Details
San Andreas State Prison, Fort Carson, previously known as the San Andreas Correctional Facility (SACF) up until June 2021, is a complex, multi-mission institution. Located in the Bone County Desert, 15 miles north of the town of Fort Carson, SASP, Fort Carson is a maximum security prison, planned and built to house San Andreas' most dangerous offenders in a safe, secure setting.
The prison consists of two General Population (GP) Units housing maximum security inmates and one Secure Housing Unit (SHU) used to hold offenders with serious behavioral or management concerns. Each unit is capable of operating independently of each other, with GP units having independent dining rooms, clothing distribution rooms, libraries, chapels, indoor gyms and prison industry workshops. The facility also has a healthcare services building.
History
SASP, Fort Carson was first activated in 2012 under the direction of then-Warden Dexter Abbruzi. Following Warden Abbruzi's appointment to the rank of Commissioner of Corrections, Galen Hawkins was selected to lead the prison. During the tenure of Warden Hawkins, SASP, Fort Carson became a pioneer facility involved in many pilot programs, some of which have since been successfully implemented department-wide. Warden Hawkins was heavily involved in the creation of the Inmate Worker Pilot Program, which eventually became the Inmate Worker Program that is now implemented in many other institutions.
When Warden Hawkins became Commissioner, John Winnfield was appointed to be the Warden of SASP, Fort Carson. As the longest serving Warden at SASP, Fort Carson to date, Winnfield upheld the legacy of his predecessor in making the facility a testing ground for policies that would eventually be adopted by the Department as a whole. Under Warden Winnfield's leadership, the facility began to offer many more on-site training courses to its staff and established a Step-Down Program for gang-affiliated inmates. During the latter part of Winnfield's term the facility also received its first major renovations, with the construction of a completely new healthcare services building and a overhaul of the General Population and Secure Housing units and their annexed facilities. Warden Winnfield also secured funding and support for a major overhaul of the facility aimed at improving its security features, but retired before seeing its completion.
Warden Jonathan Byrd replaced Warden Winnfield and led the facility through the Department reorganization approved by Governor Wade Reynolds. Warden Byrd continued overseeing the renovation works began by Winnfield and oversaw the reactivation of the facility's investigation unit. Warden Byrd's tenure was short compared to that of their predecessors, but he was nonetheless able to guide SASP, Fort Carson through a difficult time in the Department's history.
Governor Reynolds appointed Aubrey Taylor, a veteran in the field of Corrections, to lead the facility next. The first female Warden of SASP, Fort Carson, Warden Taylor also oversaw important changes of the institution, including the conclusion of the renovation works that began under Warden Winnfield and that allowed SASP, Fort Carson to become a more secure facility for staff and inmates alike.
After the retirement of Warden Taylor, SASP, Fort Carson saw multiple Warden's come and go throughout the years. Manuel Estrada was the first to take the reigns, assigning Kenneth Parson to the position of Deputy Warden, thus forming the completely new Facility Administration. After a few years in service, Warden Estrada stepped down for early retirement, allowing Deputy Warden Parson to step up to take the role.
Warden Kenneth Parson brought in a major operational change that affected how Custody Operations were organised. Callsigns were removed from operations, being replaced by Post Numbers. These Post Numbers are used to arrange staff on-duty into smaller units, typically with 2 officers teamed up under one Post Number. He also set the ball rolling again on the Facility Namechange, but also went into early retirement not long after that.
The Governor, Darrel Bryant, decided it best to remove the Facility Administration staff group, and instead convert it into a Board of Associate Wardens. The Board of Associate Wardens are, effectively, Facility Administration but under a different name, with multiple people being able to oversee and manage the Department with the same authority, compared to the old-fashioned Warden and Deputy Warden. First to step up in the new leadership role were Captains Mason Spencer and Cassidy Miller. Both were promoted once Warden Parson stepped back to the position of Associate Warden, thus forming the Board of Associate Wardens, the most senior rank in the Department. So far, the duo have finalised and delivered the Facility Namechange, going through the painstaking process of updating all official documentation and references, deleting the San Andreas Correctional Facility and changing it to the San Andreas State Prison, Fort Carson. They also brought in numerous changes to the structure of the command of the Divisions and Offices, helping to streamline the names of Division Command members so that each Office had the same role.
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