Misleading data on state prisons' capacity

I am replying to Jeff Savitskie's comments on Ogdensburg Correctional Facility closing. I see that the research he bases his opinion on is from listening to our state government that can make any numbers look good. Let me enlighten you on some facts. At the height of the prison population, the correctional facilities were at 124 percent. Since then, the inmate population has decreased by approximately 19 percent, so the facilities are still 5 percent over capacity. Here are some numbers to support this:

We will start at Ogdensburg. This facility at full capacity was designed to hold 550 inmates, then came the state's practice of double-bunking, which they have since scaled back but have not totally stopped. There are still 60 double-bunk beds at Ogdensburg and 140 at Riverview, Gouverneur and Cape Vincent and 60 at Watertown for a total of 540 double-bunk beds at these five facilities.

There are a total of 37 medium-security correctional facilities in the state and they all have some inmates who are double-bunked. The Department of Corrections is misleading the public by saying that they do not need the bed space.

The practice of double-bunking of inmates should stop and the state should run these facilities at the capacity they were designed for. Also, Ogdensburg Correctional Facility is one of the least expensive facilities to run due to the fact that our heat comes from the cogeneration plant for free and has been for the past 16 years, and they still have nine years left on their contract.

So before publishing comments on one or two articles or facts that are misleading, Mr. Savitskie should do a little more research on a subject before making a comment on something that affects a community and so many lives.

Gary Mallette

Ogdensburg