The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has begun the process to urgently relocate nearly 400 inmates and 260 staff members from the Maryland Reception, Diagnostics, and Classification Center (MRDCC) in Baltimore, citing structural safety concerns. WBAL reported that the department was alerted to the urgent risks by an independent engineering consultant, driving the decision to conduct an emergency transfer to protect both staff and those incarcerated.
According to FOX Baltimore, Carolyn J. Scruggs, Secretary of the DPSCS, expressed that "the safety and well-being of our dedicated DPSCS staff and incarcerated individuals is my paramount concern." To swiftly comply with safety precautions, the state is moving inmates to several other facilities, with female inmates headed to the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup, pretrial detainees to the Metropolitan Transition Center in Baltimore, and the remaining populations to either Chesapeake Detention Facility in Baltimore or Jessup Correctional Institution in Jessup.
The MRDCC, which opened in 1981, faces a crisis where the department deemed the continued occupancy of the facility inconsistent with public safety objectives. Maryland Department of General Services Secretary Atif Chaudhry relayed, through FOX Baltimore, that “the engineering consultants informed our agencies that continued occupancy of the facility would pose an imminent risk, and critical repairs would be necessary to continue operations.” The coordinated efforts between the two departments highlight a prioritization of safety over facility operations.
