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| Convicts Found Guarding Other Convicts |
| By KPRC |
| Published: 11/18/2002 |
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KPRC reported November 4 that at a state prison just northeast of Houston, more than 10 percent of the staff has been behind bars themselves and are now guarding other convicts, which could be leading to more violence aimed at the inmates and even the other people who work there. 'Anyone that makes it through, you assume that they're safe and they will have your back and we will work as a team once we're here,' Corrections Officer Tramill Lopez said. The Investigators found stacks of court files showing that at least 28 of Lopez's co-workers at the Lychner State Jail have been in jail themselves. Some several times. One corrections officer pleaded guilty to a felony for forging a check and was still found at work, while serving a felony probation. 'It doesn't just affect those people who are locked up,' said Dorothy Delgado, an inmate's mother. 'It affects their families. It affects them when they get out on the street.' Another corrections officer spent 90 days in jail indicted on a felony theft charge for stealing loads of clothing. She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Other officers were discovered to have convictions for assault, carrying guns and resisting arrest. 'Spending time in jail does not necessarily disqualify somebody from being a correctional officer,' said Ken Johnson, personnel manager for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Corrections Officer Kirk Booker has been behind bars three different times for threats and violence against family members and now he's on the outside guarding the inmates. He's been in trouble several times for violence against inmates and even his co-workers. Booker's personnel file shows that TDCJ still has him on probation and state officials knew about all of his family violence arrests since he was hired. They kept him despite a policy that says no one with such a history would ever be considered as a new hire. Five other officers were kept on the job despite family violence arrests and the fact that three of them were convicted. The man whose family name is attached to the prison said that he can't believe the number of convicts found working at the facility. 'Many of these correctional officers actually have a worse record than the people they're guarding,' Joe Lychner said. Lychner said that he's still proud that the state named the prison after his wife, Justice For All founder Pam Lychner, who died in the TWA 800 crash. 'I know what Pam would say about this,' he said. 'And she would say 'Fix it.' So they need to do something about this.' |
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