Ending Jail Corruption Should Be the Priority; Bigger Worry Than Excessive Force

Within the last several months, the Department of Correction has been given a black eye by a few staff members who have sold their integrity and besmirched and defiled the image of our entire dedicated work force.

Mr. Schwartzbaum is president of the Assistant Deputy Wardens/Deputy Wardens Association.

It is encouraging to see the union leaders of line staff and first-line supervisors reinforcing standards of integrity via newsletters and one-on-one communications. Higher-ranking supervisors in the department should constantly instill in our subordinates loyalty to high standards of integrity and honor.

Jeopardizes Safety, Reputation

We need to reinforce via roll-calls and interpersonal communication that anyone willing to smuggle in drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, cell phones, or other items of contraband jeopardizes our welfare and weakens the entire foundation of our department. We individually and collectively as an agency must close ranks and purge from our ranks those miscreants who have crossed the line and sold their honor for monetary gains or simply cowardice. A concerted war on corruption must be initiated at all levels of the department. We must recognize, reward, and honor our employees who root out and report corrupt staff — regardless of rank and title, and regardless if they are uniformed or civilian.

The foundation of any professional organization must create a culture that demands an expectation of integrity and, more importantly, ensures remedial action is undertaken when that integrity is breeched.

Emphasized Force Over Corruption

Equally as important is the role played by management. Every organization instinctively looks to its leaders to identify, recognize, and ultimately solve problems. But the Investigation Division within the Department of Correction, under the leadership of Richard White, has failed to cultivate a network of intelligence to root out real staff corruption and the smuggling of contraband to inmates.

Instead, full focus of their resources is utilized to investigate use-of-force incidents in our jails. While there is certainly a need for oversight on such incidents, more times than necessary the conclusions to these investigations results in trumped-up, exaggerated disciplinary charges with insufficient evidence to substantiate their findings. As a result, a disproportionate number of charges are of a vague nature, such as "submitting a false or misleading report and/or testimony."

In my opinion, this is an attempt to ameliorate the allegations leveled at the Investigations Division in the Ingles v. Toro litigation. What is most troubling is there now appears to be a pervasive mindset amongst uniformed staff — which is creating a "chilling effect" in being proactive in performing your duties in an effort to carry out the work of our agency. This is detrimental to our mission and eventually will result in a loss of control and authority, a necessary component in running a correction facility.

Will Horn Act on His Memo?

Over the course of the last several years, the Investigations Division has been notified of several instances of the smuggling of contraband and other staff misconduct, yet these staff members were allowed to linger in their respective facilities — jeopardizing staff and inmate safety. Commissioner Horn recently promulgated Commissioner's Memorandum 2/2008, entitled "INTEGRITY." The memorandum was right on point. However, if this memorandum is a merely a symbolic stop-gap measure intended to defer the problems to other entities and/or future Commissioners, then I predict a worsening of the problem. On the other hand, if this is the initial step towards comprehensive reform within the investigative units within our agency, then let's roll up our sleeves and get to work.