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| 3 prison officers hurt in Arizona |
| By Arizona Daily Star |
| Published: 01/18/2005 |
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Prisoners in Tucson, Ariz., staged a standoff with corrections officers that lasted about four hours Monday, the eve of the first anniversary of a hostage standoff at another state prison. Officers finally used tear gas to clear the dining hall, where 43 inmates refused to follow orders after a fight broke out during breakfast at the Cimarron Unit of the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson, said Cam Hunter, an Arizona Department of Corrections spokeswoman. During the fight, corrections officers Brian Jones and Dominic Silvain were punched, and another - Sgt. Karen Fizer, the wife of Warden Greg Fizer - was seriously injured with a makeshift weapon that punctured her skin. While all of the officers were expected to recover, the weapons had not yet been found, Hunter said. The Cimarron Unit, southeast of Tucson in the 10000 block of South Wilmot Road, houses 720 higher-security inmates. Investigators on Monday had not determined what the prisoners were fighting about or why they refused to follow orders. Using gas was the best option for ending the standoff after talking did not lead to a surrender, said John Hallahan of the Correctional Officers Training Academy. A fourth officer was treated for a bad reaction to the tear gas. The Tucson prison is at a "critical minimum" staffing level, said Joe Masella, president of the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association, a labor union. A low number of officers means less deterrence for inmates to misbehave, he said. Authorities locked down the prison, including prisoners not involved in the fight, to free up more staff members to respond to the standoff, Hunter said. They also brought in tactical units from around the state. The average staffing shortage at a state prison in Arizona is 11 percent, Hunter said. Twelve percent of jobs at the Tucson complex are unfilled, according to a weekly Department of Corrections report that includes job vacancies caused by military and other leaves of absence. Even though the staff was outnumbered, it did a good job of controlling and containing the situation, Masella and Hunter said. Inmate assaults on staffers are not uncommon in Arizona's state prisons, Hunter said. More than 200 such assaults take place in state prisons every year. An investigation is under way to identify the instigators and participants, Hunter said. Those prisoners could face criminal charges and disciplinary actions. |
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