The Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility was established in 1993 as the nation’s first publicly owned and privately operated adult secure correctional facility and is currently operated by the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation. This special non-profit, quasi-public detention facility was developed for use by the United States Marshal Service in the Northeast and was later extended to include the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from 2005 to 2008. Beginning in October 2011, the facility began serving the United States Navy, housing Navy personnel who have been placed in the custody of the General Court-Martial Convening Authority. The facility operates at maximum security utilizing an architectural and high-tech design and construction containment system. A $47 million expansion was completed in December 2006 and increased the maximum occupancy from 300 all-male housing to its current capacity of 770 including a 40-bed unit for female detainees. It is the corporation's only facility.
Overview
The facility was the very first privately run detention center in the United States. The prison was built in the town of Central Falls, Rhode Island. The town of Central Falls contributed funds towards its construction. The prison was created to generate employment in order to replace industrial jobs from closed textile mills. Officers are paid $19:65 an hour in conjunction with shift differentials and roll call incentives while completing their probationary first year of employment. Officers are given an additional wage increase upon successful completion of their one-year probationary period. Officers and Sergeants employed by the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility are represented by the Fraternal Order of Police lodge # 50.
Protest
A protest about the detention of 120 federal immigrant detainees at the Wyatt Detention Facility, organized by the Jewish organization Never Again Action, took place on July 3, 2019. Another protest, on Wednesday August 14, 2019, ended when a Wyatt employee drove his truck into the crowd.
Escapes
James Morales was discovered missing from the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls on Saturday, Dec. 31 2016, at around 10 p.m. He had been detained at the facility since Dec. 3, 2015, on federal criminal charges brought in U.S. District Court in Worcester, Massachusetts. Since the escape was reported to law enforcement by the Wyatt staff, federal, state and local authorities in multiple jurisdictions investigated and analyzed numerous leads on Morales’ potential whereabouts. Additionally, law enforcement continues to analyze and follow up on information gathered from locations Morales may have visited since his escape, as well as from evidence seized by law enforcement. Morales is a former U.S. Army reservist who was being held for allegedly stealing six assault rifles and 10 handguns from the Lincoln Stoddard Army Reserve Center in Worcester in 2015. It is believed that Morales fled into Attleboro, where a Massachusetts State Police dog followed his trail to an overpass, where bloody prison clothing was found. Authorities believe Morales got into a car at that point. According to police, Morales may also have stolen a green Chevrolet Lumina with Rhode Islandlicense plate 408696 from a Burger King lot in Attleboro at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday.
Deaths
Death of Hiu lui Ng-Hiu Lui "Jason" Ng an immigrant from China was a Detainee who died while in custody of the Donald W. Wyatt Facility. The official cause of his death was cancer. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency withdrew its remaining 153 prisoners from the facility in mid-December 2008, following an inquiry into his death. The prison continues to house inmates of the United States Marshal Service and of the United States Navy's General Court-Martial Convening Authority.
