What Is The Emergency Lockdown In Minnesota Prison? Here's All You Need To Know

An emergency lockdown has been placed in a prison in Minnesota. A crisis negotiation team has been activated after an incident in which around 100 inmates in a housing unit did not come back to their cells, as stated by the Department of Corrections on Sunday.

Out of an abundance of caution, The Special Operations Response Team was deployed, said a spokesperson in a statement. The spokesperson further said that the situation at present is "stable". 

At the Stillwater correctional facility were two officers who were in contact with the facility staff and were reported to be safe. As of now, no injuries have been reported.

About 1,200 inmates in total are at the correctional facility the southeast of Stillwater, as per the records of the department. 

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The reason

An act of "self-preservation" is what one of the 100 inmates in a single housing unit faced terribly high temperatures.

While the spokesperson from the Department of Corrections who called the situation "stable" at present states that the reason is not clear as of now, advocates outside of the Stillwater prison who have their kin members inside said that the inmates are tired of the terrible heat inside, along with limited access to ice and showers. They say that unclean drinking water may also be another reason.

Marvina Haynes from Minnesota Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform stated that “My organization got calls from inmates who are actually inside”. Haynes's brother is actually an inmate at Stillwater.

David Boehnke from the Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee said, “This morning, they decided that they weren't going to lock into their cells.” David added that for the past two months, such lockdowns have been common.

Bart Andersen, the executive director of the union that represents the correctional officers of Stillwater expressed in a statement that the event is actually “endemic and highlights the truth behind the operations of the MN Department of Corrections with chronic understaffing."

Andersen further added that conditions like these trouble inmates due to restrictions on recreation.

Additionally, Cathy Stroud Caldwell, Boehnke, and Haynes, all say that the action by the inmates was an impromptu reaction to unsafe situations.

The founder of a criminal justice organization named Until We Are All Free, Kevin Reese compared the Stillwater prison with a "pizza oven" in the summer season, The man was incarcerated there in the summer time from the year 2006 until 2009.

Reese further clarified by saying that the Stillwater is actually a century-old building having no central air or air conditioning. He further said that the walls of Stillwater actually sweat.

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The situation

Since Friday, inmates of the Stillwater prison have remained on intermittent lockdowns due to staffing issues, they stated. This means that the inmates were kept in cells that lacked air conditioning.

The Stillwater prison is located around 25 miles east of Minneapolis, in Bayport. The prison was under an afternoon heat advisory due to high temperatures touching 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

As said by the state Department of Corrections, members of a team for crisis negotiation have been stationed "out of an abundance of caution."

 Chronic heat waves throughout the country have resulted in intense concern for prison populations, specifically in those prisons that have poorly air-conditioned or badly ventilated facilities.

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