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| Public at risk? Arizona Department of Corrections prison workers, inmates accused of bad behavior |
| By abc15.com - Elizabeth Erwin |
| Published: 11/01/2013 |
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Sex in the storage room, kissing in the kitchen, romping in the restroom. It sounds like the plot for a salacious movie, but it's the reality of what's happening inside the Arizona state prison system. Like one case, when, according to a report, an inmate had sex with a female officer in the visitation porter closet. Or another case, when a female officer admitted to having sex 10 to 15 times with an inmate in the prison's tool room. Or another one, when a female officer was busted for performing a sex act on an inmate inside the prison's control room. That's the prison's central nervous system, the place where guards monitor what the inmates are doing and where the controls that can open and close cell block doors live. "It creates disorder within the prison. That makes it a dangerous place for both the prisoners and for the guards," said criminal defense attorney Russ Richelsoph. Richelsoph said anytime an inmate gets too close to an officer it's bad news for everyone. "When you have a prison system that's rife with abuse, whether it's sexual favors being traded, contraband being brought in," he said. That's the other problem, we're not just talking about sex. Often times the employee will bring in banned items for the inmate. Things like marijuana, cigarettes and cell phones. "How valuable are cell phones in prison?" I asked. "It's my understanding that they're more valuable than drugs in prison," Richelsoph said. It makes sense when you think about it. Prison phones are monitored and if you can get your hands on a cell phone, you can call anybody. "So a cell phone is useful because I can transact business, essentially, with my associates outside the prison from a cell phone that I have in prison," Richelsoph said. That's a nice way of saying people behind bars can keep up their illegal gigs while serving time. "That's a public safety risk," I said to ADC spokesman Doug Nick. "It is a public safety risk. We don't want to have cell phones in prison, it's a huge contraband issue," Nick said. Read More. |
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