Death in custody and transforming prisons
Episode description
Dean Williams is the former Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections and Commissioner of Corrections in Alaska. Dean talks about the preventable deaths in custody that happened in Alaska before he took over which cemented his decision to take over the role, and the reforms he made towards a more humane prison system. He also shares why Colorado had a 50% recidivism rate despite having a corrections budget of $1 billion. Dean tells us about a work programme that he created for prisoners which was abolished after one prisoner escaped and stole his employer's car, and the effects of the statement, ‘if we make prisons a hell hole, then people won’t want to come back.’
Timestamps
[00:13] Dean Williams’s background information
[01:58] How and why Dean ended up taking over Alaska
[08:16] What went wrong in Larry’s case that caused his death in custody
[14:02] What reforms Dean put in place in prisons in Alaska
[21:18] The use of lethal force in prisons
[26:16] Why the recidivism rate in Colorado was 50% despite having a budget of $1 billion
[31:00] The reforms that Dean made to reduce the recidivism rate in Colorado
[43:20] Dean’s current role of helping leaders around the world to be better
[48:02] The effects of the belief, ‘If we make prisons a hell hole, then people won’t want to go back.’
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*The views and opinions expressed by the guests on the Evolving Prisons podcast are not the views or opinions of the host*