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February 27, 2007

Prison audit says security still lacking at Fort Madison
A repeat of 2005 escapes is possible, federal consultants report.

By William Petroski
Register Staff Writer

The Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison still suffers from security flaws that could make it vulnerable to the type of escape that occurred in November 2005 when two dangerous convicts fled the maximum-security prison, according to a federal security audit.

Two consultants from the National Institute of Corrections, who spent two days inspecting the Iowa prison in October, suggested relocating an electronic alarm system on the prison's walls, adding more razor wire, improving outside lighting and acquiring more digital cameras.

The consultants also recommended acquiring better metal detectors, along with so-called "heartbeat monitors" that can catch inmates hiding in vehicles leaving the prison. In addition, they suggested that inmates working in the Prison Industries Building be required to strip naked and go through metal detectors while headed to and from their job assignments.

Inmates Martin Moon and Robert Legendre, both serving life sentences, made a daring escape from the Iowa State Penitentiary on Nov. 14, 2005, using a handcrafted rope and a grappling hook to scale a 30-foot limestone wall that surrounds the prison. Moon, serving time for murder, and Legendre, serving sentences for attempted murder and kidnapping, were the first inmates to escape from the maximum-security since 1979.

Both were recaptured within days, Moon in Illinois and Legendre in Missouri. But the escape raised serious questions about security at the penitentiary, which was established in the 1800s and is the oldest prison west of the Mississippi River. Both inmates had been part of a Prison Industries work crew, and they disappeared over a section of the prison wall that had a guard tower left unstaffed because of state budget cuts. After the escape, prison officials immediately ordered the tower be staffed around the clock.

The consultants, Stan Czer-niak and James Upchurch, were invited to inspect the Fort Madison prison by the Iowa Department of Corrections. Czerniak is assistant director of operations for the Oregon Department of Corrections, and Upchurch is bureau chief for security operations with the Florida Department of Corrections. They worked in Iowa under the auspices of the National Institute of Corrections, a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Justice.

One of the consultants' most significant recommendations focused on a so-called "taut wire" electronic alarm system installed on the prison walls. The consultants said the system is installed so low on the walls that its effectiveness can be compromised too easily. In the November 2005 escape, Legendre and Moon simply went over the taut wire system without having to negotiate it, the inspectors said.

Although the removal of the penitentiary's old Death Row cellhouse and the planned demolition of a hobby craft building will make it more difficult to bypass the taut wire system, "it is conceivable that inmates could still devise a method to bypass this system," the consultants said. Prison officials said in a response to the report that the cost of moving the taut wire system to the top of the prison wall could exceed $500,000. They also said the cost of adding three more razor wire coils above the taut wire system is estimated at about $55,000.

Iowa Department of Corrections spokesman Fred Scaletta said Monday that the penitentiary has not had enough time since the report was completed in mid-January to implement many of the recommendations. Also, many of the recommendations will require money that is not currently in the penitentiary's budget but that will be requested in future state appropriations, he said.

Danny Homan, president of Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents prison workers at Fort Madison, criticized the security audit, saying it might have been more useful had it been completed earlier.

The union and prison officials have been ironing out the security problems for more than one year, he said.

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