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| Reported inmate beating could put correctional officer on trial |
| By Beaumont Enterprise |
| Published: 03/11/2009 |
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By AMY MOORE March, 11, 2009 Grace under fire takes on a whole new meaning when a job sometimes includes having things thrown at you. But in spite of the stressful environment, correctional officers who lose their cool still must be held accountable. "They do a difficult job. They work in a tough, difficult environment," Jefferson County Sheriff Mitch Woods said. "People will challenge them, intentionally try to provoke them and the difficult part is maintaining composure. Those are things you have to learn to control." Two Jefferson County correctional officers now accused of participating in an attack on an inmate might lose their jobs and one could end up behind bars himself. Robert Wayne Stegall, 28, is accused of using a flip-flop type of jailhouse "shower shoe" in an attack on Jefferson County Jail inmate Joshua Matthew Quirk, 24, in November of last year. Stegall was indicted on a charge of oppression, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. Jefferson County District Attorney Tom Maness noted that behavior such as spitting and "chunking," a practice in which inmates hurl feces at correctional officers, makes retaining their poise a complex task for the officers. "The officers take a lot of abuse, there's no doubt about it," he said. At the same time, he said they must be professional and there's no room for them to assault prisoners no matter what occurs. "When they do that, they cross the line," he said. Correctional officers are trained to handle stressful situations, with each completing 96 hours of a basic corrections officer course within one year of being hired. Officers also must pass the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education exam to obtain their Corrections Officer License, Woods said. Stegall was hired in January 2005 and completed those requirements. Next week, he will go before a peer disciplinary review board which will decide what administrative action to take against him, according to Woods. "The board will hear the allegations and make a ruling on the case, decide whether there's merit to the case and will suggest what they feel is the required disciplinary action and I can either follow (their suggestion) or reject," Woods said. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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