BOOT CAMP CLOSES

State Bureau Of Prisons Closes Program That Proved To Be Costly And Ineffective

Call it an experiment that just didn't work out. After almost nine
years, the Kentucky Bureau of Prisons is closing its adult boot-camp
at Roederer Correctional Complex in LaGrange.

The camp proved to be costly to operate and not all that effective in
turning around the lives of the non-violent offenders who completed
the program. Thus, the 200 beds designated for the boot camp will be
converted into medium security beds.

The boot camp opened in July 1993. Non-violent inmates who volunteered
for the four-months of rigorous, military-style training were promised
an early release from prison.

However, the camp proved difficult to staff and costly to operate.
Just as important, about the same percentage of the approximately
1,400 inmates who completed the boot camp committed new crimes when
released as other released prisoners did.

In short, the self-discipline they learned in boot camp was not
applied outside of prison.

Despite the promise of early release from prison, the boot camp did
not prove to be as popular with prisoners as officials thought it
would be. The program had room for 200 inmates, but it never had more
than 125 at one time.

The building that now houses the boot camp will be used for a
substance-abuse program. Helping inmates kick their drug habits likely
will do far more to keep them from committing new crimes than the
discipline learned in boot camp ever did.