March, 27, 2006

Dear Editor:

The Association of Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations agrees with Senator Scott Fitzgerald and with the Wisconsin prison guards' union; overcrowding in prison is unsafe, and it does not create an appropriate opportunity for the treatment, education and rehabilitative services needed by inmates to break the cycle of criminal behavior.

Our members have provided out-of-state bed space for Wisconsin and many other states, and they are ready to do so now. On the other hand, if your state decides that instate custody is better, we are also ready to assist in that regard.

Public-private correctional partnerships offer Wisconsin lower cost, greater levels of accountability, and high quality of service. Please consider the following:

• Private prisons offer the state a new source of capital, which allows the state to use its limited funds for other projects, like schools and roads.
• The Allegheny Institute found that Delaware County, Pennsylvania, saved more than $64 million over seven years by using a private operator to build and manage its county prison. They also found inmate-on-inmate violence was down, and that inmate satisfaction with the food service was up. The jail was rated "excellent" by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
• A study funded by the U.S Department of Justice, of the privately-managed Taft Correctional Institution found operating costs 6-10% less than the cost of government operation at comparable facilities.
• Two Vanderbilt University professors found that having at least 20% of a state's prison beds managed by private contractors slows the rate of increase in the state's cost to operate the other 80% by almost 10% over five years.

Sincerely,
 

 
Paul Doucette
Association of Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations
www.apcto.org