High Desert State Prison (HDSP) is a high-security state prison that houses level IV inmates located in Susanville, Lassen County, California. Opened in 1995, it has a capacity of 2,324 persons; in May 2017 it held 3,788 inmates.
Also located in Susanville is the state California Correctional Center, a minimum-security prison. A third prison facility, the Federal Correctional Institution, Herlong, is also located within Lassen County, California. Half the adult population of Susanville works at these prisons. The prisons and their effects on the community, including as a source of much needed jobs, were explored in the documentary, Prison Town, USA (2007), aired on PBS.
Video High Desert State Prison (California)
Investigation
In late 2015 the state Office of the Inspector General completed a six-month investigation into conditions at the prison, after complaints of officer misconduct and prisoner abuse, and issued its report, calling for changes at the facility. Although there are buildings to house certain inmates in protective custody, such as sex offenders, officers put other prisoners near them. The inmates are mostly minorities and complained about discriminatory treatment, as well as officers allowing drug sales and violent retaliation; the officers are mostly white. The prison has had a rapid turnover in top management for nearly a decade, with seven wardens in eight years. In their report investigators wrote there was a "perception of insularity and indifference to inmates" at High Desert, exacerbated by its remoteness and "a labor organization that opposes oversight to the point of actively discouraging members from coming forward with information that could ... adversely affect another officer."
Maps High Desert State Prison (California)
Notable inmates
- Bob Evans, murderer and serial killer, died in the prison in 2010
- Tito Sedeno convicted murderer, Norteño rapper from San Francisco, known as Gangsta Flea.
References
External links
- California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Official website
- Special Review: High Desert State Prison/ Susanville, CA, at Prison Legal News, December 2015, full text of Office of the Inspector General report online
Source of the article : Wikipedia