Days of unrest prompt officials to visit Arizona prison

Four successive days of unrest at a state prison in northwest Arizona prompted a holiday weekend visit by Governor Doug Ducey, Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) Director Charles Ryan and Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead. Mohave County Sheriff Jim McCabe said they witnessed a considerable amount of inmate-inflicted destruction during a Sunday morning tour of the 3,400 minimum-to-medium security facility located in the community of Golden Valley.

More than 1,000 inmates had been transferred from the Hualapai Unit of the prison to other corrections facilities by Sunday afternoon. ADC spokesman Andrew Wilder said a Thursday night riot that stretched into Friday morning rendered portions of the Unit uninhabitable.

McCabe said criminal damage he observed included toilets, sinks and surveillance system components. McCabe was thankful that no escapes occurred during the Thursday through Saturday disturbances.

Wilder said at least nine prison staff members sustained minor injuries during the uprisings that began when a group of inmates attacked another prisoner early Wednesday evening.

Issa Arnita, Director of Corporate Communications for the Utah-based Management and Training Corporation (MTC) that operates the prison through contract with the state of Arizona, said that four inmates were injured during the Thursday-Friday disturbance.

Wilder said six ADC Tactical Support Units, comprised of 96 officers, have been dispatched to the prison to help staff maintain control. McCabe said another DOC team will step up its investigation Monday morning into why and how the inmate uprisings occurred.

Mohave County Supervisor Gary Watson called for a cancellation of the state contract that essentially employs the Utah-based Management and Training Corporation (MTC) to operate the prison. He said that a 2010 inmate escape that led to two murders in 2010, the apparent beating death of an inmate in January and recent events prove that MTC is incompetent.

“They’ve shown that they have no ability to contain those very vicious people (inmates),” Watson said Sunday. “It’s time to deal with it before somebody else gets killed.”

Watson called on Governor Ducey to “put his foot down” to protect the safety of the citizens of Mohave County as well as those who work at the prison.

Watson said he’d like to see administration of the prison transitioned from the private sector back to the state.