Go very shortly here.
Thank you.
Shut it down that's what
the village of aloe is saying about
the maximum security green bay
correctional institution the
more than 100 year old prison is
more than 200 inmates over
capacity and had been on
extended lockdown due to
staff shortages the crumbling
condition of the facility is
described as deplorable
village president jim rafter says
the time is now with the search
for a new correction secretary
to deal with the closure.
He says, quote, anything short of
that step would be nothing more than
rearranging the deck chairs on
the Titanic.
He joins us now.
And thanks very much for being here.
Thanks for having me, Frederica.
So that is strong language,
it's that bad?
That's what I'm told.
As you said, it's a 125-year-old
facility, and it's
falling apart.
And there's nothing good about
the facility today.
So why close the
prison altogether rather
than fix it?
Great question.
First of all, it's 125 years old.
And in 2009,
there've been two studies on the
correction system and specifically
GBCI.
In 2009, a Meade and Hunt study
went through the facility
and recommended its
closure because it
needed hundreds of millions of
dollars and upgrades just to get up
to code.
It's surely not designed by
today's standards for
prison to help.
With reform and
to provide the services and
programs needed to help these folks
get back onto the street.
In 2020, or in 2018,
the state commissioned another study
and that was by BWBR.
It was published in 2020.
And it said the exact same thing,
except there was a lot more money
needed because of the dollars.
So describe what you know
are conditions to be like inside
because of the nature
of this prison and its
age.
Well, according to the design, well,
with the design today,
you're supposed to have sunlight.
You're supposed to be able to live
in pods where the
those who are incarcerated can
get to the outside to
get get to school and get
to library and live
more in a communal environment
versus a cell.
The cells and GBC I the prison was
designed for approximately 750
inmates and today it houses almost
1000.
They are in cells that were designed
for one person.
But now there are two people in them
and there are the cells
you can reach across and
lay down and touch all the
walls.
So it's not
designed for the people that are
there.
It is dark and dingy.
It has mice infestations,
which the state has been dealing
with for over a year.
The attitude or the
anxiety level within the facility
due to being on lockdown, as you
mentioned, since June
of 2023, it's
creating an awful lot of anxiety
and a lot of, I'll say,
violence.
In 2023,
the number of investigations for
violent offenses that take place in
GBCI equal
that, almost equal that of
2021 and 2022
combined.
And they were on lockdown for half
the year.
So the conditions just aren't good.
Have your calls to close
Green Bay Correctional fallen on
deaf ears?
We have gained
bipartisan support from
state legislators, county
elected leaders, local municipality
leaders across Northeast Wisconsin.
I have never heard anyone say,
no, they don't want to close it.
The challenges agreeing
on what to do after they close it
Right, because where would
those inmates go from
Green Bay, other max security
prisons themselves are
over capacity and have their
own safety issues?
Right, the options that I have
heard, I know the governor wants to
reduce the prison population and
hopefully move people out of
places like GBCI and into other
facilities.
That may be an opportunity.
There are those who are calling to
have a new prison, a replacement
prison, most likely for GBC
and potentially WAPAN,
to be able to provide so that
they can provide the services and
programs needed by
those who were incarcerated.
Uh, so those are pretty much the two
opportunities I've heard.
I do know that if a
new prison was to be built,
people in Brown County or the
county board has said they want to
have a prison in their
jurisdiction.
Keweeney County has said, they want
that. I've hurt north, southeast
Wisconsin would want one.
So there's an opportunity
to do the right thing.
The The challenge is no one's
talking to
each other.
We're trying.
We're getting people to agree, but
down in Madison, we haven't been
able to get people to talk to each
other.
And so that's why you say at
this point with the
governor looking for a new
correction secretary, this might
be the time now to
talk about the Green Bay
Correctional Institution.
Jim Rafter from Alloway,
thanks very much.
Thank you very much.
It sounds horrible,
the conditions of that prison.
Have you been inside lately?
I've been inside four times
over the last eight years.
I went in, and it's funny,
I've gone in without the governor
and I've toured it with the governor
and Secretary Carr.
And when I go in there,
you really don't see a lot of
programs going on because they just
don't do the programming
very much anymore.
People can't get education, they
can't give health services.
But when the governor comes in,
it is like the Taj Mahal,
people are lined up in the
corridors, welcoming him,
shaking his hand.
And when I toured it with him,
he asked, we're in the psych ward
area, and he asked
how many people need
psychological services.
And the answer was about 60%.
So it's about 600 people.
Wow.
And he said, how many beds do we
have? And they said, 13.
And then he asked, what do we do for
the others? And they shrugged their
shoulders. And they do what they
can, but
basically the
mental health needs across our
correction system. And I've learned
an awful lot over the last eight
years about this.
It's tremendous.
You basically have three
populations. Those who are mentally
ill and need help.
Those who have made terrible
mistakes in life and will
not reform.
And then you have a group of those
who have terrible mistakes,
but are willing, able, and
interested in learning
how to come back into society
safely.
And we need to have the programs in
our state to be able to do that.
We don't today.
This is certainly worth a larger
inquiry on our part and
others, but we appreciate
your time on this and inside.
I thank you.
Thank you.
If you ever need anything, let me
know.
Good deal.
Thank you. Nice to talk with you.
Take care, Frederica.