The State Correctional Institution (SCI) at Camp Hill, commonly referred to as SCI Camp Hill, is a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections prison in Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County, near Camp Hill in Greater Harrisburg. Its current superintendent is Laurel Harry. It has around 3,400 inmates.
History
SCI Camp Hill opened in 1941 as the Industrial School at White Hill for Young Offenders and received Huntingdon Reformatory's juvenile population en masse. In 1975 it was ruled that SCI Camp Hill was not an appropriate place to house juvenile offenders, and in 1977 the institution began housing adult male offenders. It now serves as the state's sole diagnostic and classification center for men and houses adult male offenders.
Sexual Victimization at SCI Camp Hill
According to a study by the United States Department of Justice released in August 2010, 1.2% of inmates who responded to a survey reported that they had been sexually victimized at the prison.
1989 riots
For three days in late October 1989, inmates rioted at SCI Camp Hill. One hundred thirty-eight correctional staff and 70 inmates were injured in the riots. Seventeen people were held hostage and 14 buildings (of the prison's 31 buildings) were destroyed. Sleeping quarters for 500 inmates were lost in the rioting. A number of prison officials resigned or were let go in its aftermath. Overcrowding was ruled a major factor.
At the time of the riots, SCI Camp Hill was nearly 45 percent over capacity, with 2,600 inmates in a complex intended for 1,820. Robert Freeman was Superintendent at the time of the riots, and John Palakovich (who later became superintendent) was assistant to the superintendent. Senate and House investigations blamed several factors for the riots, including overcrowding, understaffing, a militant group of prisoners, mixing violent and nonviolent inmates, lack of leadership and poor construction. Prisoners were angered by the sudden change of two important prison policies affecting visitation and access to medical care. After the riots, the state of Pennsylvania spent millions to repair and improve the prison. One of the hostages later described the fallout of his experience, including post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism.
A number of Correction Officers later alleged that the administration ignored their reports that an inmate rebellion was planned.
Day 1: Wednesday, October 25
The riots began on October 25. Around 3 P.M., as about 1,000 inmates were being moved through a recreation area, one inmate attacked a Correction Officer and the inmates then overpowered the other CO's. Some CO's locked themselves into a secure area, but officials said that inmates tore down the walls, beat them, and took eight of them hostage. Within minutes, inmates set at least five major fires, which destroyed a food service area, the prison hospital, the auditorium of the educational building, a gate house and part of an industrial building where inmates built furniture, roasted coffee beans and put tea into teabags. (The smoke cast the smell of brewing coffee for miles around.) About 10 PM, several hundred state police officers marched into the prison. Inmates released some hostages and police rescued the others. In the first round of rioting, inmates removed metal covers over the boxes that controlled the locks of their cells.
Day 2: Thursday, October 26
Early the next morning, Sgt. Richard Gavin of the Corrections Department pointed out the broken lock-control panels to officials. He asked his supervisor for 43 locks to secure the inmates in his area but received only 19.
Superintendent Freeman met for an hour with six of the inmates who helped negotiate an end to the previous night's siege. He learned that the inmates' grievances included a rule change barring families from bringing food on visits and complaints of access to health care.
Guards later alleged that they knew after the first night of violence that inmates might riot again because prison officials had failed to fix control boxes and broken cell locks that were broken in the first riot. Over 15 correctional officers said the prison administration was alerted but ignored the problem after the first night of riots. Several prison guards also alleged that officials lied about the time they had secured the prison after the first night of riots. A Corrections Department spokeswoman stated that the prison was under control when officials said it was, at 10 P.M., but guards said that some inmates were loose hours after that.