KERN VALLEY REFUGEE CAMP # 1

Correctional officers living in tents to draw attention to paycuts

BY JASON KOTOWSKI, Californian staff writer
jkotowski@bakersfield.com | Tuesday, May 18 2010 06:48 PM

Last Updated Tuesday, May 18 2010 06:48 PM

IMAGES:

Jason Kotowski / The Californian

Ian Pickett, corrections and community advocate at Kern Valley State Prison, stands outside a tent in a campsite he and other correctional officers have set up in response to the governor's proposed budget cuts.

The signs across from Kern Valley State Prison in Delano inform motorists they're driving by "Arnold's Labor Camp #1" and "State Worker Refugee Camp #1." If that doesn't grab a driver's attention, the variously colored tents set up a couple of hundred feet from the roadway should.

As of Tuesday, about 50 correctional officers had set up at the site, and 50 to 100 more are expected by the end of the week, said Sgt. Ian Pickett, corrections and community advocate with the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The purpose of the camp is to demonstrate the worst-case scenario correctional officers face if they have to deal with more paycuts.

Both Pickett and his wife are correctional officers, and because of mandated furloughs they're losing about $2,000 a month, Pickett said. They couldn't keep up with house payments, and are now renting a home for themselves and their six children.

"This isn't so much a protest as it is a glimpse into the future," Pickett said of the campsite, which was set up Sunday.

The three furlough days a month that state workers must take would end June 30 under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal, but workers would still lose 15 percent of their pay under what governor's spokeswoman Rachel Arrezola called the "5 5 5 plan." Because of the $19.1 billion budget deficit, it has been proposed that all state employees under the executive branch -- which includes the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation -- take a 5 percent paycut, contribute an extra 5 percent toward their pension and take a mandatory unpaid personal day each month, which would account for another 5 percent loss in pay, Arrezola said.

If the budget isn't passed on schedule, it's possible that all non-exempt Fair Labor Standards Act employees could be required to work for minimum wage until it does pass, Arrezola said. She said it's the governor's belief that state employees should not be exempt from making sacrifices during a tough economy.

"It's an option, but we're hopeful that we'll have an on time budget," Arrezola said.

Pickett said he and others are having trouble paying the bills, and don't want to continue to lose as much pay as they've had to do without during the furloughs. Pickett, who's been stabbed while on duty, said the paycuts are making it so that it's not worth the risks they take by working in a prison.

Sgt. Marques Jones said everyone understands the economy's bad, but if their salaries keep decreasing that's even less money they can afford to pump back into the economy. Jones and Alfred Duran, another officer at the prison, were at the campsite with Pickett on Tuesday afternoon.

Duran, who's married with two children, said he's really had to cut back on spending. HIs family doesn't take vacations, they hardly ever eat out anymore and, like Pickett, he's now renting a house instead of making payments on one.

To make matters worse, his leg was broken in late April when an inmate attacked him, Duran said. Sitting in a tent with his leg in a cast, Duran said morale plummets when news of more paycuts comes along.

"It feels like no one appreciates what we do," he said.

Lance Corcoran, chief spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said there weren't plans for campsites outside other prisons. Employees of North Kern State Prison, just down the street from Kern Valley, Wasco State Prison and California State Prison in Corcoran have shown up to the site outside Kern Valley State Prison, he said.

KERN VALLEY REFUGEE CAMP PROTEST

Kern Valley corrections staff staging 'refugee camp' protest

Kern Valley State Prison correctional officer Ian Pickett, one of this blog's most prolific users, says that he and coworkers have started a week-long "State Worker Refugee Camp-out" across the street from the prison. The camp (pictured above) is intended to draw attention to, "The current attack on our pay (that) is sending a lot of us into increasing debt, becoming insurmountable," Pickett said in a mass e-mail.

Click here to view a flier promoting the camp.

IMAGE: Correctional officers have set up a makeshift camp near Kern Valley State Prison, intending to stay for a week. They're protesting pay cuts brought on by furloughs and proposed in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget.
CREDIT: Courtesy Ian Pickett

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/the_state_worker/2010/05/kern-valley-corrections-staff.html#discovery#ixzz0oEH3DVCi

Prison officials open "full investigation" into abuse claims

State prison officials said Monday that they had dramatically broadened their investigation of alleged racism and cruelty by guards at the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California. The move came in response, officials said, to a Bee investigation published on Sunday and Monday about claims of abuse of prisoners in a special behavior modification program.

The corrections department "has zero tolerance for abusive behavior by inmates or staff," said Scott Kernan, undersecretary for operations. "The department takes allegations seriously and a full investigation is underway."

Earlier in the day, the American Friends Service Committee challenged California legislators to look into the abuse allegations - and pushed for the behavior units to be sharply restricted.

The Bee's report found support for the abuse claims in interviews with inmates, prison documents and a long-hidden report written by corrections department research experts.

For years, prison officials knew about many of the claims - including denial of medical care, racial slurs and the destruction of prisoners' formal written protests of mistreatment - yet did nothing to investigate.

After initially downplaying the allegations to The Bee, Kernan subsequently said that the department's internal affairs office would look into them, but in a limited way: reviewing actions by managers after state researchers informed them of the abuse allegations.

On Monday he said the investigation had been broadened to cover the abuse claims themselves - whether reported to state researchers or revealed by The Bee - as well as revelations in The Bee that state researchers may have been retaliated against after they pressed for an investigation of the prisoner claims.

However, "because the investigation involves staff conduct, it will not be made public based on laws that protect employee privacy," said Gordon J. Hinkle, the department's press secretary.

The Bee's sources described strip-searches in a snow-covered exercise yard, as well as guards who assaulted inmates, tried to provoke attacks between inmates, and deliberately spread human excrement on cell doors. Prisoners depicted an environment of brutality, corruption and fear.

Though the High Desert behavior unit was closed for budgetary reasons, The Bee found units at other prisons to be marked by isolation and deprivation, lacking the education that is supposed to be an underpinning of the program, and without social contact, TV or radio, or even fresh air.

On Monday, Kernan defended the behavior program as effective for "reducing violence against staff and other inmates." He added that his department "is committed to implementing the most effective programs that maintain the security of the prison system while ensuring the safety of staff and inmates." The American Friends Service Committee called for the Senate public safety committee to step in and conduct hearings into the allegations. It recommended the state restrict the use of behavior units "and other forms of long term isolation."

"What is especially frightening in this story is how long it has been going on and the extent to which the (corrections department) seems to have covered it up," said Laura Magnani, an official of the nonprofit Quaker organization. "I'm particularly worried about the prisoners who are speaking out."

Magnani said that during a visit to High Desert in 2007, she herself witnessed a prisoner being paraded, shoeless and dressed only in underwear, across the prison's snow-covered yard.

The advocacy group also called for improved access by prisoners to independent auditors in order to ensure that prison staff cannot intercept formal complaints about treatment by correctional officers.

Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, chair of the public safety committee, was unavailable for comment Monday.

California Prison Officials Say Phones Smaller, Easier To Smuggle

California corrections officials are calling it a crisis: Cell phones are getting smaller and easier for people to smuggle into California prisons.

Since the start of the year, nearly 2,500 cell phones have been taken away from prisoners.

Now there's a new crime-fighting weapon to detect these devices that are causing violence not just behind bars, but on the streets.

Deimos, a K-9 officer, is trained to find drugs. K-9 Nikki is an expert in finding tobacco.

These K-9 officers are taking on a new job to try to sniff out cell phones in prison cells and dorms.

"They know that if they come into a housing unit, they are going to find something one way or another," said dog trainer Wayne Conrad.

They're being put to the test at the Richard McGee Correctional Training Center in Galt. At the facility, a mock prison cell has been stocked with electronics.

"It was difficult finding out what substance made the phone unique. Once we discovered it, we were able to train for it," Conrad said.

Four years ago, correctional officers doing routine prison sweeps really took notice cells phones popping up in California prisons.

Back then, 261 cell phones were confiscated from inmates.

As cell phones become more compact, they are easier to sneak into prison.

Last year, nearly 7,000 mobile devices were found hidden in cells throughout the state's 33 prisons.

"It is out of control," Special Agent Terry Rosenkrans said.

Rosenkrans works with the Special Service Unit, a branch of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Agents said cell phones are not just being used to call home.

"Gangs who have turned into very sophisticated criminal organizations need to communicate just like any other organization," said Rosenkrans.

Rosenkrans said he believes this technology at the hands of inmates in prisons can turn deadly. Many prison employees said they want to make smuggling phones inside a prison a crime, just as Texas has done.

"Until we do something like that, it is going to continue because there is really no reason why they should stop it," Rosenkrans said.

Sgt. Wayne Conrad was called out of retirement to start up the K-9 cell phone unit.

"I've got people all the time telling me, 'You know, I don't think a dog can find cell phones.' But they can, and it works very, very well," Conrad said.

It can take an officer up to 45 minutes to find hidden cell phones, but a K-9 can do the job in a matter of seconds.

"If it is there, the dog is going to find it," Conrad said.

Five dogs are being trained to eventually conduct cell phone searches in all 33 prisons in California. The Belgian Malinois have all been donated to the department, making the program virtually free.

More on HDSP allegations, Legislative and CDCR investigations

The controversy over claims of abusive and racist treatment of prison inmates escalated Tuesday when state Senate leaders stepped in, saying they will ensure a complete investigation takes place and its results are made public.

In a letter to the governor, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Public Safety Committee Chairman Mark Leno asked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger what corrections officials knew about the allegations and how his administration plans to respond.

"We are deeply concerned about the allegations of abuse and racist treatment of inmates at California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation behavior management units at several institutions covered in the recent Sacramento Bee series," they wrote. "We are even more troubled … by the accusations that investigations into these allegations were either ignored, or worse, covered up."

The Bee reported evidence of brutality and cruelty by correctional officers at a special behavior modification unit at High Desert State Prison in Susanville – including withheld medical care, racial slurs and corruption of the system by which inmates can protest improper treatment. The stories described extreme isolation, idleness and deprivation in similar units at other prisons.

Steinberg, in an interview, called the allegations "stark and shocking."

Earlier on Tuesday, Schwarzenegger also expressed concern.

"Prisons must be managed for the safety of staff and inmates and to rehabilitate offenders," the governor said. "The (corrections) department has zero tolerance for abuse and we support their vigorous and comprehensive review of the matter."

Prison officials long knew about the allegations of abuse, yet did nothing about them. The Bee reported that corrections researchers pushed for a formal investigation, but apparently were suppressed.

"There appear to be charges of retaliation against employees who have attempted to bring these issues to light," Steinberg and Leno wrote. "The Senate intends to fully examine these allegations."

Corrections undersecretary Scott Kernan initially discounted the claims as typical inmate gripes. But on Monday he said the department's internal affairs office would mount a full-scale investigation into the abuse claims and into the possibility that researchers were retaliated against.

The department said results of its investigation would not be made public, but Steinberg disagreed.

Private personnel information about prison guards should be redacted, he said, but the public should know "what steps the department intends to take to ensure that that the allegations, if actually proven, are not repeated."

In response, Kernan said he welcomed the Legislature's review but criticized The Bee for making his staff's jobs harder with a "one-sided" and "biased" story.

Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Leno, D-San Francisco, requested an immediate briefing from the corrections agency and the Office of the Inspector General, an independent agency that investigates the prison system.

Steinberg said that revelations of inmates with serious mental health problems being housed in the behavior units "are another stark reminder of how deficient we are in regards to mental health in the department of corrections."

The units' continued use of isolation and deprivation, he added, run "contrary to proven, effective mental health treatment."

Mental health should be a higher priority in the system both for ethical reasons, Steinberg said, and to give inmates a better chance of success back in their communities after their release.

Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on the Prison and Rehabilitation Reform, called the abandonment of classes in anger management and substance abuse, originally viewed as crucial to modifying behavior, "another example of the fact that our prisons are broken."

Steinberg cautioned that the probe could take months to complete, due to the complexity and range of allegations. But he added, "I guarantee that we will be persistent."

California prison behavior units aim to control troublesome inmates

By Charles Piller, Sacbee

Second of two parts

Standing over a small metal sink, a prisoner pours water over his head and face. It's usually the only way to bathe, and offers a brief respite from staring at barren, pockmarked walls in a tiny cell.

Such is daily life inside the behavior unit at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran, said Tally Molina, an inmate allowed out of his cell once every third day for a quick shower.

Asked how he occupies his time, Molina spoke of meals and some reading, but added: "Nothing really breaks the monotony."

Behavior units were created in six California prisons as a middle ground between the general prison population and security housing that inmates call "the hole." The behavior units were designed for troublemakers or those who reject cellmates. Since their inception in 2005, well over 1,500 inmates have passed through behavior units, where reduced privileges are supposed to be combined with "life skills" classes...

To view the full article click on title.

Officers: Parole agent attacked by parolee

The 30-year-old agent, whose name was not released, went to the lobby of the parole office at 9900 Baldwin Place in El Monte on Monday to talk to two of her parolees.

Archiri Geh, a third parolee who drove the other two to the office, attacked her there, said Arthur Mosqueda, parole agent from the El Monte office.

Other parolees and parole officers restrained Geh, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 185 pounds, long enough to free the female agent. She was taken to a hospital and later released. She's now recovering at her home, Mosqueda said.

Geh, 33, was arrested for an alleged parole violation and could face additional charges of attacking a peace officer.

Geh served about two years in prison on burglary charges and had been on parole since July 2007.

The Public Eye: Guards accused of cruelty, racism

By Charles Piller, Sacbee

First of two parts

Jason Brannigan's eyes widened as he relived the day he says prison guards pepper-sprayed his face at point-blank range, then pulled him through the cellblock naked, his hands and feet shackled.

"I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" Brannigan recalled gasping in pain and humiliation during the March 2007 incident.

"They're walking me on the chain and it felt just like … slaves again," said the African American inmate, interviewed at the Sacramento County jail. "Like I just stepped off an auction block."

Brannigan, 33, said the incident occurred in the behavior modification unit at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, where he was serving time for armed assault. He is one of more than 1,500 inmates who have passed through such units in six California prisons...

To view the full article click on title.

2010 CCPOA Elections Forms & Schedule

Attached please see the Intent to Run form for Chapter Elections, the Intent to Run for Executive Council positions as well as the Schedule of Elections for Chapters in 2010.

See the Schedule of Elections for due dates, deadlines and activities within the 2010 CCPOA elections process.

CCPOA Chapter Intent To Run Form

CCPOA Executive Council Intent To Run Form

CCPOA Schedule Of Elections For Chapters

Watch Office, some out of pocket!

I was notified by a member today that he had refused the "bubble" and was ordered to "provide medical verification" This is not in the current O.P. 726 and violates Implemented Terms. If this has happened to you please contact us.

I was also informed that Coverage Relief Officers (CRO) have been told "don't call us we'll call you" The current O.P. 726 does not include any such language. You should be calling in to find out what your hours, assignment, and uniform required are. The watch office has been telling these Officers when they call in the morning that they are working a "off core hour" post, telling them they have been placed in assignments that require other than a class "B" uniform and not providing them with any choices of post by their seniority. This is what they want in the new 726 and by not calling them for a job, you are letting them implement the new OP even though it has not been signed by anyone as of yet.

Again if you have been told any of this please let us know so we can try to deal with it. It seems alot of these things they are trying to slip into O.P. 726 is just because some watch Sergeants are just plain to lazy to do it right. This should make you appreciate the ones who try to do it right!

Boulanger