Articles & News

March 20, 2008

CT prisoner “Road Map” Set

The mayor emerged from a two-hour-plus pow-wow with the governor’s emissary saying the two sides have crafted a “Road Map” for prisoner peace — one that at this point remains as vague as the Middle East peace pact of the same name.

The meeting took place Tuesday afternoon in Mayor John DeStefano, Jr.’s office.

After a fiery exchange of letters between DeStefano and Gov. M. Jodi Rell over the city’s problem with prisoner “dumping,” the governor sent a proxy for the peace pow-wow Tuesday.

State corrections chief Theresa Lantz showed up a bit early for the 2 p.m. confab. She had just gotten a ride down to the mayor’s office after a lunch of wraps at the Whalley Avenue jail (because parking is difficult downtown, she explained).

Before walking into the meeting, a reporter called out to the mayor: Will you be addressing the media afterwards?

“Depends how it goes,” replied DeStefano, as he beckoned his staff into the room.

After two hours and 20 minutes, both sides claimed they got through the meeting on civil terms. They didn’t dive back into the war of words over whether out-of-town prisoners get “dumped” in New Haven. (Rell had claimed they didn’t; a Register expose showed they did.)

“We didn’t get into contentions or any kind of discussion about ‘dumping,’” Lantz explained after the meeting. “It was more: how can we collaborate on reenhancing reentry?” They didn’t discuss the specific point prisoners get let off when they leave jail, the mayor said.

Instead, both sides emerged with a “Road Map” to improve prison reentry. They broke staffers up into four task forces working on these topics: A reentry system in New Haven; the Whalley Avenue Jail; homeless shelters; and city cops and parole.

In the latter category, DeStefano said he’d like to revive a program like “Project One Voice,” a collaboration between parole officers and district managers in the city’s 10 policing districts.

Subgroups are set to report back at a follow-up meeting in three or four weeks, DeStefano said.

Lantz called the meeting “very productive.”

“We do have shared goals,” she said. The commissioner said funding was not discussed at the meeting. Changes may involve policy decisions, or could take funds from various departmental budgets. The state legislature would also be called on to collaborate in any changes that may be made, she said.

Lantz, who was gracious enough to stick around for additional questions from reporters, took her coat from the new mayoral armoire and headed home.