Arizona State Prison, Kingman, Arizona
July 1 – July 4, 2015
Prisoners in the Cerbat Unit of the Arizona State Prison in Kingman, a private prison run by the Management & Training Corporation (MTC), staged an uprising following an attack on guards. According to the Department of Corrections,”The inmates broke windows and destroyed surveillance cameras, and severely damaged numerous staff offices and officer stations.”
On July 2 and again on July 4, 2015, the rebellion spread to prisoners in the Hualapai Unit of the Arizona State Prison in Kingman where “the riot spread throughout multiple buildings and rendered four of the five housing units uninhabitable.”
Following the riots, the governor of Arizona announced that the state would be ending its contract with the Management and Training Corporation. Damage to the facility was estimated at $1.9 million and the prison is closed for months. 19 prisoners were eventually indicted for participation in the riots. The prison is now managed by the GEO Group.
The American Friends Service Committee released an independent assessment following the uprising, which found that under-staffing and poor management were factors that contributed to the event. Additionally, the report determined that many prisoner injuries were the result of unnecessarily violent and disrespectful behavior on the part of tactical response teams and not the result of inmate-on-inmate violence.
Citations:
“Poor Living Conditions Sparked Kingman Prison Riots”, Phoenix New Times, July 31, 2015.
“Kingman Riots Assessment“, Arizona Department of Corrections, August 26, 2015.
“11 inmates indicted in July 1 riot at prison in Kingman,” AZ Central, October 7, 2015.
“Grand jury indicts 8 more inmates for Kingman prison riots“, AZ Central, December 14, 2015.
Background:
“A year after riots: Changes afoot to make Kingman prison safer”, AZ Central, July 1, 2016.
Reports:
Assessment of the 2015 Riots in Management and Training Corporations’ Kingman, Arizona Prison, Caroline Isaacs, American Friends Service Committee Arizona, August 2017.
“Arizona State Prison Kingman Riots Assessment”, Arizona Department of Corrections, no date.
