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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:

Lindsay Nichols, PSCOA, Public Relations

Phone:  717-975-0138

Fax:  717-975-0167

Email:  lnichols@pscoa.org

Website:  www.pscoa.org

Prison or Candyland

Huntingdon, PA, U.S.—September 18, 2002—On Monday, July 22, 2002, the State Correctional Institution in Smithfield, Pennsylvania, placed a ban on smoking within the institution itself.  With this ban, the superintendent of the institution, Mr. Ben Varner, decided to distribute lollipops to the inmates and not the staff members, in order to lessen the severity of the ban.

These recent adjustments to the smoking policy have caused uproar with not only the inmates, but with the four hundred staff members, to include the Corrections Officers.  It has also caused the institution to be referred to as the “Candyland” prison of Pennsylvania.  This uproar was worsened when the Corrections Officers realized that it would take a lot of time to travel to the designated smoking area outside of the institution. 

Spokesperson for the PSCOA, the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officer Association, Business Agent Mark Watson stated, “With this new smoking area in place, an officer would have to travel through six separate doorways in order to reenter the institution.  Only of course if they even receive a call for help, since there isn’t communication equipment within the new area.

The foremost concern for the union officials at the Institution in Smithfield is and remains the safety of the public and the staff members.  With this smoking ban it has raised the question at large.  Are the staff members and the public being protected at all costs within the Correctional Institution at Smithfield?

PSCOA heard of this matter and took into their hands to resolve this predicament.  They asked Mr. Varner, the superintendent of the institution, to allow for the old smoking area to be reopened.    PSCOA and Mr. Varner are currently debating about the issue.  Several years ago, the corrections officers at this location gave up their unpaid break, due to the need for them to respond to institutional emergencies.  This raises the problem at hand. 

The Corrections Officers Union filed an Unfair Labor Practice, last week, with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.  They feel the area in which is designated to smoke in would dramatically reduce the quick response time needed to act upon institutional emergencies.

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