No more radios in prison guard towers at state penitentiary

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- Radios are no longer allowed in guard towers at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.<br/><br/>Some guards say they're worried because they won't be able to hear

Thursday, May 5th 2005, 2:21 pm

By: News On 6

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- Radios are no longer allowed in guard towers at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Some guards say they're worried because they won't be able to hear threats of severe thunderstorms or tornadoes. But prison spokeswoman Lee Mann says the radios were used to play music and have never been authorized to be in the towers.

Mann says there are concerns that guards might be distracted by the radio and that it's the job of the shift supervisor to warn those in the towers of threatening weather.