptive behavior not be classified to lower security facilities just to make space,” per the letter.

According to the DOC, closing MCI-Concord will free up about 330 staff members who could help alleviate staffing and overtime issues within the state’s correctional system.

“Commissioner Mici and the DOC leadership team are deeply committed to working closely with employees and their union representatives to address any safety concerns and to ensure a fair and equitable relocation of all affected staff to other facilities,” a DOC spokesperson said in a statement. “We are grateful to our corrections staff for their hard work and service.”

The spokesperson added: “As we continue to shape the future of our agency, we are confident that together we can take this essential step to eliminate redundancies, enhance efficiency and ensure a more effective and impactful correctional system while still ensuring the safety of our staff and incarcerated individuals.”

MCOFU Letter to Gov. Healey by Abby Patkin on Scribd