Mass. maximum security prison installing bunk beds

BOSTON—Prison officials are installing bunk beds for the first time at the maximum-security Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley.

Department of Correction spokeswoman Diane Wiffin says the extra beds are needed to address overcrowding created by a record number of inmates in the state.

The department had an inmate population of 11,368 as of Sept. 1. That's a 10 percent increase since 2005. It also broke the previous record of 11,158 set in 1999.

Not everyone welcomes the bunk beds.

Steve Kenneway, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union tells the Boston Herald that the extra beds create a security risk.

Inmate advocates also oppose the move, saying it poses a risk to both guards and prisoners.

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Information from: Boston Herald, http://www.bostonherald.com