A Brief Chronicle of Arizona Prison Complex [ASPC] Lewis

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, February 28, 2014

A Brief Chronicle of Arizona Prison Complex [ASPC] Lewis

Ever since the prison was built there were notorious and brutal beating taking place in this penitentiary just down the road from Buckeye, Arizona. The facility experienced trauma year after year and conditions never improved to the point where the administration was confident enough to say that the Lewis prison was operating under normal operational standards and the foul smelling trace of a wicked malady that has existed there since the very first day it opened has been cured.

A general overview will reveal many chinks in the armor of this penitentiary. The staff were new or inexperienced; the administration was out of touch with its staff; the physical plant was in disarray and the food, sanitation and medical care was atrocious. Adding the other mitigating factors of direct or indirect abuses, there was a definite touch of neglect by Central Office to ensure there was a legitimate due process in place and grievances were heard on a timely basis.

Ten years later and the Lewis hostage situation is almost forgotten except by a few. The penitentiary is still very volatile and more weekly beatings take place now than ever. Staff are spread dangerously thin and have to “buddy up” to feel safe. Sloppy searches reveal nothing but nuisance contraband as the hidden weaponry comes on the very next day after a mass search was completed and people are stabbed.

Wardens take the time off and ignore the needs of the facility and spend money on things that are close to their own personal glory or prestige rather than prioritizing the safety of others. Knowing there is tension on the yards and officers are being tested to their limits and sometimes beyond. People in key positions are taking time off to avoid the misery of their tasks and appoint designees to take care of their business taking no ownership in what happens on their yards.

Staffs are being assaulted weekly. These reports are being hindered by the fact that very few make it to the media or a press release making the appearances of law and order to exist within the Lewis Complex when in fact the opposite is true. Most of their CCTV systems are obsolete and in dire need of repairs. Insufficient funds for maintaining a sound stocked armory is a reality and staff are hindered with poor communication tools as they suffer these shortcomings day to day until it no longer matters. There are more critical issues but not wanting to give away information that might help the enemy within.

Their locking devices are shot or impaired and nothing is being done to fund their operational efficiency or upgrade those devices in dire need of attention. These issues aren’t different from the Eyman Complex or any other major prison complex throughout the state. Their physical plant have been ignored and preventive maintenance is nearly non-existent. The water is tainted and the sewage fields are at capacity and in need of expansion. It is likely their HVAC systems will be tested this summer and will surely fail.

Cleaning supplies and sanitation priorities were no-existent. Many were denied their religious services and many more were ignored when their mail, property and other personal items were being withheld because of staff shortages or because of a retaliatory mood that was never completely justified as a means to end the “us versus them” attitude that prevailed.

Minor infractions became justified reasons to make them major infractions. Bed space was driven by an increasing need to fill beds at the higher custody levels to justify expansion of beds and the need for more maximum custody space. All these symptoms of the institutional sickness have been ignored and nothing is expected to be done before the heat of the summer in 2014.

It will be under these conditions that the disruption at Lewis will have occurred. The community has a lot to fear as this facility is in dire straits and nobody is paying attention to its fragility or demise.

The gangs roam freely as the means to control them has been given to the incompetents that use their matter of personal preference of endorsing specific yard leaders to shape and manage the lives of others no matter what the cost is or which person or persons get in their way to achieve the glory.