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| Some Monroe prison employees say changes have improved safety |
| By heraldnet.com |
| Published: 11/07/2011 |
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MONROE WA -- Samuel Carter spends a lot more time these days roaming the Washington State Reformatory at Monroe. In doing so, the corrections officer said he can better support his colleagues than he did a year ago. He also feels safer working in the century-old prison. It's not so much recent equipment upgrades, such as pepper spray or an emergency alarm button on his radio microphone. It's more the changes in procedures that have taken root since fellow corrections officer Jayme Biendl was killed in the prison chapel in January, he said. "There is more accountability," he said. "We just check a lot more on everybody." Carter, for instance, now frequently stops by places where, as Biendl had done, corrections officers work alone. That means inmates can't count on those officers being alone for long, he said. Workers at the reformatory and leaders from the state Department of Corrections on Thursday outlined a series of changes that have been put in place or are under way since Biendl, 32, was killed. They include more training, security advisory committees, shift changes to increase staffing at peak prisoner movement times, tighter screening of how inmates are classified and assigned jobs as well as new equipment and higher expectations of prisoner behavior. Some changes were made with inmates like convicted rapist Byron Scherf, 53, in mind. He has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder in Biendl's killing and could face the death penalty. Scherf, who was serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole, had demonstrated good behavior behind the prison walls. He'd earlier been deemed high risk and a threat to corrections staff, particularly female officers, but his conduct won him increased access to programs and jobs, such as working in the chapel where there was less security. "On paper, he looked like a model inmate, and by his actions for 10 years he was," said Capt. Ed Fritch, a corrections officer for more than three decades. "Ten years is a long time." Biendl's killing was a somber reminder of the inherent danger of working in a prison where workers can be lulled into a false sense of security, officials said. It was the first time in more than three decades that a Washington corrections officer was killed in a state prison. "What it turned upside down was our whole way of thinking about people being able to come in and function in a structured environment," said David Bustanoby, Monroe Correctional Complex associate superintendent. A new screening process places greater scrutiny on what inmates were convicted for in determining an appropriate classification. Read More. |
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