At Least One Inmate Hospitalized, 3 Staff Members Injured
Friday, 15 July, 2022
Topeka, KS – At approximately 7pm tonight, an altercation among several inmates on A Unit at Lansing Correctional Facility broke out. When Corrections staff responded to the incident, some inmates began to assault them as well. This fight has already resulted in the hospitalization of one inmate and injuries to three employees.
Corrections officers instructed inmates on A Unit to return to and remain in their cells. The rest of the prison is fully secured. Without sufficient staff to enforce a lockdown however, many inmates on the rioting unit are refusing to comply. As a result, the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) has deployed a tactical team that is currently on-site at LCF, while teams from other Corrections Facilities are either en route or on-site to help ensure inmate compliance.
The Lansing Correctional Facility, located in Lansing, KS in Leavenworth County, has recently had a number of serious issues, including an inmate death earlier this week, multiple attacks among inmates and against corrections staff, and reports of inmates having possession of staff radios on A Unit. Lansing has also been suffering from severe understaffing levels — every week this year, this prison has hovered around a 30% staff vacancy rate.
For years we have tried to work with KDOC, the Governor's Office, and other state agencies to bring on enough staff at Lansing and other critically understaffed state facilities. KDOC management continues to use the same formula while expecting different results, so incidents like the one tonight continue to occur. What is it going to take for KDOC to take staffing and safety seriously?
Update 10:25pm, 15 July: A Unit has been secured and inmates have been returned to their cells with minimal resistance.
Update 11:01pm, 15 July: The recent inmate death at Lansing CF mentioned above was due to natural causes, officials confirm.