Memo to Commissioner on Lee Riot, CCA, 2004
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Memorandum To: JohnRees,Commissioner From: PattiR. Webb,Warden Date: October 4,2004 Subject: CriticalIlrcidentReview Re: LeeAdjustmentCenter Ms' GeorgiaDunn, Mr. Don Bottom, and myself were directedto review the Critical Incident that occurredat Lee AdjustmentCenteron Septemb er 14, 2004. We agreedon two days, Septernber27ft and286. We met at NaturalBridgeLodgeon Wednesday, Septemb er 26,2004 to review a tapeand what reportswe hadbeengiven. we decidedto take a tour of the facility andtalk to staffandinmates. On Septonber27, we went to the facility and met with Archie Moore, Internal Affairs and DonnaStivers,AssociateWarden.We completedthe tour of the yard,North Dorm, andthe area destroyedby the fue on this day andbegantalkingto staff. Ms. MelanieTurner,CCA Regional lncident Commander,was at the facility, thus allowing us to discussthe situationwith her. Vermont also had representatives present;however, ttt.y *rr. not there for investigative pu{posesbut to ensurethe vermont inmates'needswerebeingmet. During our discussions with staff we discoveredan underlyingtheme. Numerouschangeshad been made during the past six monthswhen LAC beganre-eiving Vermont inmates. Such changesincludedcontrolmovement,schedulingof activities,and feiOing. Containmentfences hadbeenerectedto assistwith movement.Thesechangeswerefrom the ftrporate office. The numberof Vermontinmateswas originallyonly 200; however,in Juneor July this number increasedan additional 200 due to a problem at Marion Adjusiment Center with Vermont inmates. Two hundredKentuckyinmateswereremovedfrom LAC in orderto accommodate the additionalVermont population. The total populationfor LAC includedapproximately400 Kentuckyand 400 vermont inmates. Theredoesnot appearto be problem a betweenthe two groupsof inmates. During the pastthreemonthsoMr. Eckmanimplernentedseveral additionaloperationalchanges. Thesechangesincludedcanteenschedules,masspunishment, and rumorsregardingstatepay. Thesechangeswerenot madeknownto the corporateoffic e. Therealso seemedto be someconcernregardingMr. RandyEckman,s lack of communicating with staff andinmates.It appearshe would tell themwhat changwh, **i"d; however,he did not offer reasonsasto why. Staff asa rule do not like changes,andby not discussing staff to explain ttre ultimategoal, the staff were not gtu"i tftr opport*iiyto ..buythemwith into,, the progmrn' They, in turn, ventedtheir frustrationto and aroundinmates. The inmates and staff wereonly "feeding"offeach otherandaddingto thedissention. The inmateswe talked to also voiced much of the sameconcernsoffered by the staff. The underlyingthemesagainwere changesand failure to communicate.They shessedtherewas no problernbetweenvermont and Kentucky inmates. Kentucky inmates *Lrr upr.t that Vermont inmatesdid not haveto pay the $2.00co-payfor medical. This too caused unrestbecauseof a failureof the Administrationto communicatethedifferenceof thetwo state systems. The staffand the majorityof the inmatesdid not appearto know the incident wasgoingto occur on this particularevening. They did have rumois of a sit-down strike, which was to have occurredthreemonthsago. They placedtwo inmatesin segregationfor investigation. There was not enoughevidenceand ultimately the inmateswere released. Sincethat time morale continuedto decline amongboth staff and inmates. The top administrativestaff affernptedto discussissueswith Mr. Eckman;however,they foundit very dif;Ecultto persuade him to "fr*g" his mind. Somestaff we interviewedwas not comfortablenor felt conddentenough to express their opinionto Mr. Eclanan. A few inmateswereawareof what was to 9"cur on the daythe incidenttook place. However,it was not known institutionwide. The Psychologist did reiort to the Officer in medicalthat she had beentold somethingwas going to happenthat night.- Sheinformedthe Officer as shewas leaving at approximately6:30 p.m. It was uncleaias to whetheror not the staff member informedthe shift Captain. It seemstherehad beengrumblingfor sometime about something goingto happenwith nothingoccurring. staffmay haie gotten-complacent. one staff member,who went on vacation after the incident, returnedto work during our investigation.He informedIntemalAffairs that he had reportedto the Captainhis observations of two inmateson the recreationfield duringthe pasttnonthor so. It appeared to him the two inmateswere controllingvariouspossibleillegal artiviti.s. The two inmaites alwayshad several inmatesaroundthemwjth groupsof inmatescomingand going. The Captaindid not report this informationto InternalAffairs. Thesetwo inmater*"trl*^ediately placedin adminishative segregation.This leadsus to believethe communication problemrnuyutro havebeenoccurring further downthe chainof command. PROBLEMS l. Lack of communicationto both staffand inmates to explain changes. 2' Lack of communicationup and down the chain of command. 3. Failure of the containmentfencesto contror location of inmates. o containment fenceson the recreation yard and around dorms did not contain the inmates. o The fences were npeeled up" from the bottom and gates were doubled in two to make battering rams. This hasbeen corrected. 4. Changesin recreationtimes o It appearsMr' Eckman would periodically changethe yard time and each time a change was made, it resultedin less recreationtime. o Two dorms were allowed to go to the yard area, and one dorm was scheduled for the gym on a rotating basis. o It should be noted the recreationyard is small and to allow 800 inmates in this areaat one time would be impossible to control and supervise,thus creating a dangeroussituation. o control movement to recreation was monitored and accesswa, giJ"r, to the inmates every 15 minutes' However, with count and meal schedules, less"time for recreational activity was the result. 5. lnmate Canteen o Complaints from inmates and staff regarding posting of state pay, money orders, and refundsin a timely manner. r One staffstated he went to the fiscal office to inquire about a refund and money order for an inmate and found money transactionsaateA six months priot had not been posted. o Canteenmanagerresigned. o This individual has not been replacedand her duties were given to the individual who posts the monies to the account. o Reductionin selectionof products o The canteenlist was reduced from approximately four pages to one. Examples are reducing from four selectionsof diffeient shampoosdown to trvo choices. o Items rsmoved from canteenlist: ice cream,chewing gum, and baby oil. o Reductionin hours r Went from two times per week, open window, to one time per week package. Inmates must submit a written order two days in advanceand are allowed to go to the canteenone time per week to pick up their order. No substitutionsare made. This also createsproblems when money is not postedin a timely mamer. o Aspirin r Sold in packagesof two for $.26. Bottles of generic aspirin of 100 tablets are cheaper when doing the math. ;:-; l qFW 6. DisciplinaryProcess o Restrictionsin canteenup to 90 days o Mass punishmentof entire wing in a dorm when one bed areafound dirty or cluttered. No one was allowed to go out of the wing until the problem was corrected. Area inspectionshadbeenoccurringat 8:00 a.m.;however,on Monday,September13s, this waschangedto 7:00a.m.per Mr. Eclanan.Staffwereinformedof the changeon Friday; however,the memoto the inmatepopulationexplainingthe changedid not get posted until Mondayafternoon,Septemberl3u. o Ice scoopfoundinsidetheice machine.Ice machinelockedfor oneweek. o Allegedgamblingat pool tables. Pool tableswere off limits to the entirepopulationfor weeks. 7. Visitation o Nine tableswereremovedfrom visitationarea. 8. StatePayreduction o Staff had beentold by Mr. Eckmanhe was not going to pay a daily wage when the inmatesonly workedoneor two hoursper day. He wasgoingto dividethe daily wageby hoursactuallyworked. Staff had beentalking aboutthis, thus inmatesoverheard.This wasto be implemented October1,2004. 9. Lack of informationon VermontInmates . The entire inmate file was not forwarded from Vermont. The facility had contacted CCA; however,the issuewasnot resolved.Thereweretimeswhenthe Vermontinmates wereactuallymaximumcustody. 10.Staffunprepared for Vermont o The majority of Vermont inmatesare sex offendersand are prescribedpsychotropic medication.Sexoffendershavea historyof behaviorproblems,andthe vastnumberleft staffunprepared. 11.Numberof SORTmembers o At the time of the critical incident the number of SORT memberswere approximately seven. It is my understanding recruitrnentis now occurring. LAC doeshave a signed, written agreement that assistance from EasternKentuckyCorrectionalComplexCERT will be provided. 12.Lackof staffqualifiedto usefirearms o Mr. Eckmandid not allow all staff to be re-certifiedannuallyon firearms. When the incidentoccuned,only a selectfew who reportedto the institution were qualified to utilize firearmsandgas. 13.Lack of InmateProgramming o Due to additionaloperationaldutiesgiven to staff, severalprogramshad beensuspended dueto lack of time. Vermont requiresall their inmatesto participatein a cognitive-type This is apatt of CCA's contract. This programis availableonly to Vermont Itoqu-' mmates. The religiousprogramwasweakenedwhenthe Chaplainresignedand is now dependent upon volunteers. It is if anyone has been given the responsibility of ensuring _unclear consistency with thevolunteers. Parenting,AngerManagement, AA, andNA programswerediscontinuedwhenthe staff assigned to theseprogrirmswasgiventhe respbnsibilityof the InstitutionalparoleOfficer andPre-release. 14.StateMonitor ' It appearsno onehasbeenmonitoringthe facility dueto promotions, re,organization,or activationfor military duty. This positionmay not havepreventedihir irrrid.rrt if what we weretold concerningMr. Eclcrnan's management styleis true. 15. AdministrativeStaff o The administrativestaff did not feel comfortablereportingwhat they saw as potential problemswith operationaldecisionsto rmyonein CCA or the Stateof Iientuckv. 16.MasterPictureCountBook ' The facility had a difficult time clearingcount the next day due to inmatesrefusingto give stafftheir names.The inmateswere dislocatedfrom their original dorm due to the fire and a pictureID book wasnot available.They do havethe piJtureson a computer; however,all equipmentwasdamaged,networklinesburned,andilectricitv was off. RECOMMENDATIONS o Openthe linesof communications with staffandinmates. o Changesshouldbe gradualwith time glven to both staff and inmatesto ask questionsand prepile. o Stopmasspunishmentfor the smallproblerns. o Qualifr all securityandselectprogramstaff with firearmsannually. o Postmoneyto accountsin a timelymanner. o Increasecanteenlist, review procedure,and scheduleto determineif additionalday at the canteenis feasible. o Reviewpresentcountandfeedingschedules to determineif recreationtime canbe extended. o Place security cameraswith recording capability at various locations throughout the institution. Therearenumerousblind spotscreatedby thephysicaldesignof the Ac-itity. o Monitor adjusfrnent processin relationto lossof privileges. o Statemonitorto visit a minimumof onetime per week. o Expandedprogramming by hiring additionalstaffor increased utilizationof unit staff. o Unit stafffollow up on inmaterequestsor questions. o Review visitation area and scheduleto increasethe area or additional days to ensure Kurtucky andvermont inmatesaretreatedfaidy andconsistently. o MasterphotoID book(hardcopy). o obtain the informationconcerningVermont inmatesand provide staff training on dealing with behavior-problem inmates. CONCLUSION It is the opinionof the ReviewCommitteethis incidentwascreatedby laek of communication up and down the chainof commandandtoo many changeswithin a shlrt period of time. Several things were taken from the inmatesand nothing *ir glven to thern in return. A few staff attemptedto explainotheroptionsto Mr. Eckman;howeier, his strict management styledid not oTil *y leniency. Staffshouldnot be inhibitedto offer their opinionsandi"pott to supervisors whattheyseeoccurring. The teruionof the institutionhadbeengraduallyincreasingduringthe pastfew months. Morale of both staff and inmateshad been decreasing. wrren-the five oi ,o inmates begantheir destruction,this is all that was neededto get the other inmatesto join. It is our opinion the institution and the majority of the inmateswere unawareof what was about to happen. If, in fact, the inmateswho beganthe seriesof eventsknew what they were going to do, it was not well planned.Theymayhaveknowntheyweregoingto do someihirrg, Uutnjto whatextent. It is our opiniontheincidentgrewinto somethingtargeithanthe originafinmateshadintended. AssociateWarden Donna Stiversand her staff are to be commendedfor their outstanding performance.Ms. Stiverswas at the facility when it began. Her quick action and directionto her staffpreventedthe lossof life andseriousinjury. ShJandher staffimplementedandcarried out the EmergencyPlan. The staffregainedconhoi of the situationwithin a few hours,knowing theywereseriouslyoutnumbered.As a resultof their actionsandprofessionalism, the facility ii operationaltoday. skm File