Correctional officer killed at USP-Atwater

ATW-Hack · 07-05-2008, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gordo retired hack

"If you don't like it quit"

These very words came out of Warden Dennis Smith's mouth at ART year before last... I don't remember the subject being discussed, but we couldn't believe such a childish attitude could come from a man in his position!

bop_steward · 07-05-2008, 08:38 AM

That seems to be how they like to deal with issues. They don't want to engage you in conversation, so they tell you to quit if you don't like it. Typical response.

Armytow · 07-05-2008, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dandersondwa

Merced City Council - Merced, CA - will be the first elected body in this County, to address this issue - Monday, July 7, 2008 7:00 PM in the Merced City Council Chambers, Item is on the agenda for possible consideration. Amended Agenda item N-1-A .

I will be addressing the City Council on this issue. I am requesting that Family & Friends of USP-Atwater Correctional Officers, attend if they can. (You do not need to address the council if you don’t wish to). I do understand that the Correctional Officers themselves, can not attend. But that is okay, your family and friends will lead the fight. (The BOP can not do anything to your family and friends).

Will be asking the council for a Resolution, passed by the Merced City Council.

The council chambers are located at:

COUNCIL CHAMBERS
678 West 18th Street
MERCED, CALIFORNIA

Three points being requested in the resolution:
Merced City Council to request Federal Bureau of Prisons to change policy to:
1. Immediately provide vest and non lethal weapons to Correctional Officers.
2. Mandate staffing of at least two Correctional Officers in Housing Units.
3. Inmates at USP-Atwater not come off of lockdown until points #1 - #2 are in place.

PLEASE >>> Get the word around to Family & Friends .... We need a good showing. This is the first elected body we'll go to. Atwater, Livingston, Dos Palos, Los Banos, Gustine, and the County Board of Supervisors. (Not necessairly in this order) will be next. Goal is to have Resolution passed by every elected body in Merced County.

If you need further information, please email me andersondenniswa@aol.com

In the mean time, USP-Atwater Correctional Officers & Staff … Stay Safe !!!

:****: wow That is OUTSTANDING!!! but the Feds will most likely turn there nose up and say this is federal Jurisdiction ,,.... BUT THis WILL Keep the subject in the limelight.

OC and a Vest would be my personnel Choice. and some strong OC like some 15% i carried that stuff when i was a fereral police officer and it made me cry like a bit#h when i had to be qualified with it.

Keep up the Good Fight Brothers.

Furthermore I saw lappin speak at the SCOTT WILLIAMS Training Center on the ten year anniversary and i was not impressed.

Armytow · 07-05-2008, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bop_steward

The last time I was at work, and the RD was coming through, I got all excited. I was working the unit that he always does his walk through of. Well, when they AW asked the Captain who was working the unit, and they found out it was me, they went to a totally different building to do the walk through. A lot of it has to do with the Warden making rounds on e/w a while back. My wing partner and I trapped the warden in our office and blocked the door. Needless to say, he got an ear full, and was not happy about it. To my defense, he did ask us if we had ANY concerns that we wanted to address with him.

Good for you....

gordo retired hack · 07-05-2008, 12:01 PM

unfortunately the bop usually seeks the cheapest way out of things.besides additional staff you need personal stab vest,effective chemical agents,and appropriate batons or similar defensive issue.go back to the original movement plan,which would undoubtedly prove more effective in maintaining security and a safer environment for staff and inmates alike.the admn will probably fight you tooth and nail,but if you stand shoulder to shoulder and demand change,they'll evenuately give in. it will take a determined approach. i wish you hope and luck and a safe arena in your fight for tolerable working conditions. unity in numbers!!!! gordo retired hack

JimmyConway · 07-05-2008, 12:01 PM

IMO, the vests are nice, but as someone alluded to, the vests will not be properly maintained.

I would like to see the newer Pens (Atwater, Victorville, and Tucson, etc.) re-designed (bubble) in a way staff have little contact with the enemy.
To be honest, I would like for the BOP to get away from common TV areas, and allow inmates to purchase small 13" see-through the components' televisions for themselves in their cells. Although, this won't solve the problem of inmates politicing in various areas, it will allow inmates to stay out of the common area, and keep inmates in their cells longer. Staff do not need any open-communicate with these animals on any issues, as management would like.

Thoughts?

LTABM · 07-05-2008, 12:57 PM

I say make it part of the uniform allowance. There are many vests available, that do not have to be ballistic, just stab resistant. If the officer quits make him, her, turn it in.

You'll have to consider the duty wear. Does it offer enough protection, but is it easy to move around, do searches and shakedowns?

If officers are allowed to carry OC, have them carry the MK-9. Give the officers batons to carry, give them a fighting chance!!!!!!!!!!!!

bhead · 07-05-2008, 05:12 PM

I did have the pleasure of cussing out smith when he was an aw!!!

I think walking and talking to the inmates is better then just leaving them in their cells all day. TV rooms help you to figure out who is who if you take the time to look!

We really need these fine outstanding boss types to realize "their" way of trying to hold the lid down on the facilities is not working!!! This would not cost them anything! They really need to realize their corparte mentality does not work in this "business"!!! Life would get better for all of us if they could just understand that simple idea!

gordo retired hack · 07-05-2008, 05:27 PM

bhead i agree with what your saying i do think the unit teams and custody could do a better job of deciding who is suitable for gp,and not be afraid to keep those not ready locked down until they shown they can be worked into a less secure environment.el reno had a great concept back in the mid 80's where inmates had to work their way through the various housing and job assignments to get preferred housing and jobs and if they f--kuped by getting a shot they lost everything and had to start over.tremendous leverage by management!

Area51 · 07-05-2008, 07:01 PM

Caught this on line...

It makes for some chilling reading as well as eye opening...

U.S. Prison Officials Considering Safety Vests, Union Says (MCT)

By Michael Doyle, Mcclatchy Newspapers

McClatchy, July 3, 2008

WASHINGTON — Bureau of Prisons officials are now considering equipping federal guards with safety vests following the murder of Atwater correctional officer Jose Rivera, union leaders revealed Wednesday.

In what one participant termed a "heated" meeting, Bureau of Prisons
Director Harley G. Lappin indicated knife resistant vests could be a viable option for at least some of the nation's 16,000 or so federal prison guards. Some think a vest might have saved Rivera, who died June 20 after being stabbed through the heart with a prison-made shank.

"This is something that I think is pretty hard to argue with," said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. "I think it's pretty much a no-brainer." No final decision, however, has yet been made on obtaining the vests, at a cost of roughly $400 each. And in other areas ranging from staffing levels to the use of non-lethal weapons, Rivera's violent death has only underscored sharp differences still separating the Bureau of Prisons, members of Congress and the union that represents federal correctional workers.

The 22-year-old Rivera was the first federal correctional officer to be murdered since 1997. Assaults, however, remain relatively common. A total of 1,362 armed and unarmed inmate-on-staff attacks were tallied in federal prisons in Fiscal 2006, Justice Department figures released by the union show. This marked a 6 percent increase in assaults from 2005.

Atwater's high-security penitentiary led the nation in armed assaults by inmates on staff members in 2006, with 10 such attacks, according to the Justice Department records. The union obtained the prison violence records from the department's Web site, which apparently no longer posts them. "Every minute that goes by, the staff is in danger from the inmates," said Bryan Lowery, legislative coordinator for the AFGE's Council of Prison Locals. Two inmates reported to be suspects in Rivera's murder, James Leon Guerrero and Joseph Cabrera, have been transferred and remain under investigation. Bureau of Prisons spokesman Mike Truman said no agency official was available to comment late Wednesday afternoon about the meeting with union leaders. Bureau officials stressed their concern to union leaders Wednesday that nothing be said that might interfere with the investigation. Union leaders want an additional 10,000 federal correctional officers hired, starting with about 280 to boost staffing immediately at high-security facilities. They want officers who now carry only a radio to be armed with batons or Tasers or other non-lethal weapons. They want, politically speaking, Rivera's murder to serve a purpose.

"We're hoping this event will really push the public, and the Congress, and the pencil pushers," said Phil Glover, legislative liaison for the Council of Prison Locals.
Glover, Gage and Lowery met with Lappin to present what Gage termed the union's "demands." It's a wide ranging list that predates Rivera's death; in February, for instance, correctional officers picketed Justice Department headquarters to call attention to their grievances. Some of the union's renewed demands, like opposition to prison privatization, appear unrelated to the specifics of Rivera's death.

In some ways, the meeting Wednesday may have only confirmed pre-existing tensions. Lowery announced he was "highly offended" by the Bureau of Prisons' responses, while Gage used a mocking tone to say the Bureau was "poor-mouthing us" on the budget questions.

The agency, part of the Justice Department, has an annual budget of about $5.1 billion and employs about 34,000 staffers overall, not all of whom are correctional officers. A recently passed supplemental spending bill includes an additional $178 million for the Bureau of Prisons. Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, is preparing a letter urging the Bureau to spend at least some of the money on safety vests. "We've heard from the Bureau that they will review the (vest) policy," Cardoza's press secretary Jamie McInerney said Wednesday.

McInerney added that Cardoza's staffers are brainstorming other ideas, potentially including addressing the pay disparity that shortchanges federal guards compared to their California correctional counterparts. Nationwide, the Bureau of Prisons holds about 165,000 inmates in its facilities and another 35,000 in contract or privately run prisons. The agency reports that it's been hard to keep staffing up, citing budget problems and the loss of guards to reserve military duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wednesday, Jul. 02, 2008

Atwater prison policies leave staff in grave danger, correctional officers say In the wake of Jose Rivera's death, his current and former co-workers say his murder could have been avoided

By Corinne Reilly
FresnoBee.com: Text-Only

It was 3:30 in the afternoon -- count time on housing unit 5A at U.S. Penitentiary Atwater. Jose Rivera was a half-hour short of finishing his shift. He had just announced the count, ordering the inmates under his charge -- all 110 or so -- to return to their cells. He began locking them down one by one, as he did every time he worked the eight-to-four.

It would be the last inmate count he'd conduct.

The two prisoners moved in, at least one of them clutching a sharp handmade shank. Rivera, a 22-year-old Navy veteran who'd started at USP Atwater less than 11 months earlier, hit the panic button on his radio. The other correctional officers were quick to respond. But the attack was quick, too. And brutal. By the time the officers got there, it was too late. Probably chosen by his attackers for no other reason than convenience, Rivera had been stabbed directly in the heart.

If the prisoners to blame were set on killing a correctional officer that Friday, then Rivera never really stood a chance, several of his former co-workers say. He was by himself with more than 100 inmates. Backup was nowhere in sight. Strapped to his
black duty belt were a radio, keys, a flashlight and a pair of handcuffs -- no match for the well-armed population he oversaw. He was wearing slacks and a thin, white-collared shirt with no stab-resistant vest under or over it. The penitentiary didn't provide him one, and if he'd wanted to buy his own to wear, he wasn't allowed to.

Article continues below video

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Editor’s note: This footage of a riot at US Penitentiary Atwater was
shot in 2006 and uploaded to YouTube, according to correctional officers at the prison. The officers say the video shows how poorly equipped the prison is to respond to fights and attacks. In the wake of Rivera's June 20 killing, officials at USP Atwater and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons have declined to answer basic questions about what happened that day and about how Rivera was equipped: Where in the prison was he attacked? How many other officers were with him? How many were nearby? Was he carrying any weapons? Was he wearing a stab-resistant vest?