MDOC briefs appropriations subcommittee on July unrest at Saint Louis Correctional Facility, outlines reporting and prevention steps

The Michigan Department of Corrections briefed the Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections on recent critical incidents at the Saint Louis Correctional Facility and statewide measures to detect and prevent similar events. Kyle Kaminski, the department’s Offender Success Administrator and legislative liaison, described an uptick in negative prisoner behavior in June and July that included assaults on staff, resistance to restraints and a July 14 fight involving about a dozen prisoners.

Kaminski said staff responded to each event with heightened supervision, targeted use of chemical agents and tasers when necessary, and administrative actions including misconduct reports and transfers to higher custody facilities. "They were able to bring those prisoners under control," Kaminski said of the July 14 response, and the facility used a weeklong phase plan to restrict activities, conduct searches and review video and intelligence before gradually restoring operations.

The department told lawmakers it follows a publicly available critical-incident…