RC correction facility remains in lockdown

By MaryHelen Swanson

Inmates at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Rush City will continue to be confined to their cells until an investigation into a disturbance last Saturday has been completed, said Warden Bob Feneis.

Saturdayís disturbance was the second offender incidence in the week, but the two did not involve the same offender population, said the warden Monday afternoon.

Saturdayís incident began about 3 p.m. when 30 general population offenders were returning from gym to their housing unit, Feneis said. They refused to go back into their cells and barricaded themselves in the ìflagî area or common area outside the cells using tables and appliances to block the door.

They were contained within the housing unit.

The offenders, Feneis said, had makeshift weapons of things that are available to them such as broom handles.

During the height of the disturbance, as the official incident management protocol was put into place, specially trained individuals known as a SORT team were called in to the prison. Deputies from the Chisago County Sheriffís Department, as well as the Rush City Fire Department and area ambulance services were called to the prison also.

Chisago County deputies were stationed at the entrance of the road to the prison at Forest Blvd. and checked identification as members of the SORT team arrived.

Feneis noted that the institution regularly practices and trains to respond to any kind of incident. Local emergency services are included in the institutionís training process.

Around 6 p.m., according to the warden, the offenders were persuaded to enter their cells. Local emergency units left the prison around 7:30 p.m. but deputies remained at the road entrance.

Every effort is made, Feneis said, to resolve any incident first without any kind of force, and that, he said, is what happened Saturday.

In fact, Feneis said, it was resolved without the use of the SORT team. A variety of staff members, Feneis said, talked to the offenders and convinced them it was in their best interest to return to their cells.

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Offenders need to understand they are not going to get their way, the warden said.
The prison remains in lockdown status as an investigation is underway.
Feneis believes the groupís initial issue was over a schedule change. The institution schedule is rigid, he said, and determines when the inmates are let out of their cells, when they eat, go to the gym, have visitations, etc. The prison staff will continue to investigate the reasons behind the disturbance, he said.
During the investigation the prison will conduct a shakedown (search) of the cells and interview those offenders they feel need to be interviewed. Feneis said it would not include all of the offenders in the prison.
Part of the lockdown process will be determining what to do next, Feneis said. He expects that some of the offenders will be placed in segregation and others may be transferred to other institutions.
There were no injuries to staff or offenders in Saturdayís incident. Some property damage occurred.
Feneis said at no time was there a possibility of escape and he firmly believes the staff at the facility and the people of the Rush City community were in no danger.
The Rush City Fire Department was called out as part of standard protocol, Feneis said, reiterating that the emphasis is always on resolving an incident without the use of force.
He said the staff did an outstanding job and he is grateful to local law enforcement, the fire department and emergency services that responded.
The length of the lockdown is unknown, Feneis said, and during the lockdown the inmates are confined to their cells. Meals are brought to them and all programs are suspended as well as visitations for all inmates at the facility.
Feneis said it was important to note that the incident Saturday involved a relatively small number of inmates. There are approximately 1,000 offenders currently housed at the Rush City facility.
The warden said the prison expects to incrementally return to normal conditions as soon as possible.
The prison has not experienced a lockdown of this type, but Feneis noted that the institution has a regular schedule of smaller lockdowns, one housing unit at a time, during which they look for ìexcess propertyî and find such things as homemade ìbrewî and handmade weapons.

Last weekís earlier incident, which occurred on Monday, Nov. 24, involved about 20-25 INS (immigration) detainees.

The Rush City facility has a contract with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house the detainees. During the year that number has been around 50. The detainees are housed in a separate wing, but are treated like the other inmates.

During an Oct. 21 citizen liaison committee meeting at the prison, Feneis said INS detainees are housed in the prison for various reasons including failure to report to officials and criminal actions. He said at that time that some detainees were going on two years at the prison.

Feneis said the group of detainees in the disturbance last week had issues with their status and not with the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

There were no injuries and no property damage during that incident, he said.

Again, he noted, the detainees were persuaded it was in their best interest to return to their cells.

On Tuesday afternoon, Maria Elena Garcia, a spokewoman from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Dallas, Texas, shared some information about INS detainees.

She said a detainee that has served his or her sentence must go before a federal immigration judge. The judge will determine if the person is to be deported or not, she said.

Some detainees can be bonded out, and be allowed in the community, she said, while they wait for their hearing before the judge, others cannot. Not everyone has the option, however. If it is determined that a detainee cannot bond out, Garcia said, they remain in custody.

Itís not just a matter of saying they have served their time and can be released, she said.

Each case is handled on its own merit, Garcia continued, and a lot of things come into play.

For instance, there are some countries that ICE cannot send detainees back to, Cuba is one, she noted.

ICE also looks to see how the prisoner has behaved in custody and many times they have to wait for travel documents. She said she believes Somalia is a country that detainees can be sent back to.

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