New Army Prison Uses High-Technology Surveillance
Fort Leavenworth, the Kansas military facility that has long served as a prison, now has a new maximum-security unit on its north side–the United States Disciplinary Barracks–housing over 400 of what the U.S. Army refers to as Level III criminals, individuals from all of the armed services branches who have been sentenced to over seven years in prison.
The main building, which contains the prison’s library, gym, chapel, and work areas, is watched by closed-circuit TV. All employees have a personal alarm and locator that informs guards where they are, according to prison chief of staff Lt. Col. Peter Grande.
The new unit has a dual-ring of 14-foot fences covered with razor wire, and an intrusion detection system supported by an on-foot patrol, while a cherry-picker is employed to lift guards into the air to watch over prisoners in the outside exercise sections.
Each of the prison’s wings is two levels high and is set up so that a guard can see every cell door from his station near the entry.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Associated Press (02/04/03); Lipsey, Dick.