Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 12:01 a.m.
Prison safety bill goes to governor
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OLYMPIA -- Corrections officers in state prisons are a step closer to gaining use of special body alarms, panic buttons on radios and, in some locations, pepper spray to help make their jobs safer.
On Tuesday, the state House voted 97-0 to approve a bill to carry out recommendations from a team of federal experts that studied prison working conditions following the murder of Monroe corrections officer Jayme Biendl.
The legislation, which passed the Senate 49-0 on April 9, now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire for her expected signature.
"This is the first step. This is not the final step," said Rep. Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw, before Tuesday's vote.
Under Senate Bill 5907, the Department of Corrections must set up a committee to study security issues at each facility. Committee membership must include corrections officers and other workers.
In the next few months, the department must figure out how to equip some officers with body alarms and allow others to carry pepper spray as a security measure. It also will look at where to install additional video monitoring cameras in prisons and whether to hire more officers for some facilities.
The proposed budgets of the House and Senate each contain $6 million to start making the improvements.
On Tuesday, the state House voted 97-0 to approve a bill to carry out recommendations from a team of federal experts that studied prison working conditions following the murder of Monroe corrections officer Jayme Biendl.
The legislation, which passed the Senate 49-0 on April 9, now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire for her expected signature.
"This is the first step. This is not the final step," said Rep. Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw, before Tuesday's vote.
Under Senate Bill 5907, the Department of Corrections must set up a committee to study security issues at each facility. Committee membership must include corrections officers and other workers.
In the next few months, the department must figure out how to equip some officers with body alarms and allow others to carry pepper spray as a security measure. It also will look at where to install additional video monitoring cameras in prisons and whether to hire more officers for some facilities.
The proposed budgets of the House and Senate each contain $6 million to start making the improvements.
Story tags » • Prison • Legislature • Health & Safety at Work
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