|
The Vernon C. Bain Center (VCBC), also known as the Vernon C. Bain Maritime Facility, is an 800-bed jail barge used to hold inmates for the New York City Department of Corrections. It was built in New Orleans along the Mississippi River for $161 million in Avondale Shipyard, and brought to New York in 1992 to reduce overcrowding in the island's land-bound buildings for a lower price. Nicknamed "The Boat" by prison staff and inmates, it is designed to handle inmates from medium- to maximum-security in 16 dormitories and 100 cells. Currently the only ship in use, the Vernon C. Bain Center is the third prison ship that the New York Department of Corrections has used. In its history, the prison has served traditional inmates, juvenile inmates and is currently used as a holding and temporary processing center. The added security of the prison being on water has prevented at least four attempted escapes. The ship is named in memorial for warden Vernon C. Bain who died in an automobile accident. In 2014, the prison ship was named the world's largest prison ship in operation by the Guinness World Records. ==History== In the late 1980s, the New York City Department of Correction experienced overcrowding issues in its prison complexes. The idea of temporarily alleviating the issues of a growing inmate population and dwindling space by outfitting prison ships was conceived under the administration of then Mayor Edward I. Koch. Their solution was to develop usable prison space with maritime cells and avoid complaints about building jails in densely populated neighborhoods.〔 In 1988, the ''Bibby Resolution'', and her sister ship ''Bibby Venture'', were bought by the New York City Department of Correction in to serve as the first two prison ships. Both ships were previously used as British troop carriers before being re-purposed into prison ships. In 1994 both ships were sold, leaving the Bain Correctional Center and two converted Staten Island ferries, the Wildstein and Kean, docked at Rikers Island to be used when overcrowding became an issue. The construction of the Vernon C. Bain Center prison ship began in 1989 at Avondale Shipyard by Avondale Industries and was supposed to be finished in 1990 at the price of $125.6 million. Due to unanticipated construction problems including issues with the ventilation system, the finished ship was delivered 18 months late and $35 million over budget. On January 26, 1992, the recently outfitted barge prison was brought through the Long Island Sound by the tugboat, ''Michael Turecamo'', after an 1800 nautical mile trip. The new ship was named for well-liked and respected warden Vernon C. Bain, who had died in an automobile accident. One of the first captains of the ship under the Department of Corrections had previously been employed by the same tugboat company and had earlier captained the tugboat that hauled the barge to its current location. The new crew of the prison ship, who were placed in accordance with Coast Guard regulations, worked on the empty ship to learn the ships operations, including the electrical and fire fighting systems. The ship officially opened for use and began accepting inmates later in 1992. From the time the ship was constructed, there has been controversy about its cost.〔 The final price was more than $35 million over budget, which attracted negative attention. The assistant correction commissioner, John H. Shanahan, claimed the price difference was because the Department of Corrections "never designed this kind of passenger vessel before and unfortunately there was a mistake in the original contract."〔 William Booth, the chairmain of the Board of Corrections, said at the time that the prison ship would be the last barge the Department of Corrections would build because the process was too expensive and too uncertain. The Board of Corrections is an independent body that monitors city-owned prisons.〔 The prison ship was temporarily closed in August 1995 due to less crowded city jails, caused by a decline in arrests and inmate transfers. In late 1996, the prison was slated for reopening due to the rise in arrests from a campaign targeting drugs and drug dealers. The six-month campaign expected more than seven thousand additional arrests than usual, but the ship was not reopened until 1998 when it was used by the Department of Juvenile Justice. The Bain Center is currently used as a processing facility for inmates in the Department of Corrections system. There are three other processing facilities that each handle specific boroughs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|