HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC Radio)—The Connecticut Department of Correction has officially closed Northern Correctional Institution, a high security prison in Somers, Connecticut.
Governor Ned Lamont announced plans to close the facility in early February. According to state officials, the decision was made largely due to the significant drop in Connecticut's incarcerated population.
The population at Northern has not exceeded 100 people in the last year, state officials said in a statement. Since its opening in 1995, its population reached an all-time high of 510 individuals in 2003.
The state's incarcerated population has decreased by about 3,400 people over the last 15 months, officials said. Currently, Connecticut's total incarcerated population at all prisons is about 9,000 individuals. The all-time high, according to state officials, is 19,894 in 2008.
"Spending millions of dollars annually to operate facilities for a population that continues to get smaller and smaller is not a good use of resources," Governor Ned Lamont said, "especially as we work to reduce the cost structure of state government."
The closure is expected to save the state nearly $12 million in annual operating costs, state officials said.
Those who were incarcerated at Northern have been transferred to other high security prisons in Connecticut, officials said.
The Department of Correction worked with staff members and their union representatives to redeploy them to other nearby facilities, ensuring no layoffs were associated with the facility's closure.
Many activists have called for the closure of Connecticut's only supermax prison, particularly the advocacy group Stop Solitary CT.
Though the facility's closure is a victory for Stop Solitary CT, the group wasted no time in calling it a first step toward greater change.
"Closing Northern is just the beginning," Stop Solitary CT tweeted when the announcement of its planned closure first came out in February. "The PROTECT Act lays out important next steps."
The closure of Northern comes about 3 weeks before the initial target date of July 1.