SOLITARY CONFINEMENT -SHORT STORIES - NEWS AND OPINIONS - JUST PLAIN OLD STRAIGHT TALK ~~
Wasted Honor -
Carl R. ToersBijns is the author of the Wasted Honor Trilogy [Wasted Honor I,II and Gorilla Justice] and his newest book From the Womb to the Tomb, the Tony Lester Story, which is a reflection of his life and his experiences as a correctional officer and a correctional administrator retiring with the rank of deputy warden in the New Mexico and Arizona correctional systems.
Carl also wrote a book on his combat experience in the Kindle book titled - Combat Medic - Men with destiny - A red cross of Valor -
Carl is considered by many a rogue expert in the field of prison security systems since leaving the profession. Carl has been involved in the design of many pilot programs related to mental health treatment, security threat groups, suicide prevention, and maximum custody operational plans including double bunking max inmates and enhancing security for staff. He invites you to read his books so you can understand and grasp the cultural and political implications and influences of these prisons. He deals with the emotions, the stress and anxiety as well as the realities faced working inside a prison. He deals with the occupational risks while elaborating on the psychological impact of both prison worker and prisoner.
His most recent book, Gorilla Justice, is an un-edited raw fictional version of realistic prison experiences and events through the eyes of an anecdotal translation of the inmate’s plight and suffering while enduring the harsh and toxic prison environment including solitary confinement.
Carl has been interviewed by numerous news stations and newspapers in Phoenix regarding the escape from the Kingman prison and other high profile media cases related to wrongful deaths and suicides inside prisons. His insights have been solicited by the ACLU, Amnesty International, and various other legal firms representing solitary confinement cases in California and Arizona. He is currently working on the STG Step Down program at Pelican Bay and has offered his own experience insights with the Center of Constitutional Rights lawyers and interns to establish a core program at the SHU units. He has personally corresponded and written with SHU prisoners to assess the living conditions and how it impacts their long term placement inside these type of units that are similar to those in Arizona Florence Eyman special management unit where Carl was a unit deputy warden for almost two years before his promotion to Deputy Warden of Operations in Safford and Eyman.
He is a strong advocate for the mentally ill and is a board member of David's Hope Inc. a non-profit advocacy group in Phoenix and also serves as a senior advisor for Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council in Chino, California As a subject matter expert and corrections consultant, Carl has provided interviews and spoken on national and international radio talk shows e.g. BBC CBC Lou Show & TV shows as well as the Associated Press.
I use sarcasm, satire, parodies and other means to make you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carl also wrote a book on his combat experience in the Kindle book titled - Combat Medic - Men with destiny - A red cross of Valor -
Carl is considered by many a rogue expert in the field of prison security systems since leaving the profession. Carl has been involved in the design of many pilot programs related to mental health treatment, security threat groups, suicide prevention, and maximum custody operational plans including double bunking max inmates and enhancing security for staff. He invites you to read his books so you can understand and grasp the cultural and political implications and influences of these prisons. He deals with the emotions, the stress and anxiety as well as the realities faced working inside a prison. He deals with the occupational risks while elaborating on the psychological impact of both prison worker and prisoner.
His most recent book, Gorilla Justice, is an un-edited raw fictional version of realistic prison experiences and events through the eyes of an anecdotal translation of the inmate’s plight and suffering while enduring the harsh and toxic prison environment including solitary confinement.
Carl has been interviewed by numerous news stations and newspapers in Phoenix regarding the escape from the Kingman prison and other high profile media cases related to wrongful deaths and suicides inside prisons. His insights have been solicited by the ACLU, Amnesty International, and various other legal firms representing solitary confinement cases in California and Arizona. He is currently working on the STG Step Down program at Pelican Bay and has offered his own experience insights with the Center of Constitutional Rights lawyers and interns to establish a core program at the SHU units. He has personally corresponded and written with SHU prisoners to assess the living conditions and how it impacts their long term placement inside these type of units that are similar to those in Arizona Florence Eyman special management unit where Carl was a unit deputy warden for almost two years before his promotion to Deputy Warden of Operations in Safford and Eyman.
He is a strong advocate for the mentally ill and is a board member of David's Hope Inc. a non-profit advocacy group in Phoenix and also serves as a senior advisor for Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council in Chino, California As a subject matter expert and corrections consultant, Carl has provided interviews and spoken on national and international radio talk shows e.g. BBC CBC Lou Show & TV shows as well as the Associated Press.
I use sarcasm, satire, parodies and other means to make you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Arizona Prison Leadership lacks empathy for public safety
Leadership Culture in Arizona Prisons
It was his concern for bad
publicity that created the culture to develop an attitude of unawareness
related to agency deaths, critical incidents e.g. staff assaults, and inmate
assaults, disturbances, excessive natural deaths, suicides and homicides etc.
so that when the time came to face the accusers, the director and his executive
staff could make claims of lack of knowledge of such issues and walk away from
these problems or allegations.
The matter of accountability however does not rest just with the agency director but also with the Governor and her Chief of Staff to whom the director reports to on a regular basis.
Thus it is reasonable to speculate
that these most powerful people have no personal knowledge of the director’s
ineffectiveness how his agency is operating and whether or not they are in
compliance with their own policies and procedures as they are written.
The first responsibility of
the prison director is to protect the public. Secondary and other
responsibilities include compliance with “color of law” requirements, federal
constitutional care mandates e.g. proper custodial care and handling of
prisoners, budgetary decisions and operational concerns directly related to
public safety, staff safety and inmate safety.
It is the opinion of this
critic that the director has failed to protect the public, those who work for
him and those convicted felons under his care and custody.
It is reasonable to say that
the director exhibits an extraordinary lack of empathy for those under his care
[mainly dedicated state employees] by failing to make the appropriate inquiries
how business is being conducted under his command structure that varies from
location to location.
It is also the opinion of
this critic that through his ignorance of those internal and external agency
failures he has jeopardized individual safety of those under his care by not
inquiring about their wellness and not attempting to find root problems that
contributed to those failures and injuries and solve them with logical and
cost-effective methods.
Based on his lack of empathy
and awareness he has created a culture that will inflict future harm and
additional damage to those human elements of the agency’s mission statement as
he has allowed those subordinate to him run unchecked to make decisions that
are contrary to policy and procedures signed by him as the agency director.
The director, through his
silence and unawareness has imposed a most harmful environment for those
working and living within the prison system. He has enabled and empowered
wrongful decision-making regarding the supervision of human resources and
incarcerated persons, the effective management of the prison population through
poor classification procedures and logistic and support services paid for by
Arizona taxpayers.
During the past several
years, the director has been warned by many of serious issues within the
agency. The raising of many red flags
that indicated trouble and internal issues that have yet to be addressed by him
or his chain of command as he refuses to act on those matters until they are at
critical mass.
The Kingman escape for
example caused him to review private prison supervision and inmate
classification for such locations but did nothing for the training or staffing
of the public prisons that are just as susceptible to escapes, hostage taking
or other disturbances. Eight months after the Kingman escape, internal audits
revealed similar security breaches at other state prisons with no immediate
desire to fix the problems.
Although he has sought
temporary and weak corrective actions regarding the issue of medical care,
deaths, suicides, staff issues and inmate on staff assaults, he has not taking
any affirmative action to reduce prison violence on staff and inmates.
Instead he has chosen methods
of punishment of those at the lower levels as an alternative of focusing on the
lack of leadership within those state complexes throughout the state.
In fact, he has replaced
wardens with formerly retired warden that were once members on his executive
team in the past. This ‘good ole boy” system prevents effective communication
and fairness for those who depend on leadership to balance the workplace. It
also developed barriers for others who have worked with dedication and loyalty
for future promotions and opportunities.
Today his subordinates are
still operating unchecked and unsupervised in areas where consultation should
be made with the higher echelon to ensure legal implications and agency
objectives and statements are met in according with the strategic plan and
ethical conduct.
The director, claiming to
have an open door policy has always re-directed anyone’s complaint back to the
institutional level creating or causing extreme hardship, embarrassment or
harassment to the individual who took him up on his open door policy. This is detrimental
to staffs morale and often includes disciplinary action some time after the
meeting was conducted.
Unfortunately, this critic has
warned the director personally several times while inside his office with a
face to face meeting while his direct and indirect supervisors ignore these red
flags and refuse to advise the director of issues at the lower end of all
institutional operational locations.
The director does not yet
acknowledge the potential risks that are present today in the Arizona prison
system. He denies there are systemic flaws and denies problems with staffing
patterns, medical and mental health care, physical plant deterioration and
fiscal squandering by those under his command.
Hence this avoidance for bad
publicity has resulted in:
·
The Governor’s
Office not being aware of operational and support failures under the care of
the agency director
·
One could argue
that the Governor’s Chief of Staff has a responsibility to ask the right
questions when meeting with the director and should be held accountable for all
failures or damages.
·
Since many red
flags have been raised, the Chief of Staff or Governor’s Office have failed to
inquire specifically on related corrective action and findings.
·
The director has
engaged in an attitude of no discussion and no dissent with those who know the
problems of the agency by creating a culture of fear and intimidation so that
no encounters can be made safely without retaliation.
·
A lack of
awareness of his responsibilities as the director, information delivered
through whistleblowers or critics including the media and ignorance of his own
policies and procedures.
It is the opinion of this
critic that in order to rectify and correct this status, the director should
enable a team for monitoring and oversight on all those dire and pressing
issues brought forth by the whistleblowers, the media and other red flag
reports given to him through time since he took office.
He should implement an assessment
/ investigative tool that can monitor and assess progress, corrective action
and promulgate new policies and procedures to change the standards at all
prison complexes in accordance with all legal standards including federal,
state and local laws.
This assessment tool should
not be interdependent on his direct supervision or control. It must function
independently without fear of intimidation or retaliation if in disagreement
with the director.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Seven Deadly Sins in Prisons
Putting two and two together and coming up with seven is a likely
conclusion if you have ever been to prison or worked inside of one in the past
twenty five some years. Fact is that prisons and the Bible have a lot more in
common as much of the stories written in the Holy Book refer to misery of those
suffering imprisonment as well as those numerous tales of the seven sins of
life and how they are interrelated with the way we live our lives and do our
work inside these draconic dungeons called penitentiaries.
When you are carefully
position the pieces of the puzzles together, someone from the outside can
easily glean and gather enough of a perspective to conclude that prisons are
filled with these deadly sins in one way or another as mankind suffers sorrow ,
pain and inhumanity during this era of mass incarceration in our state prisons
and jails.
The practice of committing sins has not only been a favorite
pastime of humans throughout the ages but has become a daily event for those
who live on the edge of life and ignore the moral compass that has been
implanted in our minds since childhood. It is with serious considerations that
personal experiences have revealed the ever presence of all sins as described
in horror by those who worked and lived inside prisons.
Pride is
excessive beliefs in one's own abilities that ignores the other elements of
being a fair and open minded person in a position of power and influence with
regards to the lives of those incarcerated and who dutifully work there for a
living. Pride is an obstacle to common sense and is often the reason for bad
judgments and decisions when the lack of humility allows mistakes to be made
without second thoughts but with dire consequences.
Holding powers of life and death over other human beings created a
thing called vanity that distorts the well being of others for the sake of
themselves. It is this self-love that destroys the very nature of a good
administrator as they quickly sink into the quicksand of the political environment
they are now entrapped without escape. Pride turns into arrogance over time
that obstructs due process, fairness as well as lawful conduct.
Envy is the
desire to obtain or acquire the status, the position or the power of others
sacrificing personal values in order to gain a foot into the door of success
and power. Envy can create a competitive spirit that becomes destructive and
selfish as they want to succeed at the expense of others and gain that upper
hand of those who they view as smarter, luckier or more intelligent than
themselves but are willing to compromise their own principles to gain entry
into the management world. Envy will result in the willingness to cheat others
and promotes discrimination and harassment.
Gluttony is an
enormous desire to want more than they can handle or need. It is a desire to
want the things they don't really need to do the job but gives them the self
satisfaction of having it just in case. A glutton wants power, influence,
control all wrapped into one ball so they can wield their position of authority
on those lacking the statutory or administrative positions to do their job
properly.
Gluttons squash the desire to do it right and do it with honor as
they were taught by their peers, mentors or teachers. Gluttons lack
self-control and impose their evil will on others without regards to policies,
laws or statutes that exist to protect others.
Lust is a
mistaken quality for love of the job or persons as it reflects one's self
pleasures and desires rather than filling the needs of others first. Lust is
destructive as it takes away more and more from the soul as it craves the
desire for the flesh, the pain and the sorrow that exists in a darkened world
filled with human suffering and misery. Lust pollutes the mind and soul of all
things that are right and ignores consequences or reckless acts or tacit
approval for others to commit wrongdoings denying that they had anything to do
with the wrongful act.
Anger or
Wrath is another craving of the body and not the soul as it focuses on
revenge and retribution for others to suffer and see life as an eye for an eye
kind of relationship. Anger manifests a fury that is imposed on others through
misguided use of force, living conditions, punitive sanctions and other tools
given to management to impose their will upon the prison world and its
inhabitants. This political wrath is both irritating and intimidating to others
who seek fairness and justice in most situations. This wrath will expose many
to needless punishment and torture whether physical or psychological in nature.
Greed is the
desire to own everything within your span of control and beyond. It creates a
desire to travel beyond your normal realms of reality and puts risk to your own
status and ruins relationships that have become covetousness rather than
sharing or providing guidance to others to enhance the job, challenge or
mission in a more logical and sensible manner. Your willingness to compromise
your own morals or standards is in danger of being lost, as your desire for
materialistic growth exceeds your ability to cover the costs. Greed will create
barriers that will impede your span of control and results in corruption from
the top to the bottom as others will act inappropriately without role models.
Sloth is a natural
result of expending all your natural energy on projects that require no
physical efforts or spiritual awakening. This sin is a quiet killer as it
creeps up on you and destroys your very fiber of morality and allows you to be
exposed or vulnerable to the other sins already described within the work place
or prison world.
This laziness can result in a level of complacency that will allow
disorder and insubordination to grow and reel out of control. You will lose
respect and your expectations are now in left in the hands of others who do not
have your best interest in mind as they risk your trust to do wanton ill on
those incarcerated and without self-control or accountability by those in
charge. Being a sloth in character, work ethics and ideology will result in the
formation of work place gangs, mass confusion, failures or flaws, an increase
in assaults on persons and serious disturbances or turmoil within the prison
settings.
Source:
Monday, July 9, 2012
The inhumanity of solitary confinement
The inhumanity of solitary confinement
For the past eighteen months or so, I have been
reading intense stories, articles and speculative narratives about solitary
confinement and its impact on imprisoned human beings. As a former deputy
warden of such an “inhumane” Special Management Unit in the Arizona State
Prison Complex Eyman in Florence, I was the chief administrator of this unit.
During my term of assignment within this most restrictive tonnage of concrete
blocks filled with rebar and steel gates, doors and windows, I observed what
society declared to be the “worst of the worst” inside Arizona prisons. I was
fortunate to have a team of excellent professionals to keep this assignment
afloat and avoid minimum collateral damage while assigned there.
For an outsider to attempt to understand “solitary
confinement” one must first step back and acknowledge that solitary confinement
is a condition of confinement termed erroneously as men are not solitary
in housing but rather segregated from general population prisoners for reasons
we will discuss later on. In reality, this housing assignment is known as
maximum custody or Level 5 in most prison agencies either state or federal.
It is true prisoners are locked alone inside their
cells for about 22 – 23 hours a day. It is true their food is delivered through
a food port designed for restraining the prisoner but serves a dual purpose of
safely handing the food trays to the prisoner without the need to open the cell
doors. The walls are unpainted concrete walls and their cells are windowless to
allow no direct sunlight into their cells.
In addition to being locked up alone, the Special
Management Units have expanded their bed counts to allow double bunking in both
units adding approximately 300 additional beds [at a taxpayer’s cost of
approximately $234,000 dollars] to maximum custody housing. Double bunking
maximum custody increase the rate of violence (gladiator wars inside the cells)
and put more staff in danger because of the imminent threat of opening the cell
doors with two prisoners inside them rather than just one.
Assaults and use of force incident have increased
and more staff are getting hurt today than ever before inside these darkened
and hollow gladiator pits where it is a “us versus them” mentality that created
the hostilities and mistrust in operations.
Today, many prison officials in Arizona are asking
for $ 50 million dollars to expand this system even further. Expanding maximum
custody while still engaged in a flawed method of managing those existing SMU
facilities where death runs rampant and medical and mental health care is
direly needed making it a recipe for total failure within time.
Their
cells are approximately 80 square feet with a steel bed to sleep on. They have
a combination stainless steel toiler, sink and shelve to put their personal
hygiene items on and a faded small steel mirror to groom themselves. The steel
inside these maximum custody cells are corroding and are in need of replaced
steel plates as time is wearing down even the strongest metal designed for such
a purpose.
This
corrosion was mainly created through neglect and lack of preventive maintenance
that doesn’t happen within such a dangerous place. One reason was the removal
of essential maintenance staff and the other was lack of funding to conduct
such repairs. Thus it is suspect that
the ventilation, sewer and electrical systems are also in dire need of
maintenance but none such work will be done as there isn’t sufficient staff to
take care of these things and the end result will be ignoring these problems
until they hit critical mass and the systems shut down.
It has
already been demonstrated more than once that the locking devices are failing
and old and only a steel pin keeps the door from opening allowing the prisoner
to escape his cell and attack an unaware officer walking his or her beat.
One
maximum custody prisoner managed to carve into to stainless steel sink combo
[with a 14 inch steel sharpened weapon] and escape his cell through the wall
into a mechanical room and attacked an officer from behind as he planned a
hostage taking after making several statements he would kill a correctional
officer if he had the opportunity to do so. His efforts took many weeks to
complete thus was evidence or indicative of the lack of security rounds made
due to his intentional hostilities towards staff and staff’s willingness to
leave him alone and not check on him or his cell for the duration it took him
to cut a hole in his maximum security wall and attacked an officer as a plan to
take a hostage.
There is
rare human contact through actual touching of skin or person. They are
restrained in upper and lower mechanical restraints often referred to as
shackles. Then, after being stripped searched, they are escorted in these chains
to and from locations such as the infirmary, visitation [again non-contact and
via window and phone] and other appointments [off-site medical or court
appointments] it us usual for two officers to conduct such an escort if the
prisoner has a history of assaultive behaviors or unwillingness to abide by
institutional rules.
Maximum
custody is staff intensive and is the most expensive kind of housing in any
prison system.
They do
have contact with other prisoners or human beings but it is not personal contact;
it is impersonal and often delivered with shouting or yelling across the pods
of cells into the recreation boxes or areas nearby in shouting range. They “fish”
their hand delivered messages and contraband from cell to cell and communicate
more elaborately than those of us that use the internet as their
confidentiality levels exceed those of any firewall or webmaster.
They are
kept in conditions that are difficult to describe unless you worked there,
lived there or been there for any prolonged period of time. The place has a
smell of its own (like dirty feet or socks) and is drab in color and hollow in
reverberating sounds as the noise bounces off the walls endlessly.
They are
allowed to read books [they can exchange book via the library], write letters,
watch television and engage in conversations with other prisoners through the
cell doors (perforated with holes to allow maximum air flow) made of steel and
double locked with safety pins to avoid accidental opening of these doors
allowing two prisoners out at the same time which would violate the policy of
one prisoner out of the cell at a time.
They do
live in a state of idleness. They are prevented by statutory law to seek higher
education opportunities but are allowed to engage in attaining their GED or
meet mandatory literacy act conditions. They have access to a phone and share
an informal schedule agreed upon by all inside that pod and often call those
who will accept their collect calls with premium rates attached to them.
When they
are allowed out of their cells, they are placed in a large concrete box void of
any exercise equipment and covered with a huge steel rail welded with heavy
gauge steel mesh to allow the sunshine to pour through. They are allowed two
hours of recreation and shower three times a week. Many engage in this opportunity
to leave their cell area but a quarter of the population tends to refuse to
leave their cells because of the heavy security requirements before and after
such an activity. Secondary, it is practice that when a prisoner goes to
recreation his cell area is searched for contraband and inspected for any
tampering of equipment that may have occurred within the time he is there alone
and not under any supervision. If they leave, they stand a chance of losing
some of their unauthorized property either altered or attained through
unauthorized means.
Special
Management Units are designed for isolation and control. This is the primary
design and it serves this purpose well. It has been an expectation by society
that every prison system has a designated unit for such purpose and in Arizona
there are three maximum custody units that fit that purpose and design. Special
Management Units (SMU) are seriously understaffed. This has been a grave flaw
of these control units as staffing patterns have been altered and downsized by
budget and agency needs to re-allocate staff [especially shift supervisors] to
other facilities throughout the state leaving the SMU without good leadership
capabilities and decision making tools.
Since
2009, the staffing patterns of these Special Management units have been cut
severely impacting their daily operation in such a manner, many of these
mandated services are limited or short cuts must be taken to meet the daily
schedule or agenda for the day. This is one of those conditions that lead to
“perpetual incapacitation” or incarceration without relief of fresh air /
sunshine.
It is
nearly impossible to allow every prisoner his time in the shower or rec cage as
there aren’t enough hours in the day to meet these conditions of confinement as
outlined by their own policies. Make up days are Saturday and Sunday and they
are never caught up leaving approximately a quarter of the population without
recs or showers on any given week. The rotation makes is bearable that most get
their showers and exercise but nevertheless, there isn’t enough time in the day
to do them all.
Another
grave flaw of these Special Management Units is the placement of those severely
mentally ill (SMI) prisoners. The mixing of these SMI prisoners with
anti-socially behavioral misfits inside these walls creates bedlam and chaos
for both prisoner and staff.
It is
true that “people go crazy here in lockdown” and it is for certain that many of
those who weren’t mentally ill before their placement here are now teetering on
being borderline insane because of these environmental influences that strips
their humanity away day by day as they are incapable of doing anything about it
and frustrated that they are kept in such dismal conditions of confinement when
many are in denial they need to be there for a specific purpose or reason based
on their own misconduct or behavior prior to arriving at the SMU.
It is also
truthful to say that those who are non-violent can become violent and those who
are already violent exceed their own limits of tolerating violence and thrive,
plan and participate in extreme violent acts perpetrated through scheming and
wanting to harm or kill a correctional officer.
To say
the word “hate” doesn’t exist would be a lie. Hate is rampant and drives the environment
on any given day that often results in the deployment or discharge of chemical
agents, stun guns or even the K 9 cell extraction dogs. Hate exists on both
sides of the cell door. Those who wish to harm these officers walking in front
of their cells and attempt to spear, dart, and spit or throw feces and urine to
assault them carry out their mission with amazing accuracy.
It is
most hazardous to walk within the front of any cell without the fear of being
smeared with bio hazard substances or drenched in someone else’s urine. Society
must know that these are indeed “gladiator pits” and an underworld of pain and
violence.
On the
contrary of what people think what goes on in there, it is the staff that
protects this environment with deliberate silence but also with pure dedication
to get the job done no matter how short handed they are. Silence is taken as a
sign of loyalty to the individual or persons in charge who works there and
endures the harassment and hate within this place. Silence allows behavioral
modification models to reinforce positive means due to negative behaviors. This is where this type of environment is most
volatile and subject to variances not written in any policy or procedure
related to the management of prisoners inside the SMU. Silence condones the
acts of officers who deal with the kind of working conditions nobody else could
even imagine as they adapt, improvise and overcome both personal and physical
structures and barriers to get the job done anyway they can.
The
physical plant layout is effective as there is a structural separation between
the control rooms above and the cell areas below. This prevents hostage
situations and access to exit doors. Computer enhanced programs maintain the
doors to all entrances and the control room officer has a birds eye view of the
officer below at all times. The problem with these SMU control rooms is they
are often vacant due to staff shortages thus an officer below cannot enter the
cell area to make a unit check unless the officer above is present to punch the
computer keyboard and observe.
This
shortage leaves adjacent control rooms empty and without observation for hours
at a time leaving the cell area unsupervised and without officer presence
either on top or on the bottom.
The SMU
such as the Browning Unit have wings. Each wing has a designated purpose. For
example, every wing has common clusters with pods within those clusters. Ten
men cells and six pods make a cluster. There are long wings and short wings.
Long
wings have four clusters e.g. A, B, C and D clusters. Short wings have two
clusters, E and F wings. These are either designated for general population
prisoners or the containment of the Behavioral Unit or Enhanced Security Unit.
On the other side we have more wings. These wings are the Security Threat Group
wings where we have I, J, K, L clusters and death row wing has G and H
clusters.
Needless
to say, all wings are overflowing creating a mixture of non death row and
validated gang members being in adjoining cells and with no physical separation
except concrete and steel. In addition some such as E and F clusters have been
double bunked with no staff increase on the rosters and tax the staff
tremendously when it comes to feeding, recreation or showers.
While
there at the Browning Unit, we housed prisoners that were violent and
non-violent; escape risks and those serving extreme long sentences. Then there
are the severe mentally ill and behavioral misfits that can’t or won’t follow
institutional rules and have committed serious acts of violence with or without
weapons and committed other state crimes within the prison setting including
homicide.
There
are over 240 gangsters housed there and validated to be incarcerated at maximum
custody levels commonly referred to as Level 5.
Some have been there for over ten years and some are there because of
recent gang activity that involves moving drugs on the streets as well as
inside the prison walls as they control drugs and divide their profits
according to those by laws established by the heads of each gang that is
divided by race and ethnicity.
In
addition there are protective segregation prisoners who have committed crimes
that are unacceptable by their own prison standards and need protection from
being killed by other prisoners. There are also those individuals who have
perpetrated acts against the administration or correctional officers and are
housed there to closely monitor their behavior and conduct while serving the
remaining time on their sentences.
During my assignment at the SMU II or now
renamed Browning Unit, there was dedicated staff who worked hard to maintain a
safe and orderly environment. They carried out their orders, their tasks and
their duties without so much a whimper of complaint and have exceeded any
administrator’s expectation to be professional and to the best of my knowledge
performed life saving acts e.g. CPR and other first aid tasks to keep prisoners
on suicide watches alive and did so in the finest standards possible.
One could not keep count of the numerous times
they saved lives and prevented a self-inflicted death attempt either by hanging
or cutting themselves with unauthorized razors smuggled in after a shower was
completed but not searched thoroughly (in the
mouth) when returned to the cell.
These SMU units are considered to be the “end of
the road” for those assigned there and often released from there once they do
their time. They are punitive in nature and design. Solitary confinement is a
misnomer for it is actually maximum custody with all the legitimate tools
available to manage prisoners at such a high level.
However,
solitary confinement is a condition that has invaded or contaminated these
maximum custody units because of their mismanagement of time housed there,
reasons for being kept there for prolonged periods of time and the lack of
attention to detail and operational needs that creates chaos and misdeeds in a
very relative short period of time if allowed to fester and left untreated.
It is true that some administrators misuse this
placement to impose punishment upon punishment. It was not designed for that
purpose nor was it meant to be long term for those who needed protective
custody, SMI or other administrative needs. It was designed for gang control,
homicide perps (cop killers and correctional officers especially) suspects and
extremely violent and uncooperative prisoners that have an extension history of
assaultive behaviors on staff and other prisoners.
A legitimate gang step down program was put into
place in 2007-2008 to allow those identified to be gang members to go to a
lower custody level based on positive participation of the program and staying
away from gang activities. There are also debrief options on the table that
allows prisoners to renounce their gang membership and go into protective
custody after sharing gang intel and passing a polygraph to confirm their
information. Between these two programs,
many gang members are eligible to reduce their custody levels and function in a
less restrictive environment until their time is done.
The trend
to fill solitary confinement must be reversed. Government leaders must
insist in reducing their population within numbers staff can effectively and
safely managed. Classification for such placement must be justified and reviewed
and revised to allow timely reviews to be conducted to allow release or
programming while in such a status within an SMU.
Placement terms must become shorter with viable
alternatives attached or available for those eligible to reduce their custody
levels based on program compliance and clear conduct for an expressed time
period since their arrival within this custody level.
Administrative oversight should not end at the
warden’s office but rather be subject to review by an independent board of
inquiries composed of a medical employee, mental health staff, a case manager
and an administrator with a civilian appointee as the chair person to ensure
independent thinking and problem solving.
Grievances and due process procedures must be
scrutinized for patterns of behavior or misbehavior by staff as well as those
who abuse the grievance procedures to make a mockery of their rights to express
concern or discrepancies.
The use of maximum custody commonly referred to
as solitary confinement must be selective and handled with professionalism and
objectivity rather than the opposite manner it is being handled today. The manner of neglect and inattention to
details resulted in a mission creep that leaves us with mayhem today.
More information has revealed that extreme
isolation can and does impact a human being in a most negative manner. Just how much is left up to the individual
impacted but nevertheless, it creates more treatment care and drives up the
costs of such placements. It also puts many correctional employees is harm’s
way as this environment is both hostile and dangerous for all that enter there
without the proper protective or safety equipment.
The removal of the severely mentally ill alone
will reduce deaths, self harm and other acts that are created by this
environmental structure as it destroys the prisoner’s hopes to being well again
and touch [have human contact] with someone again like they did before they
were placed inside this condition called “solitary confinement.”
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