Alger Correctional Town Hall

On Thursday, March 4, Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington, along with Human Resources Administrator Christine Hunnicutt and Deputy Directors Jeremy Bush, Lia Gulick and Russ Marlan, had the opportunity to speak with current staff from both Alger Correctional Facility and the surrounding Parole and Probation offices. Staff who took part in the virtual meeting brought a lot of great questions to the table, and we hope they will help provide answers for MDOC employees across the state.

Q. Keeping contraband out of the prison is an extremely high priority. In recent years, it has become harder and harder to detect various drugs, as some drugs are virtually impossible to detect with the naked eye or with the use of a light-pad. The process of copying non-legal mail has certainly aided in stopping a lot of contraband before it enters the facility, but unfortunately there are still drugs within our facilities. Would the MDOC consider purchasing technological equipment (example: TruNarc handheld analyzer) that could be very beneficial in detecting/identifying drugs or try piloting such a device to see the effects/results of using a device at a facility? I truly believe this could prove useful by stopping contraband from getting into prisoner hands, help identify contraband when it’s found, and keep the staff and prisoners safe.

· Deputy Director Bush — We are open to any suggestions that staff have. This will be referred to the EPIC team to look into.

Q. In regard to contraband, is the MDOC looking at changing the process for incoming legal mail? LMF has recently had 3 incidents of contraband coming in through the “legal mail” in 2 days.

· Director Washington — We are looking at the legal mail process and tracking all instances of legal mail being used inappropriately. We implemented the new process on the regular mail first and are now looking into the challenges that will come with the scanning of legal mail and how we can implement the process.

Q. Do you foresee prisoners who are vaccinated receiving transfers? i.e. in segregation for protection?

· Director Washington — Part of our COVID strategy was to reduce transfers to try and limit the spread of the virus. As more prisoners are vaccinated and we see less positives, we will be more comfortable with opening transfers. Also, we want to make sure prisoners are staying in the same location to receive both doses of the vaccine. Assistant Deputy Director Brewer is diligently working on the transfer requests and we are discussing these daily.

· Deputy Director Bush — We are doing urgent/emergent transfers first and will then work down the line.

Q. When is the next UP academy?

· Deputy Director Gulick — Graduation for the current U.P. academy is tomorrow, March 5, 2021. The next class is scheduled to being April 19, 2021 and then July 12, 2021.

Q. What is the long view on the use of gate pass prisoners because they seem to be incredibly difficult to find them?

· Director Washington — Gate pass prisoners are harder to come by due to the fact that the parole rate is so high and those eligible are leaving prison as soon as they are eligible for release so that has impacted this process. With COVID we have restricted movement and as soon as things stabilized a little more, we can get back to more of a normal operation in regard to gate pass.

· Deputy Director Bush — We have had to work with some facilities to get them gate pass prisoners and we may have to look at alternatives in the future.

Q. Would you consider a satellite academy in the UP, such as Baraga, to encourage locals to interview if they knew they would not have to travel for the academy? The MDOC would save on lodging, meals and travel, and there are staff including myself who have worked at the academy as a training Lt. who would be able to train the new recruits.

· Deputy Director Gulick — We have not considered a satellite academy as we want everyone trained the same way and having one academy ensures continuity.

Q. If I have been on an EPIC Team previously, could I be chosen to be on another?

· Director Washington — Yes, absolutely. We have recently launched several EPIC teams. A couple teams that will be starting soon will consist of a main team and focus groups. I encourage individuals to participate on teams and/or focus groups. We are also looking at starting the Green Team back up as we are in the process of starting a solar project in St. Louis and on some other properties.

Q. Will the EPIC Employee Engagement Team continue in the future?

· Director Washington — Yes, that is an ongoing team and will continue.

Q. Off topic…has there been any talk about instituting restrictions for violations in prisoner store just as the Friends and Family. We would love to be able to hold prisoners accountable for this misuse.

· Deputy Director Bush — There is information in policy for friends and family. The store is not included however if you have a recommendation, please send it to me and I will look into it.

Q. When can we expect to begin PA415 classroom training?

· Deputy Director Gulick — The modules for CBT are being uploaded. Deputy Director Gulick reported after the townhall that they are planning to being PA415 training in May.

Q. I am very concerned over a change in the mail policy, that could allow for drugs to enter our facility, who should I direct that to beyond LMF staff?

· Director Washington — You can send an email to any of us on this call if there is an issue.

Q. What is the status of the CO’s that were recently assaulted at other UP prisons?

· Director Washington — They are all home and resting. There have been serious assaults recently at Marquette Branch Prison, Saginaw Correctional, and Baraga Correctional. These assaults are a reminder of how serious this job is and how important it is to remain diligent and watch out for others around you. The staff and wardens have really appreciated the outpouring of support that they have received via emails and calls. We are trying to strategize on some new things that we can do as there is an uptick of drugs and assaults.

· Deputy Director Bush — This is truly about the person next to you. We were grateful that there were staff in the area and that they used their training and were there to assist.

Q. Warden Schroeder — When these assaults happen, is there a way that a message could be sent to wardens to share with staff so that they do not hear about it on Facebook.

· Director Washington –We will take this feedback and improve our process and make sure we are doing something quickly and share something that you can share with staff at the time.

Q. With the large number of prisoners being released on parole, would we look at spreading out the prison population across all prisons to allow for lower populations in all prisons versus looking at a possible closure (due to the significant decline in prisoner population)? I understand COVID may limit the possibility of transfers currently, but a lower population in each prison may help combat COVID spread/outbreak.

· Director Washington — Throughout this year we have been able to utilize the space we have to create COVID units around the state. That space allowed us to have a place that we could safely quarantine those that were COVID positive. The department is heavily invested in education and training and delivering evidence-based programs. The result is offenders being released, being productive and staying out. That is success and that results in a declining prison population and low recidivism rate.

Q. Can we order recruitment cards?

· Deputy Director Gulick — Yes, we can. I will send information to the facility.

Q. The U.P. Virtual Recruiting event, does this event only promote the officer positions or will it promote other positions as well?

· Deputy Director Gulick — This recruiting event is focused on Corrections Officers however there will be an opportunity for someone that is looking for any type of position within the department to obtain information.