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| SCI Pittsburgh prison guard terminated after assisting investigation |
| By post-gazette.com - Rich Lord |
| Published: 05/01/2012 |
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Vincent Schaffer never fancied himself a criminal investigator, and when an internal affairs agent pressed him into service in the probe of the State Correctional Institution Pittsburgh's F Block, he balked. Threats of discipline should he refuse, though, convinced the 45-year-old prison lieutenant that he had no choice. He became the conduit between investigators and a key inmate witness without whose help the abuse charges pending against four prison officers might not have been possible. His involvement, though, set in motion a chain of events that resulted in his apparent termination from the Department of Corrections, for which he worked for 18 years. The department confirmed Monday that Mr. Schaffer is no longer an employee, declining to comment further because it does not detail personnel matters. Now on unemployment and seeking less lucrative work as a parole agent, Mr. Schaffer said the turn of events has left him bitter. "I had a lot of pride in my job, and I gave the department 100 percent every day," he said Friday. "To believe that I was put in this position, and to even try to comprehend that the department and the commonwealth have flat-out turned their backs -- I don't even know the words." Mr. Schaffer, an Air Force veteran, became acting unit manager of F Block in early 2010, and the work usually kept him at his desk until well after the 4 p.m. end of his official shift, he said. The accusations that have emerged against guards, though, stem from the 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift, and Mr. Schaffer said he had no inkling of trouble on the block until Jan. 5, 2011. Read More. |
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