Even as they crack down on correctional officers in a bid to improve security, Patuxent Institution administrators have been leaving several of the maximum-security prison's eight guard towers unattended.
Administrators attributed the move to staffing shortages and a growing sentiment nationwide that towers are an outdated way of monitoring prison grounds. At no time has the closing of towers compromised security at Patuxent, they said. But the practice has worried some correctional officers, who say the prison's 1,000 inmates could more easily escape or receive tools and weapons in areas normally covered by the towers.
And last week, a security audit team from the Division of Correction recommended that two of the towers again be staffed around the clock until the idea is studied further. Prison administrators put officers back in those towers the same day, said Leonard A. Sipes Jr., spokesman for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
The controversy over the towers follows the August escape of Kevin Siler, who cut through the bars on his cell and through a fence topped with razor wire. The escape of Siler, who was serving time for armed robbery, was the first from behind Patuxent's walls in 14 years.
After Siler's escape, an officer staffing Tower 4 -- one of those still attended -- was suspended without pay for 15 days because she did notsee the prisoner as he crossed the tower's line of sight. She maintains that so many lights were out surrounding the tower, she could not see properly.
Meanwhile, a security crackdown has included new rules banning employees from bringing items such as Thermoses into the prison. Several officers also were strip-searched -- a move that officials say they have since apologized for.
"When the professional staff is now being scrutinized to the nth degree, we're now collapsing posts in the towers to provide additional exits for inmates?" said Thomas Ridgley, business manager for Teamsters Local 103, which represents a number of Patuxent officers. "They were put there for a reason."
Administrators have been leaving two of the towers empty for several years, Mr. Sipes said. One of those was built as recently as 1986, but has been closed since 1991 because the housing area it overlooks was made more secure, he said.
Another tower, at the rear of the prison, is open only when prisoners are brought under its watch for recreation.
About a month ago, administrators also halted daytime staffing of two towers near the women's wing, including one built in 1986. Instead, an officer armed with a semiautomatic rifle and a shotgun patrolled the grounds between the two towers by vehicle, Mr. Sipes said.
Guards were reassigned to those towers last week after the security audit, he said.
The two towers built in 1986 cost $218,000, Mr. Sipes said.
Prison officers say that when they questioned the staffing practices as a security threat, they were told the prison was short-staffed and couldn't afford to pay more overtime to keep the towers staffed. Those officers asked not to be named for fear of losing their jobs.
State officials are looking to emulate prisons in Delaware, Missouri, Florida and Texas, where, Mr. Sipes said, towers have been either "eliminated or significantly cut back" in favor of more intensive ground patrols.
"The tower does limit a person's mobility, and there's a sense that the correctional officer should be at ground level where the action is," he said. "There are disadvantages and advantages between officers in towers and officers on the ground. It depends on the level of security on the perimeter."
In Cumberland, where the state is building a new prison complex, towers are being "minimized," Mr. Sipes said. A maximum security fence will have motion detectors.
Officials have told the Jessup community they hope to build two fences with an alarm system around Patuxent, at a cost of at least $6 million -- a move neighbors have praised. But those systems are not in place yet.
L Some neighbors were puzzled that the towers were left empty.
"Towers certainly should be manned," said Ruth Kalinowski, a member of the citizens group that monitors Patuxent. "I don't know if all of them would need to be, because they're in close proximity."