Officials tour Maui jail

Five weeks after an inmate revolt at the Maui Community Correctional Center caused $5.3 million in damage, state and county officials toured the Wailuku facility Tuesday to check on repairs and security updates while promising to address overcrowding issues they blame for the unrest.

The visit by Gov. David Ige, Maui Mayor Michael Victorino, United Public Workers union state Director Dayton Nakanelua and Department of Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda also came as state lawmakers are weighing the latter’s fate after a series of incidents — including two deadly shootings — involving DPS staff and facilities.

Last month’s riot at the Maui jail was among the reasons a state Senate committee questioned Espinda’s leadership and voted against his reappointment last week. The full Senate is expected to take a final vote this week.

DPS officials have blamed chronic overcrowding as the root cause of the March 11 riot at MCCC, which started when 42 inmates refused to return to their cells, broke fire sprinklers and set a fire. It took more than three hours to quell the chaos.

At the time of the disturbance, 410 inmates were confined at the jail, which was designed to hold just 209 prisoners but had been reconfigured to house 301, officials said.

Grievances filed by Maui corrections officers have included concerns about cell locks that did not function properly, inadequate security equipment and training, and short-staffing that endangered the safety of corrections officers and inmates alike, according to documents obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Tuesday’s visit was off-limits to the news media. A DPS news release reported that wired security glass was installed last week in the control rooms of the two modules damaged in the disturbance and that fire damage to walls was mitigated and covered with a fresh coat of paint.

Individual cell windows facing the recreation field that were previously covered with plywood were replaced last week by MCCC staff with help from a Hawaii Community Correctional Center building maintenance crew from the Big Island, the release said. They also installed new glass windows in the cell doors.

Other improvements in the works include security-­grade storage-room doors that have to be fabricated and shipped from the mainland, and replacements for the common-room furniture, cell toilets and sinks, and showers that were damaged. In addition, consultants were brought in to look at “permanent security solutions” such as “modern locking mechanisms and overall electronics system,” the release said.

The emergency repairs are estimated to cost $5.3 million, with $50,729 spent to date. The Senate has approved an additional $8 million in the coming fiscal year for long-term security improvement projects at the Maui jail.

Nakanelua on Tuesday expressed support for Espinda and state efforts “to address the overcrowding and sub-par conditions at all of the state’s correctional facilities,” according to the DPS news release. “We are eager to work with the director and his staff to create a better work environment for adult correctional officers statewide.”

Ige said in the release that until more inmate beds are available, “the state will continue to do all in its power and capability to operate safe, secure, clean and constitutionally compliant facilities.”

Less than two weeks before the Maui disturbance, on March 1, Oahu Community Correctional Center inmate Maurice Arrisgado Jr., 47, bolted through a secured door at the Kalihi jail and then dashed past a vehicle gate as it was closing. He ran into a nearby residential area and was fatally shot by a corrections officer outside St. Anthony Catholic Church.

On Feb. 18 a sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a disabled homeless man, Delmar Espejo, 28, during a struggle outside the state Capitol.

The most recent incident occurred over the weekend when two low-­security MCCC inmates were discovered missing Sunday after officials found a broken door in the back of their dormitory. The escapees apparently scaled a perimeter fence topped with razor wire. Both were back in custody by Monday.