Just another day at the office for the men and women that work in California’s prisons.
From California Department of Corrections news release:
This morning, March 13, 2010, at approximately 8:14 a.m., a 43-year-old female correctional officer at North Kern State Prison (NKSP) sustained moderate injuries in an unprovoked attack by a 37-year-old inmate in the reception center part of the prison.
The correctional officer was transported to Delano Regional Medical Center where she remains in stable condition. The inmate was identified as inmate Russ Loc, who has been housed at the prison since March 8, 2010, after being convicted in Los Angeles County for forced oral copulation resulting in great bodily injury.
The incident began this morning at approximately 8 a.m. As inmates were exiting their cells for the morning meal, the inmate approached the officer and reportedly began to assault her by hitting her in the face and knocking her to the ground. The inmate then tried to get on top of the officer to continue assaulting her but responding officers intervened to stop the attack.
The injured officer was immediately transported offsite to the hospital. The inmate was placed in handcuffs and is expected to be placed in confinement away from other inmates, pending the outcome of the investigation. Once the investigation is completed, CDCR plans to refer this case to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
“Staff safety is a serious concern for me,” said acting NKSP Warden Maurice Junious. “I have requested a thorough review of this morning’s incident in an effort to understand how this event occurred so we can make any necessary improvements. My thoughts and prayers, as well as those of the department, are with the Officer and her family.”
(emphasis is mine)
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I hate reading things like this – almost as much as it frustrates me that somehow a lot of conservatives have come to think that correctional officers are just another "special interest".
Some have completely lost sight that these men and women are at risk every single day when they go to work – because they are charged with protecting us from predators like inmate Russ Loc that was in prison for "forced oral copulation resulting in great bodily injury". (what scum)
How often do you run into people like this at work?
I stood dumbfounded last year when somehow the legislature in it’s typical lunacy decided to save money by cutting $1.2 billion out of the prison system – and thought the world turned upside down when some conservatives lauded this as "reform". Reform? Reform? Letting vicious criminals out of prison early is not reform – it’s dumb – it’s dumb and dangerous.
The results have been stunning and blatantly obvious. Let’s see, the very first day criminals were released one committed their FIFTH DUI – endangering everyone on the roads, and another in Sacramento was arrested for attempted rape. ON THE FIRST DAY.
Not surprisingly, all those in Sacramento screamed outrage and beat their chests demanding that these releases stop immediately. Let me remind you (and them) – if they had not voted for the $1.2 billion in corrections cuts in the first place there never would have been the releases of these predators.
Now, everyone is up in arms about the latest tragedy in San Diego where convicted sex offender, John Gardner, is charged with murdering Chelsea King. It appears Gardner could have and should have been violated on his parole in 2007 for living near an elementary school.
But why wasn’t he violated and sent back to prison? Easy answer here – to save money. Or in the new vernacular of the legislature and the governor: "reform".
At some point soon I hope, the public is going to figure out that the governor and his co-conspirators in the legislature are trying to save money by letting dangerous criminals out of prison. And when they do figure it out – watch out – heads are going to roll.
Now when you hear that we are only letting "non-serious and non-violent" offenders out of prison with these "reforms", please remember this one thing: There are NO non-serious and non-violent offenders in prison.
Consider these fun facts:
* The average amount of felony convictions a California inmate has is SEVEN. Yes, you read right – seven.
* 80% of people convicted of a felony DO NOT go to prison. Only the really bad 20% go. We don’t have anyone busted for possession of pot in prison (that is a myth).
* 99% of all felony convictions that land someone in prison are plea bargained. That means their crime of conviction is always less than what they were arrested for. So, someone who tells you he’s in prison for "drugs" is likely there for the strong arm robbery he plead down from (and plead guilty).
Yes, I know we have a terrible budget crisis in California and need to make tough choices. But priorities do have to be made – and public safety needs to be on the top of that list.
Money can be saved in corrections – my client, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, have submitted several proposals for real cost cutting that does not include massive release of criminals – but so far, these solutions have fallen on deaf ears. The governor just doesn’t seem to care one whit about public safety and just keeps proposing prisoner release.
This debate will continue, and unfortunately, people will get hurt along the way.
It’s time Californians demand it’s government prioritize public safety as it’s first obligation.
Full disclosure: as I mentioned above, CCPOA is a client of TheBattinGroup, and I do admit to being a former member of the California Legislature (as embarrassing as that is sometimes :-/ )