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| Prison's lax environment blasted by state panel |
| By The Arizona Republic |
| Published: 03/08/2004 |
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The prison where two corrections officers were held hostage is plagued by unprofessionalism and complacency among officers, a panel reviewing the hostage standoff said last Tuesday. Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis, and the Morey unit in particular, has severe problems caused by officer inexperience, a remote location and an unusual prison design. These issues may have contributed to the ability of two inmates to take over an armed watchtower Jan. 18. Those problems are part of a broad range of systemwide issues that the Department of Corrections should address in light of the incident, panel members said. "The overall unprofessionalism of staff was rampant at this facility," said Grant Woods, co-chairman of the governor-appointed panel reviewing the standoff. "The way this facility has been managed contributed to how this situation happened." Others had equally scathing words for the prison. "This Morey Unit is just a morass," said Dennis Burke, panel co-chairman and Gov. Janet Napolitano's chief of staff. "It is known in the system that Morey is a problem." On Tuesday, members approved several recommendations for changes that could affect prisons state-wide. Those preliminary recommendations include changes to policies and safety procedures and improved officer pay, training and equipment. The tower at the Morey unit itself is the subject of several of the panel's recommendations. The Department of Corrections should decide whether to even use such towers, the panel said. Corrections experts on the panel said it is unusual to have armed, interior watch towers because of inherent vulnerability of having weapons within the prison's perimeter. Procedures in the kitchen where the Jan. 18 incident began should also be reviewed. The panel said the department should also assess whether to continue to employ civilian contract workers in the kitchen. One such worker was raped during the incident. Another failed to show up for work that day, and is being investigated for a possible involvement. Several officers involved Jan. 18 told the panel they thought the incident was a drill. The panel will recommend that training not be conducted on duty. Officer morale systemwide is poor and unprofessionalism and training are major issues, panelists found. An audit at the Lewis prison conducted by DOC in late February found a tower officer asleep on the job and others who brought hand-held video games, magazines, books and music to work. Panel member Leesa Morrison, a former prosecutor who is director of the state Department of Liquor Control and Licensing, said low officer pay may be a primary culprit. One officer told the panel that he and his family are on welfare, she said. Starting pay for officers is about $24,000. While drafting the recommendations, the panel consulted with DOC Director Dora Schriro and relied heavily on a report compiled by a panel that included DOC employees. |
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