Low Pay, Poor Training, Large Turnover Major Causes of DOC Hostage Situation
February 4, 2005
By: Ed Skinner, "AZCOPS Speaks" Newsletter Editor  |
Ed Skinner, Editor, AZCOPS SPEAKS |
In the aftermath of the longest hostage siege in modern American history involving corrections officers, Arizona governmental officials are pointing fingers at each other – and away from themselves – in trying to explain the causes for the chronic problems in the state prison system. The 15-day crisis began January 18, 2004, when a pair of violent inmates with nothing to lose took two corrections officers hostage and command of a prison tower at the Lewis Complex near Buckeye, Arizona.
"This is the nightmare of every correctional officer," Sgt. Joe Masella, president of the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association, said hours after the crisis began. He quickly became the key correctional officer spokesperson during the crisis as well as union liaison with Governor Janet Napolitano and DOC Director Dora Schriro.
What happened at Lewis Prison that allowed two lifers to hold an entire prison at bay for 15 days, and what can be done to prevent another such crisis here or elsewhere? By all accounts from several different quarters, the Arizona prison system represents violence and rebellion waiting to happen.
"I blame (former DOC Director) Terry Stewart and his henchmen," Masella said. "He's the one who set up our present training standards. He's the one who ignored our funding needs. And, he's the one who refused to listen to us when his decisions caused everything to go into a bucket."
Generally low wages, a crazy-quilt wage classification system that has some sergeants earning less than the officers they supervise, and new hires getting paid the same as experienced officers, plague the system. Also, serious under-staffing has been caused by a turnover rate that approaches 30 percent annually.
For example, in the Morey Unit of Lewis Prison where the siege occurred, some 200 positions (19 percent) are vacant. Of the 800-plus positions that are filled, half of the officers have two years or less of service (including their seven weeks of training at the Correctional Officers Training Academy). With Arizona in a budget crunch, the State Legislature has ignored recent pleas for more DOC funding, while at the same time passing more tax exemptions and reductions for business. "But," Masella said, "there are some rays of hope for the state prison system. Our new director (Dora Schriro) is a breath of fresh air," he said. "On the job only six months, she spent the first four months fighting prison privatization, a popular sentiment among legislators. She was at Lewis most of the time during the hostage crisis, and anything we asked her for we got, usually within hours," Masella added.
Also, Schriro asked Masella to help set up a volunteer program for off-duty officers from other prisons to perform staffing duties at Lewis to supplement its personnel during the crisis. It was a highly successful program.
Both AZCPOA and AZCOPS also had high praise for Governor Napolitano for setting up an independent investigation into the crisis that included corrections officials from other states. "They both provided cool-headed leadership during this crisis. Bottom line: our people got out alive," Masella said.
