Correctional Officers In Need of Correction: April 2010

[XLFD]

Being a correctional officer is a tough, often thankless job.  Good correctional officers rarely get the recognition of achievement that others who excel in their job, just the grief of having to deal with a bunch of dangerous felons who could seriously injure or kill them if given the opportunity.  For those who go through their career in a professional, accountable manner, we salute you.

 

Lately, we have been discussing the grievance of an inmate at the Oaks Correctional Facility up north.  I personally know a former CO from that facility who I believe is beyond reproach, he has even hinted at a 'bad situation' leading to his decision to leave there.  I have sent an even-handed letter to that facility about the prisoner's grievance and have received no response over the last month. 

 

Lately, we have had a new member join who is solidly behind the CO charged with ethical lapses by the inmate, who he has yet to attribute any rights to.  This member has claimed to be a CO himself, and he feels the inmate is lying, and the CO involved is an upstanding CO.  He may very well be right.  The certainty of this member in the innocence of the CO, had me asking why. 

 

I Googled "Correctional Officer arrested" in Google News and came up with many results.  Here are just a few that came up occuring in April of 2010. 

 

Walton correctional officer arrested for felony drug possession
April 13, 2010 7:31 PM
Daily News
DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — A Walton County correctional officer was arrested for drug possession Monday.

Justin Ryan Tankersley, 23, a correctional officer at the Walton Correctional Institution, was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance after an officer found one Xanax pill and seven Valium pills in a Dodge truck, according to a report from the DeFuniak Springs Police Department.
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Corrections officer arrested for dealing drugs
By Vershal Hogan (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Wednesday, April 14, 2010

VIDALIA — A Concordia Parish correctional officer was arrested and charged Monday with arranging drug deals while at work.
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Ex-Ariz. corrections officer pleads guilty in drug case
by Jolie McCullough - Apr. 21, 2010 06:12 PM
The Arizona Republic .
A former Arizona corrections officer who was accused of trying to give cocaine to an inmate pleaded guilty in a Phoenix federal district court this week, officials said.
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Westminster police officer and corrections officer held in kidnap, rape of woman
Police say Det. Anthony Orban is being held in the alleged attack at gunpoint of a woman at Ontario Mills Mall. Jeff Thomas Jelinek, the corrections officer, is accused of being an accessory.
April 06, 2010|By Paloma Esquivel
An off-duty Westminster police detective was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a woman at Ontario Mills Mall and raping her at gunpoint, police said Monday.

A corrections officer from the Chino Institution for Men, who was also arrested in connection with the incident, has been booked on suspicion of carjacking and is being held as an accessory to the crime.
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Corrections Officer Arrested
Last Update: 4/13/10 10:07 am  
  In Rensselaer County a corrections officer is under arrest for allegedly threatening someone with a gun.

North Greenbush police arrested 53-year-old Anthony Holston, he's charged with assault and menacing. Police say he assaulted his victim, then allegedly pointed a loaded gun at them.
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Schenectady Corrections Officer Arrested
Posted on Tuesday, 13 of April , 2010 at 5:48 pm
SCHENECTADY—Yet another employee of the Schenectady County Sheriff’s Office is on the other side of the law.

Corrections officer Ross Lackey,27, has been arrested by Niskayuna police after a woman filed a complaint against him for allegedly striking her, putting her in a strangle hold and taking her cell phone to prevent her from calling for help.

Lackey has been charged with two counts of second degree harassment, a violation; and second degree unlawful imprisonment.
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N.J. corrections officer pleads guilty to providing cell phones to Latin Kings inmate
By Sue Epstein
April 12, 2010, 4:17PM

Matt Rainey/The Star-LedgerA photo of the cornerstone of East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge.WOODBRIDGE -- A corrections officer at East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge pleaded guilty today in New Brunswick to supplying two cell phones to an inmate who is a member of the Latin Kings street gang.
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Federal Corrections Officer Charged After Polk Deputy's Car Sideswiped

Published: Monday, April 19, 2010 at 11:59 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, April 19, 2010 at 11:59 p.m.
A federal corrections officer was charged with DUI and leaving the scene of an accident after he sideswiped a Polk sheriff's deputy's patrol car on the side of Interstate 4 last week, the Sheriff's Office said Monday.
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Female Red Wing prison guard accused of sex crimes with two teen boys
Woman allegedly had relationships with two teen boys
By Frederick Melo
Updated: 04/20/2010 12:00:41 PM CDT
She signed her name Peaches and told him she wanted to be the mother of his baby.

It didn't seem to matter to Suzanne Walstrom that she was a 37-year-old correctional officer and the alleged object of her desire was a 17-year-old inmate at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Red Wing.
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Milwaukee County corrections officer held for potential sexual assault of a child
April 8, 6:04 PMMilwaukee City Buzz ExaminerTracey Esser

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, this past Tuesday, a 34-year-old Milwaukee County corrections officer was arrested due to the suspicion of second-degree sexual assault of a child.
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Cops: Fed Jail Guard Was DWI in Wrong-way Parkway Crash

By Timothy Bolger on Apr 19th, 2010

A federal corrections officer from Wheatley Heights was arrested for drunken driving after he drove the wrong way on Wantagh State parkway and crashed head-on into another vehicle early Monday morning, New York State police said.
 

[masonco]

Hi XLFD

In MI there have been a LOT of c/o's arrested for sex crimes against inmates, drug possession and bringing drugs into the prison and there have been some arrested for bringing in contraband.

Have you ever wondered why that "missing" gun was found in a bathroom?

Yes there a many excellent c/o's but as in every profession, there are the ones in it only for the money (or pleasures) to be gained by coercion. Then of course there are the bad eggs that abuse their power and abuse those they are responsible for.

If you wish to reopen the other thread, feel free or contact me and I will re-open it. BUT I will lock it again when my "followers" start abusing their privilege of posting. THEY enjoy following threads I start and posting volatile things in them here and 2 other sites.

[stanstayhi]

Just keep it lock since you really did not want to debate the subject anyway. For you information I really do not know who you are or have ever responded to one of your post here or on Ludington Talks.

[stanstayhi]

Well Lets go the other way since there is so many evil C/Os out there




I can give everyone a thousand more examples but I think the best one was years ago I worked in a local Stop and Shop and a beautiful lady in uniform would come in several times a week to shop. I will not lie I almost waited on her hand and foot. We use to talk a lot about her job at the jail, well one day she did not show up and it ended up being 6 to 8 months. One day I heard that familiar voice of can you help me? I turned around it was her but very much changed the only thing left of her was her smile and voice. I asked what happened and was told the following The prisoners rioted in her housing unit they picked her up slammed her against the wall and took a fire extinguisher across her back. Where is she now? If she has not killed herself she lives in Florida on pain killers unable to walk!

[AQUAMAN]

I think both X and Stan have given excellent examples of true life stories of abuse on both sides of the prison system. Thank you both for the info.. This nationwide story and the one at Oakes are all not in line with a good and decent correctional system. It's in desperate need of overhaul, and has had some in recent decades, but, not nearly enough imho. It's too complex to generalize such a mess into good or bad for either side. Each incident of abuse should be handled on a case by case basis. Alot more costly and time cosuming, but a necessary evil as I see it nowadays. If all is known on the Oakes case, and fairly and honestly reported, we will know whom is lying and not, time will tell.

[masonco]

Actually, is there any public service position that give anyone control out there that does not have some corrupt people in it? Look at headlines with doctors, nurses, teachers, bosses, day care providers and you will find someone being charged with abuse of some type.

[stanstayhi]

I think the real problem is the country has changed... its not the same as when we were kids. The kids these days watch a movie and wonder who are the good guys? They wonder because they are not there. When you get a movie star who walks out of a awards show because the host and his wife say the f bomb 20 or 30 times she is called a prude. When someone gets upset and stands up to say B.S. to something they are attacked by hollywood as a hertic. No wonder the only role model kids have these days is some clown that walks around with his pants hanging down his behind chugging a 40 oz.

[stanstayhi]

Well that is the problem for a while my step son wanted to be scarface after watching the movie. He started the crap of fighting other kids to be a tough guy until I took control of the problem. Now he thinks he is a lover and he is only 13. I do blame it on entertainment, look what is happening in your high school in Ludington they locked the place down because they thought some kid brought a gun with them. When I was in school kids got into fist fights maybe one or two or three times before they finally had enough. Now they want to kill each other I know they did not get that from their parents.

[Sweater Cows!]

Regarding stanstayshi's latter comment.......

You yourself blaming movies, music, drugs, alcohol or whatever straw man/red herring you can find for peoples poor behavior choices are just as bad as those who USE those things as EXCUSES for their own poor choices of behavior.

People are responsible for there own poor behavior, outside things may have influences on ones world view, but when it comes down to it a human chooses what they are going to do with free will.

Seems you fit more with the "kids these days" making excuses for there behavior than those of the baby-boomer's who supposedly take responsibility for their choices. So it seems FROM THE PARENTS is where your step-sons issues may have come. For example bad parenting/negligent(or worse disinterested/absent) parenting.

And if kids these days were allowed to have a few good fist fights to establish the pecking order than maybe they wouldn't feel pushed to the point of powerlessness that makes them want to bring a gun to school. heck I can even understand those kids and what/why they would want to do that as my school experience was so miserable. But back then a fist fight wasn't means to an expulsion, therefore a gun wasn't necessary. (or even thought of because the media didn't advertise it and news didn't travel so fast and most people wouldn't have thought of that on their own until they hear of it on the news all the time). But still it comes back to the parents and teaching right from wrong and actually being there as a parent, not just the person who works, works, works, but never listens or makes a connection to their kid emotionally to be able to be supportive.

[Sweater Cows!]

Oh and one more thing, weren't Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid the GOOD guys? (circa 1969)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064115/

[XLFD]

Very true Sheila, it still comes back to the parents, and the time, virtues, and emotional connections they can give to their kids. Our currently messed up, erratic entertainment/political/social systems need context, and good parents are the best ways to supply that context.

[Sweater Cows!]

Regarding stanstayhi's former comment(the one above cocomsu's) read on.....


would the real Mrs. Grundy--- please stand up; please stand up.


Go to the youtube page here-->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5DXBBLuKxQ

and read the lyrics along with listening, you may be surprised at what you find.

[XLFD]

Stan,
The point I am trying to illustrate is that anyone who reads the Mumaugh story use their own innate biases to explain the problem. I think those that would believe 100% of what he has to say make about as much sense as those who believe nothing of what he had to say.

You came off as the latter, discounting Mumaugh's story outright because of his past lawbreaking, and seeming to state that the CO was above reproach simply because of his title and what you perceive as a typical CO. CO Fink automatically has a lot more credibility than Mumaugh, granted, but a CO must hang around the worst of the worst, and sometimes it seems to rub off on some. I for one hope Mumaugh's story is a complete fabrication, he gets some extra time for perjury, and CO Fink is vindicated. That's the best outcome. But let's get to the bottom of it.