Prison reform advocates outraged over $10M allocated for new OCCC
Critics say the money can be better spent.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Overcrowding and dilapidated conditions are some of the main reasons why public safety officials are advocating for a new Oahu Community Correctional Center.
“At OCCC, parts of it are 100 years old or more. It is clearly antiquated, out of date, it costs too much money to maintain, and it’s not conducive to today’s population,” said Department of Public Safety Director Tommy Johnson.
OCCC was originally designed for 628 inmates.
Currently, there are 1,078 inmates there.
“So we’re almost double what the design capacity is,” Johnson said. “We’re about 200 over the operational capacity. So that means we will have people, three people to some cells, even four maybe to some cells.”
The state’s budget currently calls for $10 million to help plan a new facility — something DPS officials say is desperately needed.
However, the American Civil Liberties Union says it’s a waste of taxpayer money.
“The system is not working, we just have a revolving door, and we need to get to the root pathways to crime,” said ACLU of Hawaii Policy Director Carrie Ann Shirota. “And that’s not just by warehousing people locking them up, and throwing away the key.”
The ACLU says the millions for a new facility would be better spent on preventing incarceration – like more programs, housing, education, and job training.
Kat Brady, Coordinator of Community Alliance on Prisons, agrees.
“Places of incarceration have human beings,” Brady said. “And until we can decide that and figure out how we, as a community, are going to help people who have lost their way or who never found it, then we can build prisons on every block; it’s not going to stop anything.”
Gov. Josh Green has the final say.
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