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CO Exam Scheduled for November 2005
Officer Accused of Rape, Gift of Contraband
Prison guards' donation comes with message
N.Y. Commissioner Honored at ACA
For victim of rape, justice, but no peace
S3004
Prison fight results in rules change
Elmira inmate allegedly stabs three officers
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Former Elmira Correctional Facility prisoner accused of attacking counselor
Inmate guilty of second-degree assaultbr>
Bullet found in prison shop
Correction officers have tough job to do
CSEA Files Lawsuit Over Pataki Administration's Empire Scam
CORRECTIONS CORNER
a
ra
ira
New York State
Department of Correctional Services
Glenn S. Goord, Commissioner
Office of Public Information
[518] 457-8182
www.docs.state.ny.us
For immediate release:
Thursday, September 1, 2005
CO exam scheduled for November 19, 2005 to maintain safe,
secure prisons;
Staffing levels remain high, inmate-on-inmate assaults at 23-year low
To maintain record levels of safety and security in New York’s prisons, a
competitive Civil Service exam for the position of Correction Officer Trainee
will be given statewide on November 19, 2005.
The starting annual salary for an Officer is $28,444. Upon successful completion
of the eight-week training program and the one-year probationary period, the
annual salary increases to $34,742. In addition to the base salary, appointees
will receive an annual pre-shift briefing payment of $1,415 and a $575 annual
security and law enforcement differential. Appointees who work in New York City
or in Westchester County will receive an additional $1,230 annual downstate
adjustment. Salaries are subject to increase pending outcome of current contract
negotiations. Officers also receive a comprehensive health insurance program
benefits package and retirement program.
Commissioner Goord said, “We encourage as many people as possible, especially
women and minorities, to consider joining our agency. Our modest 4 percent
attrition rate for Officers demonstrates what a rewarding and fulfilling career
opportunity this is. Our goal is to continue to diversify our work force by
offering opportunities within DOCS to as many qualified individuals as
possible.”
Protecting today’s Correction Officers
The number of New York state’s Correction Officers increased by 3 percent from
18,832 in January 1995 to today’s 19,388 while the prison population declined by
5 percent over the same period, from 66,750 down to 63,231.
New York’s Officers have contributed greatly to making their work place more
secure. The numer of inmate-on-inmate staff assaults has declined by 45 percent
in recent years, from 962 among an average daily population of 68,164 inmates in
1995 to 529 among 64,659 inmates last year. Last year’s number was the fewest
since 1981, when there were 468 such assaults among an average daily population
of 23,558.
How to join tomorrow’s ranks of our Correction Officers
Individuals interested in taking November’s competitive exam must complete an
application and forward it along with a non-refundable $30 application fee to
the New York State Department of Civil Service at Building One, State Office
Campus, Albany, N.Y., 12239. Applications can be obtained from that office or
their web site and at local New York State Employment Offices, regional Civil
Service offices and state correctional facilities.
Additionally, applications can also be obtained by contacting the DOCS
Correction Officer Recruitment Unit at Building 2, State Office Campus, 1220
Washington Avenue, Albany, NY., 12226 or via the internet at the Department’s
web site.
Completed applications to take the exam must be postmarked no later than October
3, 2005.
To take this competitive, written exam, individuals must be at least 18 years of
age and in good physical and mental health. Conviction for a felony
automatically disqualifies anyone from becoming an Officer. Misdemeanor
convictions are reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine eligibility.
At the time of appointment, candidates must be U.S. citizens, at least 21 years
old, New York state residents and possess either a high school diploma or GED.
To qualify for consideration to become an Officer, applicants must score at
least 70 on the written exam, results of which are ranked according to score.
Applicants then undergo a background check and must qualify medically,
physically, and psychologically before being appointed to the DOCS’s Training
Academy in Albany for a comprehensive eight-week training program followed by
three weeks of on-the-job training.
Those completing the training and probationary programs earn 16 college credits
toward a post-secondary degree. They can then qualify to take exams for the
positions of sergeant, lieutenant and then captain, before being considered for
an appointment as a deputy superintendent or superintendent.
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
New York State Police last
week arrested a corrections officer at the Albion Correctional Facility on
allegations that he raped one inmate and gave an illegal gift to another.
Curtis R. Kubiak, 58, of Cheektowaga was charged with one count of
third-degree rape, one count of promoting prison contraband, and one count of
official misconduct.
According to a State Police news release, an
investigation by the State Police and the Department of Correctional Services
found evidence that Kubiak had sexual contact with one inmate at the all-female
prison and provided a gift, considered contraband, to another inmate.
Authorities did not have information available today about the nature of
the alleged gift.
Kubiak pleaded not guilty in Albion Town Court and was
released on his own recognizance.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
By Charles McChesney
Staff writer
The guards' union at Butler Correctional Facility in Red Creek donates $500 a year to charities, usually giving $100 here and $100 there.
Not this year.
Instead, the New York State Correctional Officers Police Benevolent Association is giving $500 to a single organization this year - Mothers Against Drunk Driving - to make a point, union steward Douglas Sawyer said. The union wants to remind the public and officials that no one has been punished for the death of corrections officer Mark Antonelli.
Antonelli, 35, was killed Dec. 16 as he was driving home to Dexter from work at Butler. Antonelli's Dodge Stratus was northbound on Route 104 in Oswego County when it was struck about 11:15 p.m. at the intersection with Route 3 by a Dodge Durango driven by Serge F. Gilbert, 45, of Granby, officials said.
Police charged Gilbert, of 863 county Route 3, with driving while intoxicated and passing a red light. Other charges came later.
Sawyer worked with Antonelli and was driving behind him the night of the crash. He and other witnesses said Antonelli had the green light when he drove into the intersection.
Sawyer said the $500 donation was made "on behalf of our fallen brother."
He said union members at Butler discussed the matter and decided to make the single donation to MADD.
"This would be the best way to put it back into the limelight, to keep people aware," Sawyer said.
If convicted on all the charges he faces now, Gilbert could be sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
In January, Gilbert's lawyer, James McGraw, of Syracuse, said the brakes on Gilbert's sport utility vehicle may not have been working properly. He called the crash "a tragic accident."
In June, Gilbert was indicted by an Oswego County grand jury on the drunken-driving charge, and on felony charges of second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Gilbert has faced drunken-driving charges before. In April 1991, he was charged with driving while intoxicated in Fulton. In December of that year, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving while ability impaired. His license was suspended and he was fined $350. Court reports show he was also ordered to take a driver rehabilitation course.
Gilbert's current case was last in court for pretrial motions Aug. 11. No
trial date has been set.
By Michelle Gaseau, Managing Editor
More than 30 years ago, Glenn Goord - like any recent college grad -- sent out his resume looking for a job that fit his qualifications. With a major in Psychology, he thought that the social services agencies would be calling - instead it was corrections.
Today, as Commissioner for the New York State Department of Correctional Services, Goord has made an impact in the correctional field as a leader in his state and nationally. His positive promotion of corrections and his hard work was rewarded last week at the American Correctional Association summer conference when he received the E.R. Cass Award at a ceremony in Baltimore.
Goord recently spoke with The Corrections Connection about his service to the field, leadership and what the award means to him.
Q: What brought you to corrections?
Goord: After I graduated college went to live in upstate N.Y. I have a BA in psychology and I applied to social agencies. The first place I got an offer from was Woodbourne Rehabilitation Center. It was a facility in those days that was unique because it was run by corrections but it was a drug treatment facility. Unlike a correctional facility with correctional goals, it was run by the Office of Drug Abuse Services and the corrections department. That's how I got into corrections.Q: What is it that you appreciate most about corrections??
Goord: Every day is different. We are dealing with people; every day is a challenge to deal with the offenders. What I'm most proud of is we've been able to get staff to work together and make the system safer and make offenders better prepared to leave.
One of the challenges we have is the prison systems is very misunderstood in this country and we need to continue to educate the public about what we do and why we do it. The fact of the matter is the corrections system - from Abu Graib to Cuba -- the system is under close scrutiny by a lot of people and we need to educate then about what we do. If we're not proud of what we're doing, we shouldn't be doing it. If we're proud we're on the right track.
Q: What changes have you seen in corrections over the years? ?
Goord: In N.Y. when I look back, I started in 1973; the biggest difference has been our involvement with accreditation and the ACA. That involvement with this organization, with our success and ability to measure our success and make our places safer and treat our staff -- that has been our biggest accomplishment.
Everything is accredited in New York. It gave us a way to measure ourselves and, when you look at my career, that's one of my successes -- making sure the place gets accredited.
We like to think we run a balanced system, but at the same time we have to have a focus on people going home from prisons and how we prepare an offender. The easy thing for people to talk about is who we put into prisons and how people get into prison [but] we don't put anybody to prison. If people question why so many people are there, it's a question that legislators and Congress should answer. We [corrections] follow laws.
We need to get away from those debates, then once they come to prison, we have to create environments that are safe. Over the last nine to 10 years inmate on inmate assaults and inmate on staff assaults are at an all-time low.
It's not always the system's fault [when offenders don't succeed.]. It's not like I make a Goodyear tire and I make a lousy tire. In some ways we don't make the offender responsible. If they leave to the street and we've done everything we can to help them and we fail, sometimes it's a people failure, not a systems failure.
We have gotten very sophisticated in inmate programming. We do very thorough evaluations. You need drug treatment, you need sex offender treatment and I hold them accountable. I'm held accountable to give them an opportunity. If an offender says I don't want to have drug treatment, then we're going to take away good time and keep them in prison because they haven't followed our prescription for what we think they need to be successful. We're the experts to keeping them safe and giving them the opportunity to succeed in the community.
The problem is what gets a better sound bite? The governor believes the responsibility of government is to keep the public safe and we know there is a responsibility to keep employees and inmates safe and to prepare them for their eventual return to the community, but that doesn't get the sound bite. In New York what our governor does is he allows us to be balanced. New York is unique because the governor has been very tough on crime and the result in New York has been a dramatic drop in crime. Couple that with the balance -- we've done things with the Rockefeller drug reform [for example]. And, we've taken 8,000 beds off-line since I've been commissioner. But, if you're violent were not afraid to lock you up.
Q: What would you say is the high point of your career so far??
Goord: The highpoint for my system is the fact that we got all the facilities accredited and every day we are keeping up with our legacy of running safe correctional facilities. My employees have the right to come to work and be safe. Every day is a high point for me. The E.R. Cass Award is nice but it's not necessarily about me, it's about the accomplishments of my employees. I'm just one of those employees; I can't do this myself.
Q: What is your leadership philosophy??
Goord: My leadership in the system is trying to keep things simple. We have a tendency to make things too complicated. And my style -- it wasn't always like this -- years ago if I wanted to tell people how to do something I'd write policy and procedure and I'd go through the alphabet and tell them how to do it. Now my style is this is how I want it to look in the end and allow our staff to work our goals. They tell me how they want to do this. I end up getting it where it should be and they end up with a process that says we had input and ownership in this.
My job is to set a tone, work with the governor to do our job and the resources we need to do our job and let people do their jobs. I don't believe anybody comes to work wanting to do a bad job; everybody wants to do a good job. Be clear about what you expect.
Lastly, when I got this job nine years ago, I think we needed to push responsibility down, not up. We have a tendency to push ownership up.
The accomplishments in the system belong to the employees. When things go good, you get credit and when things go bad, if you were responsible, I will defend your actions. I really think everybody needs to be involved in this process. You need to make sure custody staff, counselors, men and women who work in the kitchen, work in the laundry, health and mental health, they all have a responsibility to make the system right. Theirs are pieces they own to make the system run well and any failure can contribute to a failure in the system.
Q: What does the future hold?
Goord: I'm not done yet. One of the things is it's so nice to hear things said about you but I'm not retiring and I'm not dead. So many people have said 'You earned this.' My employees deserve this and they earned this. There are still things on my list I want to do. There are a long list of things that control my ability to do my job. My governor is not running for re-election and we'll have a new governor in 2007. What that means is someone will judge me, and the system, on what we've done. If they like what we've done, we'll continue on.
Detention facility worker expresses outrage over treatment after assault
By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer
First published: Monday, August 22, 2005
ALBANY -- Conventional wisdom says justice was served when Michael Elston was sentenced to 27 years in state prison for the violent Dec. 28 rape and kidnapping of a 51-year-old cook at Camp Cass. But ask the woman who endured hours of terror at the hands of the 16-year-old youth from Buffalo -- both at the minimum-security Rensselaerville detention facility and on the road to Albany -- and the answer is quite different.
"I used to be a very private person, but now I feel like the whole world is looking at me and judging me," she said. "I will never be able to look at things like I used to. I feel like everyone is against me."
Healing has been impossible in the months since the physical attack, the victim says, because she continues to be attacked by the state Office of Children and Family Services and her union.
She believes the crime could have been prevented if someone had listened to her warnings about inadequate security at the facility.
Now officials are minimizing the trauma, she said. And, according to the victim, one union contract administrator told her rape leaves no physical scars.
Union officials deny downplaying the attack but say current worker's compensation law does not allow a person who is sexually assaulted to recover damages from his or her employer.
As a result, she has been offered only $2,000.
"Don't they realize what rape does to a person?" she asked. "I still can't be in crowds of people, especially strangers. I can't take a bath unless someone is in my house."
Albany County District Attorney David Soares said he has given the case to his public integrity unit: "We will be contacting the inspector general's office and making inquiries."
Documents obtained from both the victim and her union, the Civil Service Employees Association, indicate Camp Cass was an out-of-control facility fraught with lax oversight of its residents and ineffective security.
There were four escapes in 2004.
However, safety upgrades indicated in a July 28 letter from CSEA's director of contract administration, Ross Hanna, to the victim amount to some improvements to meet OSHA standards and benefits upgrades.
A safety review resulted in the replacement of malfunctioning outlets, the letter claimed.
Fuel pumps are now being labeled, an eye wash station and carbon monoxide detector have been installed in the kitchen, and illuminated lights on exit doors have been replaced, Hanna said.
Hanna indicated another youth detention aide will be added to the camp staff and every employee will be provided with a radio.
CSEA communications director Stephen Madarasz said union officials feel "deep concern and sympathy" for the victim. But he said any claim that a union employee acted so callously is unfounded: "This is a horrific and traumatic situation for the individual involved and her family," he said. "(But) we feel and believe the words and actions of every staff person she has had contact with have been sensitive, appropriate and responsible. Any allegations to the contrary are inaccurate."
CSEA has worked tirelessly to gain security improvements not only at Camp Cass, but at all OCFS facilities, Madarasz said. He said some of the actions the victim wants done are simply impossible: "Don't minimize the importance of the actions taken as a result of the safety inspection and labor management dialogue," he said. "Training, working radios and other equipment are an important part of effective security." CSEA has supported statewide legislation and the Albany County resolution to amend the worker's compensation law to allow sexual assault victims to recover damages, he said. It also has pressed for statewide public work site security legislation that the Legislature has just sent to the governor.
To the victim, though, such protestations are hollow.
"It's like being victimized over and over again," she said.
Elston was assigned to work in the Camp Cass kitchen while he served time for possession of stolen property. A few days before the attack, the victim seized a notebook Elston brought into the kitchen after he grabbed his groin and claimed to have written thoughts about her.
Inside the pages were gang-related writings and insignia, as well as Elston's declaration that he'd probably be "wifing" it with her before long.
"That scared me," she said. She immediately handed over the book to her supervisor, who then removed the teen from his job.
Elston was furious, she said. But when she next returned to work, the camp's then-assistant director, Anthony Pace, reinstated the youth to her care.
"He said he had talked with Elston and because he did well in school he could return," she said. "I complained to the head cook and to Mr. Pace and to Mr. (Douglas) Cannistra (the former camp director) that I felt unsafe and wanted him out of there. But nothing was done. Then a few days later, I get kidnapped, brutally raped, tortured, strangled and he tried to run over me in the parking lot."
"I do believe if I hadn't escaped I'd be dead," she said. "This crime didn't have to happen. ... Now I have to endure this nightmare for the rest of my life."
During the assault, the victim tried to yell into the kitchen intercom, but it had been turned off, she said. The battery to the facility-issued radio on her desk was dead.
Her screams as Elston dragged her outside went unanswered, even though four security guards were on duty. And then it took those guards more than an hour to realize she was gone, even though her coat, scarf and purse were in plain view on the floor, she said.
The state Department of Children and Family Services will not offer any insight into the security that night, nor will it reveal any results or planned remediation.
"Generally speaking, any time there is an AWOL or an unusual incident, OCFS conducts an internal review into what occurred," said Brian Marchetti, a spokesman for the state agency.
Since those reviews are under way, any comment would be inappropriate, he said.
STATUS:S3004 LARKINCivil Service LawTITLE....Prohibits temporary appointments with respect to members of the security services collective bargaining unitREFERRED TO CIVIL SERVICE AND PENSIONS 06/16/05COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO RULES 06/16/05ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.1579 06/16/05PASSED SENATE 06/16/05DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY 06/16/05referred to governmental employees 06/23/05substituted for a2142 06/23/05ordered to third reading rules cal.856 06/23/05passed assembly 06/23/05returned to senate 09/22/05DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR BILL TEXT:
STATE OF NEW YORK________________________________________________________________________30042005-2006 Regular SessionsIN SENATEMarch 3, 2005___________Introduced by Sen. LARKIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and whenprinted to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and PensionsAN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to temporary appoint-mentsThe People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:1 Section 1. Section 64 of the civil service law is amended by adding a2 new subdivision 5 to read as follows:3 5. Temporary appointments of members of the collective negotiating4 unit designated security services prohibited. Notwithstanding the5 provisions of this chapter or of any other law, a temporary appointment6 of any member of the collective negotiating unit designated security7 services shall be prohibited.8 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that9 the provisions of this act shall not apply to any temporary appointment10 made prior to the effective date of this act
Great Meadow officials clarify state policy for determing
'keeplock'
By DON LEHMAN
FORT ANN -- Five correction officers at Great Meadow Correctional Facility were hurt Monday morning when they were attacked by an inmatem -- an assault the officers' union believes occurred because of a policy change by the state Department of Correctional Services.
State corrections officials announced rule changes Wednesday -- only at the Great Meadow facility -- as a result of the attack.
Two of the officers, Jack Ringler and David Martin, were out of work as of Wednesday because of injuries they suffered when an inmate who didn't want to leave his cell attacked Ringler and then assaulted Martin when he came to his fellow officer's aid, said Wilson Chapman, chief sector steward for New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.
Ringler suffered back and hip injures, while Martin suffered a wrist injury that could include a broken bone, Chapman said. The other three suffered minor cuts and bruises, officials said.
The prisoner has not been charged, but State Police are investigating the attack and will likely ask that charges be filed after a review by a Washington County grand jury, State Police Senior Investigator Thomas Aiken said.
The name of the prisoner, who is serving a 3-1/2-year sentence for attempted robbery, is being withheld because he hasn't been charged.
Chapman said Ringler was trying to get the inmate to leave his cell to go to mental health treatment when the prisoner got the officer in a chokehold and repeatedly punched him. Martin was the first of a number of officers who tried to help him, he said.
"It ended up taking 10 officers to get him under control," Chapman said.
Chapman said the inmate involved in the assault was one with a history of disciplinary problems who had been let out of the prison's special housing unit as part of a new policy called "non-program keeplock."
It allows prisoners who would otherwise be kept locked up for 23 hours each day in the prison's special housing unit (SHU) to be held in other units where they are locked in their cells for any time other than when they are in mental health programs.
In the SHU, they are allowed out only for one hour of recreation time.
Chapman said officers at Great Meadow were upset that the inmate in question had been charged with disciplinary violations three times in the weeks before the attack, but was not put in the SHU.
"We're all pretty concerned about this," Chapman said. "The officers did their jobs, but the state failed them."
Linda Foglia, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Correctional Services, said "non-program keeplock" has been a department policy for years. But prisons were recently sent a "reminder" about it to ensure inmates in need of mental health care continue to get it if they have disciplinary issues that may have resulted in their being put in special housing.
The goal is to make sure prisoners get the mental health treatment they need to eventually return to the general population.
"There's got to be a balance (between punishment and treatment), so there will be times when we will see inmates receiving this sanction rather than an entire 23-hour lockdown," Foglia said. "It's not a perfect world, and we may have to make some adjustments."
As a result of the assault, prison officials have tightened the rules as to who is eligible for non-program keeplock, she said. Going forward, only inmates without a history of violent behavior will be eligible, with a recommendation from mental health treatment personnel and a review by the superintendent, she said.
Foglia said the prisoner involved in Monday's incident had no history of assaults on prison staff. He was being held Wednesday in the prison's special housing unit pending disciplinary proceedings.
By SALLE E. RICHARDS
Star-Gazette
[email protected]
October 12, 2005
Three Elmira Correctional Facility correction officers were stabbed Tuesday afternoon during an altercation with an inmate, a state prison spokeswoman said.
Linda Foglia of the Department of Correctional Services said an officer came upon a sobbing inmate, 35-year-old Anthony Rivera of New York City, about 1:45 p.m.
The officer moved Rivera to a sergeant's office, and Rivera ran away while being interviewed by the sergeant, Foglia said.
The sergeant was stabbed in the arm and chest as he attempted to stop Rivera in a stairwell, Foglia said. Two other officers also suffered minor stab wounds in subduing Rivera.
Foglia declined to identify the injured officers, saying their injuries were not considered serious.
Foglia said the weapon was a 4- to 5-inch shank.
The officers were treated at Arnot Ogden Medical Center, Foglia said, but she had no additional information on whether they were admitted.
She said Rivera was transferred to a special housing unit and will face department charges.
The matter also has been referred to state police and the Chemung County District Attorney's Office for possible criminal charges, Foglia said.
Rivera has been at Elmira since October 2002 on a parole violation on a third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance conviction, state records show.
It has been brought to my attention that certain administrations are conducting investigations in which members are being questioned without being notified as to their rights.
I am informing you at this time that if at any time you are notified that the department is investigating you either because they feel that you are the subject of the investigation, witness in an investigation or possible subject of an investigation the following Departmental and contractual regulations shall apply:
1. You are only legally required to answer questions Specifically Directed or Narrowly Related to your official duties.
2. You are to be afforded the full protections of all of the rights and privileges guaranteed by our Union Contract, the Laws Of The State Of New York and of the United States Constitution.
3. You SHALL BE NOTIFIED that you are entitled to Personal counsel or Union representation before submitting to an investigation/interrogation if so requested by the employee.
4. Any statements or admissions made by an employee during an interrogation without the opportunity to have Union representation MAY NOT BE SUBSEQUENTLY USED IN A DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDING AGAINST THAT EMPLOYEE.
5. The interrogation SHALL BE DONE during REASONABLE HOURS.
6. You SHALL BE NOTIFIED. that an investigation may be postponed until 10:00 am the following day in order to give you an opportunity to retain Personal counsel. or Union representation. .
7. NO THREATS. or OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE. shall be used during the questioning. You are not allowed to be INTIMIDATED OR COERCE.
8. The length of the questioning SHALL NOT BE. excessive and SHALL INCLUDE. breaks for meals and personal necessities
9. If you are given an ultimatum to answer questions or face removal of service for refusing to do so, then YOUR RESPONSES ARE AUTOMATICALLY CLOAKED WITH IMMUNITY AND NEITHER YOUR STATEMENTS NOR THEIR FRUITS MAY THEREAFTER BE USED AGAINST YOU IN SUBSEQUENT CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
10. If it is believed that criminal charges may result from the investigation then the WARNINGS OUTLINED IN DIRECTIVE 0102 shall be given before the commencement of the interrogation.
11. Any employee who was notified that there was an investigation pending against him or her by their Departments Inspector generals Office SHALL BE NOTIFIED BY THE EMPLOYER OF THE CLOSURE OF THE INVESTIGATION WITHIN TWO WEEKS of a written request made by the employee.
12. You shall not suffer any reprisal either directly or indirectly that may adversely affect your hour's wages or working conditions as a result of the exercise of your rights.
Inmate expected to testify in assault trial
By SALLE E. RICHARDS
Star-Gazette
October 25, 2005
At a glance
What: Alton Hutchinson assault trial of Elmira Correction Facility counselor.
The charge: First-degree assault, first-degree attempted rape, and two counts of second-degree assault.
The victim: A young female counselor. It is Star-Gazette policy to not identify the victims of sex crimes.
The details: Hutchinson is accused of attacking the counselor Jan. 10 and severely beating her. He was found on top of the unconscious woman by a correction officer.
The judge: Chemung County Judge James Hayden.
The defendant: A 36-year-old former Elmira Correctional Facility inmate.
The prosecutor: Chief Assistant Chemung County District Attorney Charles Metcalfe.
The defense counsel: Chemung County Advocate Richard W. Rich Jr.
The former Elmira Correctional Facility inmate accused of assaulting a counselor at the facility is expected to testify in his trial today in Chemung County Court.
Alton Hutchinson is charged with first-degree assault, first-degree attempted rape and two counts of second-degree assault in the beating of a young, female counselor on Jan. 10.
His trial began Monday and progressed rapidly with jury selection, opening statements and the presentation of the prosecution.
The victim was among the six witnesses called by the prosecution on Monday; she could recall little of the attack that caused serious injury to her.
Correction Officer Carl G. Hillman, the first officer on the scene, testified how he opened the door to the victim's office and found Hutchinson on top of her.
Hillman told the 11-woman, one-man jury that he leaped over the desk in the room to drag Hutchinson off the victim who appeared to be unconscious. Hutchinson knocked him off and ran from the scene, Hillman testified.
Hillman said he discovered the attack because he thought it was unusual that the door to the victim's office was closed and the lights were out when she was supposed to be in the office.
After checking with other counselors on the second floor of Shop 5, where the attack took place, he tried the door handle and found it unlocked.
When he entered, he could see two legs sticking out from under the desk. He then told the court that Hutchinson raised his head from the back of the desk.
Chief Assistant Chemung County District Attorney Charles Metcalfe then called Correction Sgt. Robert Semski, who described hearing Hillman calling for help and then finding the victim on the floor behind the desk with her pants pulled down to her ankles.
Susan Van Gelder, a registered nurse at the prison who responded to the scene, said she had never seen anyone so severely beaten before, not even an inmate.
Sharon Spaker, a counselor on duty the day of the attack in the same unit, told the court she couldn't even recognize the victim.
"She was horribly beaten," Spaker said while the victim sat quietly in the courtroom audience. At times, she lowered her head during the more graphic descriptions of the attack.
Metcalfe then called New York State Police Investigator Jeff Gotschall to the stand. Gotschall described his two interviews with Hutchinson after the attack. In the first brief interview while he was being treated for a bleeding head wound, Hutchinson denied involvement in the counselor's attack.
However, later the same day, after he was given his Miranda rights, Hutchinson signed a written statement that he had attacked the counselor. Metcalfe read that statement to the jury.
The trial resumes at 9 a.m. today with the defense presenting its case. Two witnesses and Hutchinson, are expected to testify.
Hutchinson was transferred to Southport Correctional Facility after the incident. In February, he was sentenced to serve 16 years of solitary confinement at Southport following disciplinary hearings in the Jan. 10 assault.
At the time of the attack, he was serving a 25- to 50-year sentence for second-degree attempted murder, first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and second-degree assault.
October 26, 2005
Alton Hutchinson, 36, a former Elmira Correctional Facility inmate, was acquitted of the most serious charges and found guilty of second-degreee assault today in the beating of a staff counselor.
He was acquitted of first-degree assault and first-degree attempted rape.
Hutchinson had been accused of attacking the counselor Jan. 10 and severely beating her. He was found on top of the unconscious woman by a correction officer. The jury began deliberating Tuesday in Chemung County Court.
Hutchinson testified Tuesday that he didn't hurt the counselor. His version of the incident that sent the young woman to intensive care at Arnot Ogden Medical Center for days depicted him as wrongly accused and a victim of beatings by correction officers that he said drew a confession from him.
The prosecutor in the case was Chief Assistant Chemung County District Attorney Charles Metcalfe. The defense counsel was Chemung County Advocate Richard W. Rich Jr. Judge James Hayden heard the case.
Hutchinson was transferred to Southport Correctional Facility after the January incident. In February, he was sentenced to 16 years of solitary confinement at Southport following departmental disciplinary hearings.
At the time of the attack, he was serving 25 to 50 years for second-degree attempted murder, first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and second-degree assault.
By DON LEHMAN
Updated: 11/9/2005 9:42:03 PM
FORT ANN -- A live, .22-caliber bullet was found in the metal shop of Great Meadow Correctional Facility on Tuesday, raising concerns over how it got into the maximum-security prison and what efforts were being taken to look for others.
The round was found on the floor of the metal shop around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday as the shop supervisor cleaned and closed it for the day, said Linda Foglia, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Correctional Services.
Prison staff searched the cells of 60 inmates who work in the shop, and nothing was found that tied any particular prisoner to the discovery. Prison officials have closed the shop until Monday and instituted some other security measures.
It had not been determined Wednesday how the bullet got into the prison. Correction officers do not carry guns in the facility, and those who carry them on transports do not use .22-caliber weapons, officials said.
The fact the bullet was found in the metal shop, where inmates have access to materials that could be used to make a device to trigger the round, particularly troubled correction officers.
"A live round inside a jail is very dangerous," said Dennis Fitzpatrick, spokesman for the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association. "It's very easy to make a 'zip' gun (to fire it)."
Representatives of the local union that represents the prison's correction officers said staff there wanted to see a search of the entire prison before normal activities resumed.
"The guys are very concerned," said Wilson Chapman, the union's chief sector steward at Great Meadow. "They'd like to see a full facility frisk."
The last time a live gun round was found in Great Meadow -- a .38-caliber slug, in October 1993 -- the entire prison was locked down and searched, according to Post-Star articles about the incident.
Foglia, though, said the fact that only certain inmates had access to the metal shop made it necessary to focus only on those prisoners.
Prison officials also had metal detectors placed outside the mess hall Wednesday to screen all inmates as they come and go, she said. Additional cell searches were planned as well, according to Foglia.
"We think we've done everything we need to do," she said.
Foglia said DOCS was looking into a number of ways the bullet could have made its way into the prison, including the possibility it was accidentally brought in by a staff member.
The inmates who work in the metal shop are generally less troublesome, because it is one of the more desirable places for prisoners to work in the prison, Foglia said.
November 17, 2005
To all of the correction officers who responded with the "excessive force" mentioned during the trial of inmate Alton Hutchinson, I say well done. My husband has been a correction officer for nearly 18 years. He takes his job very seriously. The use of force in his job is not something he wants to have happen.
Unfortunately it is a necessary part of his job at times. I can only imagine what was going through the officers' minds when they realized what was happening to the female counselor whom Hutchinson was charged with attacking.
I was sickened to learn that the jury took the bait the defense attorney dropped them and shifted blame to the COs who saved her life. Let's face it, had they not intervened, the outcome would have been very different.
I have done jury duty. I know how difficult it can be to try to determine what the law says. But common sense has to speak for itself.
In this case, the jury members failed. They failed the victim, failed the community and failed the New York State Department of Correctional Services.
My hope is that you do not have any correction officer in your family. If you do, I challenge you to look them in the eye and justify your decision. I am very proud of my husband and the people he works with. My sincere thanks to all of them for a job well done.
NAN FRABONI
Watkins Glen
November 4, 2005
ALBANY-CSEA has filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Albany challenging the Pataki administration's plan to raid a special reserve used to stabilize premium rate increases for the Empire Plan health insurance program.
CSEA last week charged that the state's action is illegal and will cost state employees and other Empire Plan participants, including local governments. The action would result in higher premiums for all participants and wipe out the reserve fund.
The Pataki administration is taking money that is not theirs to take and it will harm our members and many others," said CSEA President Danny Donohue. "We will follow every legal means available to hold them accountable."
The CSEA suit charges the administration's action violates state civil service law. CSEA has also filed contract grievances over the plan with the Governor's Office of Employee Relations.
The complicated scheme involves the Pataki administration unilaterally diverting $135 million from the Empire Plan's Rate Stabilization Fund to pay Medicare Part B premiums for retired public employees. Because the Empire Plan is an experience rated plan, any surplus funds from premiums paid by the participating employees and employers go into the fund at the end of the year to be used to hold down premium increases for future years. The scheme would instead use this money to pay for Medicare Part B premiums. Medicare Part B premiums are an ongoing expense and are required by law to be paid through employer contributions.
CSEA only learned of the administration's illegal plan when a union representative questioned an obscure footnote note during a labor-management briefing on projected 2006 Empire Plan rates.
There are more than 1 million covered lives under the Empire Plan as a health insurance option for state and participating local government employees and their families. The state must respond to CSEA's charges by Dec. 2.
Issues specific to Corrections Officers
by Mark Smith
Corrections work is isolating. Isolating from the public, from family, at times even from co-workers.
It's lonely.
It's boring, execpt for the moments of unexpected terror.
An officer who is well liked and respected by his peers comes back to his post from a meal break. It's 0100 hours on what seems to be a routine 2300 - 0700 shift. But for him it's a restless night and he knows the time will drag. He remembers the day an administrator told him he was going to go places in the department. As quickly as the promise of his big chance came it vanished. Politics, idle talk, not going along with certain protocol, and not knowing who the players are. In the green lined darkness of a midnight shift that leads to nowhere, he contemplates his situation, his future. It's then the tiredness overwhelms him and he begins to sweat and shake without understanding why.
Tonight time is his enemy as he ponders his future, wondering why he 's no longer excited about the job or the people he works side by side with. He's second guessing his motives for taking this as his chosen career. Counting the years to his retirement, he wonders if he's become as cold a person as he now feels. He's at the point where he feels he too old to play the game anymore. He feels the promises of labor and management are just empty hype. It's somebody else's pipe dream or power play that he can no longer bring himself to be part of. Sitting back in his chair he leans back so his head touches the cold steel wall and he stares over the bodies of inmates who seem to have a peace of mind he envies.
His feelings seem very clear to him, but with a flaw, he firmly believes that there is no one he has that he can confide in, that no one would understand, not even his wife. She might even criticize him or worse ignore him. He has to be careful around her, on his guard, after all she could have married someone with a 9 to 5 job who could have given her a better life. Frustration sets in. Maybe something will happen tonight so that the adrenaline will kick in. But instead the stress starts taking it's toll.
Shiftwork is not normal. It disrupts the body.
Shiftwork disrupts the home. It effects the entire family.
What and who we work with can change us. We can bring that change home. After seeing so much that is bad in people, can we still see the good?
She can't get comfortable in any position on the bed. Turning, fluffing up the pillows, and rearranging the covers doesn't help. She has never really adjusted to his night shift. She also knows that she'll be tired tomorrow and wonders how she'll deal with the kids and hold up at work. Exhaustion and loneliness are the only feelings she has right now.
She worries about him. He's not the same. He doesn't seem to be talking to anyone, not even the kids. He'll sleep most of the day only to get up to eat dinner in silence, then watch TV all night in the bedroom alone and probably fall asleep again. He'll drag himself out of bed to get ready for work again as his family get ready for bed. She feels he is being robbed from her by this job. When she asks him about what's going on, he becomes even more distant.
On top of all this there's the kids to worry about. They don't know why Daddy is acting the way he does. Why is he always alone in his room with no time for them. Did they do some- thing wrong? Doesn't he want to live with them anymore? Their friends tell them how they've heard how mean C/Os are to people. She wonders if they are beginning to believe them.
The room is closing in on her. What's happening to her marriage, the excitement's not there anymore. What about the future? Is there any? She feels scared, helpless, useless, and more than a little unloved. She too is counting the years to his retirement so their world can return to normal. Can she wait? Too many questions without answers. She loves him so much it hurts more than she can ever explain to anyone. They just wouldn't understand. Frustration sets in. Stress is taking it's toll.
Corrections work IS stressfull
It effects all aspects of our lives.
But we so often deny emotional realities.
Admitting to a problem and seeking help for that problem is viewed as weakness. We often suffer needlessly in silence. We take our family with us.
This is a scenario that's played out in our families with much too much frequency. We really don't have to read or hear it, because we live. Regardless of what department you work for, your rank or your assignment you know how unfair corrections work can be. We confront the feelings of frustration of our work and the system every time we go on duty.
We know the difficulties of trying to balance working long hours, rotating shifts, watching the pain and conflict inflected on one another by the inmates. Sometimes it's the paper work that has to be done before going home after sixteen hours. It may be reading the negative feed- back from the public or trying to understand their ignorance of our work. The pressures of being locked up with inmates for eight to sixteen hours a day, five days a week have contributed to the creation of that relentless monster called stress. It's difficult to handle because at times it cannot be seen or even realized.
In academy training we're encouraged to control and deny any emotions. We're put above any display of feelings. Yet when we conduct ourselves this way we are accused of being cold or following the rules too closely. This puts us in a Catch-22 situation. Our professional stress is frequently compounded with personal stress. Traditionally law enforcement has attracted people who demand perfection. The work is demanding and the way we project ourselves is self-inducing of stress to us and those around us.
Statistics bear out the magnitude of our exposure to stress by the number of officer deaths, bronchial diseases, suicides and emotional problems. Along with our health and emotional well being at stake the levels of occupational and self-induced stress contribute to the breakdown of relationships between us and our families. Not only does it affect existing relationships it hinders the potential to develop other relationships.
Studies show that we do not suffer the greatest stress at the time of a critical incident. The greatest sources of stress are experienced in daily frustration from which officers and our families can find no escape. People in general have a distinct stereotypical profile of a correction officer and his family. Our kids must often endure other kids and teachers asking about their mother/father the guard. This has a tendency to make them think that their family is somehow different from their friend's. The impact of this is for us to socialize only with people who are on the job. This causes more stress because of the isolation and not being sociable in the community at large. We've been denied certain vacation picks and had to explain the logic of seniority. Plays, practices, ball games, parent teacher meetings become a one parent affair because we can't get the day off. How does our family adjust to this absenteeism? Do they ever adjust? How do we react to these unfair demands and requirements of correction work?
Because of situations like these it's common for our relationships to become confusing. It's problematic for us to move in and out of different roles such as officer, spouse, parent and friend. We have to learn how to balance the tough exterior with the soft inner core. One of the hardest things for us to do is to let go when we're off duty because we rely so much on self- control in our work. We're called on in any given situation to see only the black and white of the issue. We strive to be exact in our decisions. You can't bring these qualities in to a relation- ship.
Sometimes we expect our families to fully understand the stress of our work. We may become distant from our wives and husbands because we think that they don't want to under- stand. This leaves the spouse confused and carrying around a lot of guilt. On the flip side we may seek refuge in the relationship depending fully on the other person, causing them to be overwhelmed by this.
The more years we work in correctional facilities the harder it is for us to look on the positive side when we deal in mostly the negative. This can lead to a depression that ultimately is going to affect both us and our families. The non-depressed person may not understand this depression or why the things that are changing are doing so. The things that were once fun things become emotional labors. This may cause the spouse or family to need treatment themselves.
We know it can be difficult to be a correction officer, but it can also be a rewarding experience. We have to learn to understand the stress and be able to identify the signs that we are overloading our systems. You have to develop a mental health plan for yourself just as you would for your physical well being. But always remember that the family is going through a difficult period with you. Don't forget the people you love are also suffering from your stress.
If you are being affected by stress, you have to realize that there is something real and positive you can do. Some forms of stress can be changed or offset by changing our attitude and lifestyle. More serious forms or conditions such as lasting depression need to addressed with professional intervention and help. We must take the responsibility of being aware that our individual stress and attitude to it is affecting the most significant people in our lives. More and more departments nation wide are responding to the mental health needs of their officers and their families. These departments are taking the necessary steps to help officer's to change the stigma of seeking all and any help available.
Letting go of the anger rather then feeling like you've lost control of your life, frees you to make the decisions you have to in order to move in a positive way to the quality of life you deserve.
The wives, husbands and children of correction officers should be aware of the early warning signals that someone in the family is starting to suffer from the overload of correction family stress. Responses to stress can range from verbal arguing to drug abuse. Other indicators may include a family member being pessimistic and not wanting to socialize, having difficulty controlling their temper, and becoming extremely critical of other family members. Additional signs are crankiness, forgetfulness, sleep disturbances, anxiety, weight loss, poor eating habits and a tendency toward accidents. You should take immediate action against serious signs of crisis. Watch for alcohol or drug abuse, excessive crying, extreme signs of guilt and fear, paranoia, a desire for revenge and complete withdrawal. If you or someone in the family is having problems coping with the stress, do something about it. This type of awareness and action helps our families to successfully counter stress.
This column is to be a forum for correction officers and their families. It's our chance to interact with families and officer's nation wide. I hope in future articles to relate your stories, questions, answers and opinions. I'll try to bring to light any new legislation pending, health and family issues. This is your opportunity to voice your opinions, complaints, stories, jokes, ask questions and find answers.
Until next time, Fraternally yours,
Mark
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