Although located about from the center of Calipatria, the prison is within the city limits. Called the lowest prison in the Western Hemisphere, it lies below sea level. As of Fiscal Year 2005/2006, CAL had a total of 1,143 staff and an annual operating budget of $123 million. The facility covers a total of . In September 2007, it had a design capacity of 2,308 but a total institution population of 4,180, for an occupancy rate of 181.1 percent. As of April 30, 2020, CAL was incarcerating people at 127.2% of its design capacity, with 2,935 occupants. Over 2,000 of its housing units are maximum-security Level IV ; the remainder are minimum-security Level I.
History
CAL opened in January 1992, approximately 22 months before California State Prison, Centinela. A $1.5 million electrified fence, which could cause instantaneous death for escaping inmates and which was the first of its kind among California state prisons, was installed in November 1993. After a number of birds had died by electrocution, an ornithologist was hired to help redesign the fence and eliminate the problem. As of 1995, CAL's problems included "double-celling", psychological stress, a drastic shortage of work for prisoners, chronic understaffing among prison employees, and gang violence. A May 1995 incident in which five inmates stabbed and assaulted eight officers was described in 1997 as the worst inmate attack on staff in California state prisons in recent years. The weather in the area is desert-like, cold in winter and very hot in summer—up to 118 degrees Fahrenheit. The smell of cow manure pervades the prison and the entire area due to large cattle feed lots nearby. Angelo Buono, Jr. died at CAL in September 2002 of a "massive heart attack." An August 2005 riot at CAL was the most violent uprising at the prison. The event left 25 inmates and 25 prison staff members wounded. A guard shot and killed an inmate with a Mini-14semiautomatic rifle, which was believed to have contributed to ending the violence. A spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation stated that the disturbance involved Hispanic gang members."
