May Rouse Horn's Ire
CCA Opts to Honor Exonerated Captains

By REUVEN BLAU

The Correction Captains Association has once again decided to honor four members whom the Correction Department sought to fire for allegedly beating two inmates, a decision which may further delay the agency's Medal Day ceremony.

MARTIN F. HORN: Renewing old hostilities?

The move is sure to anger Correction Commissioner Martin F. Horn, who hasn't scheduled a ceremony in more than three years, largely because of his reluctance to have any group honor those Captains.

On Second Thought

"After taking a long hard look at which Captains should receive medals and discussing it with my executive board, we decided to honor our original choices," said Ronald Whitfield, president of the Correction Captains Association.

A Correction Department spokesman Feb. 5 said that the agency was still planning to hold the next ceremony during National Correction Officers Week in May.

The department has lauded the officers who helped victims of Hurricane Katrina during October 2005, but has not conducted a formal medal ceremony since December 2004.

RONALD WHITFIELD: 'Still the right choice.'

A department official last month acknowledged that the ceremony had been shelved due to a dispute with the former president of the CCA, Peter D. Meringolo, who had a contentious relationship with Commissioner Horn. (Mr. Meringolo retired a year ago.)

Captains 'Courageous'

During his tenure, the CCA planned to honor four members whom the agency had sought to terminate for allegedly beating two inmates who refused to enter their cells after one of them assaulted an officer.

An Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings judge in February 2005 recommended tossing the charges against the four Correction Captains and a Correction Officer.

Administrative Law Judge John B. Spooner concluded that the veteran officers acted "courageously and decisively" in disarming and subduing the two combative prisoners.

A Change of Heart

Mr. Whitfield originally said that he planned to give the union's award to four other Captains who were involved in the rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero after 9/11 and in community service.

But he changed his stance last week, noting that he was the union's first vice president when the decision was made to honor the supervisors who helped an officer being violently attacked by the inmates.

"It was the right choice then and it's the right choice now," Mr. Whitfield asserted.