State officials weigh sites for new OCCC
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Two guard towers at Oahu Community Correctional Center with razor wire as seen from Kamehameha Highway on Sept. 20.
There are 11 possible sites for rebuilding what is now Hawaii’s most crowded jail.
The state Department of Public Safety today announced officials are eyeing sites in Kalihi, Aiea, Kalaeloa, Mililani and Waiawa.
Officials say Oahu Community Correctional Center needs to be rebuilt because it is old and obsolete.
One possibility would be to rebuild it at the Kamehameha Highway property in Kalihi where the current jail has been since 1975. Another possibility is building it on Halawa Correctional Facility’s property.
The department says officials will look at the 11 sites and come up with a short list that will go through an environmental review process.
Department Director Nolan Espinda says reducing the list will involve looking at costs and proximity to courts and services.
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13 responses to “State officials weigh sites for new OCCC”
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Move it out to Halawa and build a court in the prison itself so you dont have transport the inmates to court everyday.
That makes sense.
Stop using common sense! That’s not allowed in Hawaii!
Uhhhh, have you not heard of VTC? Mainland using it for years to eliminate the hassles of moving prisoners.
Kaho’olawe.
It’s not that old for a prison. San Quentin prison in California opened in 1852 (like 164 years old) and is still operating. There are plenty of prisons on the mainland that are much older than OCCC.
Why is it obsolete? It works doesn’t it?
If it’s a matter of overcrowding, enlarge facilities at Halawa and move some of the inmates there.
This is what happens when the State has a budget surplus – everybody starts dreaming about how to spend the money. Put the money to REAL needed use.
Thats a good idea. Enlarge it, move the prisoners into the new side then redo the old side! And put a Court Room there.
OCC needs to me bulldozed down, land put to much better us.
Enlarging Halawa makes the most sense, co-locating all prison facilities.
Unfortunately building a new prison would suffer the same cost overruns, change orders, years behind schedule. What ever the estimated cost is, triple it for the final low end cost. It will be higher.
The best solution to this is to bring back the death penalty. Immediate action and not let these perps wait for months or years to be fried. Guarantee prison population will be down. That’s all and that’s it. Problem solved folks. It will also send out a message that if you commit a serious crime you’ll fall like a dime.
Typical rookie poster, your idea is dead on arrival. Rookies………
Why wasn’t Sand Island considered? Lots of room and natural isolation in case of escapes since only a bridge connects it to town.
Build it in Waianae or Waimanalo. Prisons 80% Hawaiians and not because more Hawaiians than other races. Drugs and Alcohol the downfall of the Hawaiian people. Build it where most Hawaiians live to make it easier for family visits. Not trying to be funny. You heard it from a Hawaiian.
The State should just update the existing buildings and add additional housing units if needed at the existing site since they already own the land and its closer to the courts and easier to transport the large amount of pretrial custodies who have to appear in court on a regular basis…..this debate has been on going since the mid 1970s when George Ariyoshi was governor and still no solution has been decided on for all these years…it seems one administration after another has deferred and put off dealing with the overcrowding and obsolescence of its correctional facilities…..if nothing is done to address this problem the Feds will probably seek to have a court appointed master to over see the operations of the prison system as it did in the mid 1980s……