Arizona Corrections - Staffing & Safety Issues

Spears is a stand-up guy - he does not play games or tells tales or is an alarmist - he is one of the most level headed officers who ever worked for me and that says a lot for his character - if he says something, it’s the truth - if the DOC says something, it is either a lie, a deflection or non-truth, a distraction or a denial = those are the DOC tools in their public information warfare toolbox so you have to guess if they are lying to you, distracting you or bull crapping you, the Article Linktaxpayer footing these outrageous expenses.
These men and women are the backbone of a great agency that once stood tall and proud and is now broken, weak and vulnerable to any large disturbance threatening the communities where they are located. You don’t have to believe the numbers for they don’t mean a thing unless you are working the line and the work is overwhelming, fatiguing or even wearing you / burning you out. Yes, the assaults are up and no, Wilder is telling the truth the data was changed to define assaults because the prior director sugar coated her statistics to lower the rates but in all reality, no matter how you define assaults, you have to see the face, the wound, the trauma and the tragedies experienced with every harmful event, injury or painful wound inflicted by violent inmates
I am not an alarmist and neither is Spears. He is a real tough officer who takes care of his troops unlike the agency director who feels “his officers” are expendable and subject to injuries, rapes assaults and other unlawful touching because the job they chose tolerates such unlawful activities so suck it up and deal with it.
Listen to Spears, he would not have spoken out and contradict the DOC if he didn't have the facts. There things the public needs to ask to keep our communities safe or safer as there are very high risk events coming up this summer which may jeopardize public safety. When DOC pulls 96 TSU officers from 4 complexes, it leaves those complexes vulnerable – that is what Spears is telling you – on paper, you have staff – on the ground there are big holes in the roster that is frightening under most conditions.
This DOC spokesman, Andrew Wilder, I heard he is a good man, although a well versed skilled communicator with great crisis management skills, this man no idea what an Arizona correctional officer endures daily. He does not know what correctional officers do each day to keep it together. He can tell you what they do out of the handbook but on the yards, it is a different world.
He does not experience the secondary post traumatic vicariously impacting our employees. He does not have an inmate in his or her face – he speaks boldly confidently and clearly about the DOC politically correct responses to inquiries because that’s why he is their spokesperson but he carries no credibility of what he speaks.
Heck, his boss carries no credibility of what he speaks. Those double dipping executives he personally recruited, hired and put on his executive team on the 4th floor haven’t worked a post for so long, they lost the reality of working the real line where sweat and blood is daily as inmates are becoming younger, bolder, riskier and more violent.
It’s more than staffing a post or carrying out an assignment and overtime is hardly a substitute for having rested clear minded employees on duty. It’s a life and death occupation with challenges most men and women can’t handle being unarmed and facing over two hundred convicted felons at a time when there is no back up to ensure your safety or the safety of others on duty.
Talk is cheap – the DOC administration needs to get back to basics and stop mistreating their employees and give them back their dignity, respect and pride. They deserve it for what they do every day with no tools or guns and just guts.

I am your Worst Nightmare

Can you tell I am your worst nightmare? I might be but I doubt it if you are on my FB ends list -
I’m sitting here with my laptop computer home, feeling well, alert and far from dying. I breathe air knowing that any minute, my life can change and change beyond any of my own imagination. I’m not scared, I am really not scared because I am not alone – I have many friends and relatives that know what is going on and what is happening and what I am working on and God is my witness, I am doing something ethical.
Every so often, I check my pulse, I watch my weight, and I exercise daily. I want to be fit for the challenges in life and at no time thinking about my death. I don’t sleep with the sheets over my head or stuck in the sand. I don’t visit the morgue and I walk the walk of life with happiness. I will be cremated when I do die but until then, I am alive.
I enjoy life to the fullest, I see the sunrise and sunset as the pivotal moments in my life. Each day I measure my self-worth and value. I try to remain grounded and even sing at times to show my joy. I love birds and how they sing, I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with a piece of chocolate whenever I can.
This wheel keeps on turning until it can’t turn no more but I doubt that will happen anytime soon. I am alive, I am not forgotten, and I can sustain and adapt to this cruel world we live in.
My personal manifestation is integrity and sharing knowledge. I want it be said that if I am gone, somebody will notice it. Although not concerned about being liked, I wish to be respected. Scary is it? Is it unreasonable to be respected? Not at all but you must walk the walk and talk the talk in order to earn that respect. Just me writing this down should give you the willies.
Down deep inside, I worry a little about my family and friends. I have this primal need to be remembered but most of all, I want to be able to pass something on to somebody who will carry the torch of integrity and sharing knowledge for me. I think that’s maybe one of the reasons why I do what I do – stir controversy and provoke others to think.
I want to leave some mark on the world saying, “I was here.” I want my memory to remain honest, truthful and accurate. I want it to reflect my perceptions, my reflections and my intentions.
At the same time I want my memory to a reminder that when we share we care. I also want you to know that I have made mistakes, too many to mention but that they were honest mistakes. If we’re being honest, I think maybe that’s one of the reasons many of us start blogging.
There’s something immensely comforting about knowing your thoughts are out there for the whole world to read. You could kick the bucket tomorrow, but your words will live on, teaching, inspiring, and taking root in the minds of readers for generations to come That’s the idea – sharing my thoughts – sharing to have others read and words that will help you or guide you in your journey to success and blessings still to come.
Or at least that’s the idea. LOL - Peace to all - 2015

A colorless correctional culture which creates, causes chaos and confusion inside Arizona prisons.

 

Governor Doug Ducey has ordered a full investigation in the Kingman riots. What this investigation will NOT reveal is the social and political inequities that exist under the direction of a white dominant power group that runs the department of corrections in Arizona. Whether we want to admit it or not, there is a colorless correctional culture within the prisons causing chaos and confusion leading to frustrations and violence.

Is there such a thing as a colorless culture? I doubt it, but on the other hand, it depends on what you mean by culture. If you word  is used in the normal sense and set aside from the socio-political ideology and focus on dialects, idiolects, beliefs, symbology, iconography, behavior, ritual, kinship and so forth, the answer is no. However, keep in mind the temptation to maintain political correctness in our thinking.

Rather strange that it does exist but not as described as above but rather based on a complicated amalgam of various perverted and extreme customs and traditions adapted on lessons learned in history and extended to be imposed in political and social influences of those in power, the answer is yes. There is a colorless culture inside our prisons and it influence much of the vitriol in our society.

In prison management, culture is a dominating feature that can work for the system or against the system. Culture can unite or divide the prison population and also draw a hostile line between administrations and populations. The culture is incontestably very powerful and very influential. Ignoring culture would be dangerous and reckless indeed.

Keep in mind, we are not focusing on skin tone or genetic exchange of races. We are talking about the physical aspects of culture that influence body language in communications and management practices. How it impacts daily living and compliance of policies and procedures developed not from state statutes or guidelines but mostly from random and arbitrary ‘lessons learned’ historical data.

It is more broadly expressed as the “us versus them” ideology that exists inside prisons. It can lead from correctional officer’ relationships with prisoners as well as prisoner among prisoner relationships.

The manifestation of a culture within a prison is dynamic and forceful that is very complicated and often misunderstood. It is not a matter of how much whiteness there is, or how much blackness exists but rather color is only a minor element of the product unless it is a matter of discrimination in which case, these colors may override any civility or manners and dominate or negatively impact behaviors if offense is taken or disrespect is shown to one race or the other.

There can be markers of whiteness or blackness in daily interactions if the overall culture demands it be a contributing factor to how the rules are enforced and perceived. One could immediately see how discrimination impact this in an extreme form and manifest dissention or division. One needs to be cautious not to delegate any authority or empowerment and inflict willful or coincidental discriminatory practices that may divide the prison into color lines. It creates tension and resentment that festers over time.

In such a case, the color line -- which is used to divide society into two groups that are by definition exclusive, 'whites' and others’ becomes a point of agitation or aggravating circumstances.

The awkwardness and inadequacy of all existing blanket terms for these others, such as 'minorities' or 'people of color,' stem from the repression and confusion involved in the very notion of whiteness or colorless.  To some extent, cultural whiteness in Arizona, may dominate events politically and culturally. It depends on demographics, geographic perception and the associated treatment applied to ‘others’ not white and of color. Thus if the demographics are opposite, a reverse perception may apply.

Arizona whiteness does exist. Arizona whiteness runs the government and the current prison system. It emerged decades ago and never relinquished control of the prison system as it imposes its will freely and clearly with tacit approval of the executive, legislative and judicial branches. It has been years since a white person ever directed the largest state agency and no change is expected in this transfer of power any time soon.

Therefore, the Arizona whiteness is in charge of the penal and criminal justice system and is the main provider for the sentencing and punishment of criminals incarcerated and kept there for an extensive amount of time compared to other states suggesting that non-whites are less moral than whites.

One might say, Arizona whiteness is a conservative whiteness leading to an ideology that suppresses the other colors and downgrades them in separate classes by race. Inside prison, this is a dominant event in the classification of housing, jobs, credit or good time and length of sentencing or time served. It extends all the way to the approval of parole and clemency appeals. Today, there is no formal juridical equality for color unless you are a member of the colorless race, the white race.

It is, besides, the ambiance of the modern corporate office, where niceness rules -- or rather, is the means of rule of political correctness. In the white-collar workplace everyone must act white: quiet, polite, cheerful, emotionally masked, sensually numb, perpetually busy, and willing to tolerate any humiliation as long as it's done with a smile. Non-white is all that resists smiling self-adaptation to one's assigned yet ever-changing role as a component in the smooth positive flow of personal relationships.

This obviously creates a fallacy that offensive in nature. Fact is whiteness or colorless people can be equally misunderstood because of these assumptions created and ignoring behavioral norms and power relations, are questionable especially when imposed only on people of color. When applied within major institutions in our society this impacts the workplace, prisons, the school, the mall and other sites.

All these institutions teach possessive individualism; anxious competitiveness; rigid emotional control through 'niceness'; narrow or institutional and instrumental rationality; ready acceptance of isolation, boredom, and meaninglessness; the sacrifice of a lifetime for merchandise and security. Most of them also implicitly associate these qualities and attitudes both with white or light skin, and with success and self-esteem. One can see, when distorted, the facts gets lost and the color plays a big part whether we are united or divided. Now, create this curmudgeon with prison life and you have instant conflict.

Skin privilege is fading in the community but not inside prisons. One would expect the reverse to occur since society’s working class is steadily including more whites than before. Now, a much larger majority of the prison populations inside Arizona are white too. Nearly half of all high-school graduates without college degrees today work in jobs that pay scarcely more than the minimum wage and it is likely this continuum of lack of success applies when they are released from prison as well.

CONCLUSION:

 

The fact that the prison population now consists at least as much of white as of black and brown people is concealed by the fact that inside prisons, the whites hold better positions of authority and power than the black and brown poor. This is to say that poor whites continue to receive considerably better treatment than poor blacks or brown and are not subject to correctional officials (police) harassment and other subtler forms of prejudice as well. This can be challenged by a document search of the prison disciplinary and inmate employment systems.

What has changed? The appearance of border patriot militiamen and Nazi skinheads in our society and inside our prisons. These groups continue to define whiteness and its privilege on old, skin- and religion-based terms.

The perception inside prison is because the administration is largely white and the majority in power the obvious conclusion of those of color is that if you are white, you are a partner in charge as the administration is mostly white. Strange but strong enough of an influence to cause hate and offensive behaviors to be encouraged and condoned by a colorless culture inside our prisons.

This is a colorless culture cultivated and grown in an obsessive form inside prisons. These types of disruptive individuals group up when incarcerated and draw support from each other better than the other races.

Whether deliberately or coincidental, they [whites] are better-off and unlike those of color who face stronger opposition to programs and work opportunities. Opportunities in the type of job assigned, as these jobs are less sophisticated, hours are longer and less paying work and diminished security as they struggle to maintain their position inside prison.

An underlying influence on riots and prisoner frustration that will never be revealed by any investigation ordered by the Governor of Arizona. The fact is, nobody will touch this subject the way this paper is written because it would reveal a reality that is grossly distorted and covered up by those influencing the criminal justice system in Arizona as well as the contributing factors of private prison organizations soliciting cheap prison labor from the state prisons to sustain their own market and profit making schemes.

 

A Culture of Corruption - Carousel of Corrections / Corruption on the Kingman Riot Fiasco

Carousel of Corruption

 

Certainly, you may have you noticed since the Kingman riots, there seems to be a bit of unpopular curmudgeon-like complaints about the carousel of corrections- and corruption? Looking at a carousel, you can certainly envision a machine like merry go round that is more elaborate in detail than you could ever imagine.

Certainly, the corrections department carousel is one of the most elaborate kind there is as it is an intricate system made up of smaller pieces that get lost easily and hardly traceable in many ways. Today, many pieces are broken or misplaced.

The carousel is part of a never-ending story. A never-ending renovation process and a never-ending tale of corruption and mistakes. Prison management in Arizona is a funny matter except that it involves life and death situations most of the time as well as millions dollars’ worth of destroyed property yearly.

Causing confusion to keep the media and public under a blanket of clouded disorder and hazed like fog, the conundrum of their ways leads us to the puzzle palace on the fourth floor in Phoenix high-rise on Jefferson Street. Most of the time it remains to be whirling around leaving everybody behind on solving the puzzles and lacking sufficient clues to solve the problems at hand.

The methodology to keep us confused is beneficial for those operating the carousel. To them its clean fun, a whole renovation process, that keeps them employed with the kind of job security that reeks the smell of sabotage.

I guess what bothers me the most is that when I see such waste and expensive renovation and reconstruction of our prison systems, I think about the meager wages our officer, the backbone of the agency receives as their salaries are but a fraction of the fat cats on the fourth floor who operate this carousel of corruption.

I think about the stipend revoked and safer workplace conditions promised and then, not paid or not delivered. I am sure there are ethical and moral principles at work here but as the governor has turned a blind eye to this carousel which works for him, it is pretty much a done deal and over.

Funding this carousel is less attractive each day. The investment in public safety has suffered badly and the negligence of the grandiose command structure decimates the modest and weakened infrastructure that runs the entire agency but with an expenditure which appears to be designed for private gain and eventually, we can’t hardly afford to keep running it this way.

Conflict of Interest - letter to all Legislators

(A conflict of interest is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests (financial, emotional, or otherwise), one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation of the individual or organization.)

 Honorable Legislators,

Today, Governor Doug Ducey announced that Arizona Department of Corrections, Charles L. Ryan, shall lead a complete investigation of the Kingman riot which occurred during the week of July 1^st through July 4^th, 2015.

This is a situation that should be addressed by the Legislature as the main stakeholders in the preservation of public safety and financial responsibilities for the funding of private prison monies and all related allocated expenses.

Charles Ryan, an appointed public official is not the most appropriate individual to oversee such an investigation. His judgement, impartiality and personal or professional interest could be influenced by the mere fact that he is also the main person at the Department of Corrections who makes executive decisions on inmate bed allocations distributed between the various private contractors with the agency and other internal policy decisions including contract monitoring of various facilities.

This puts him in a potential and possible position to undermine the investigation based on findings which may be negative or damaging to these private prison groups as well as his own agency for any or all management decisions created or made verbally or through policy he makes to distribute, manage, oversee, and direct compliance conditions of all these contracts.

When a government official, who is involved in the procurement, distribution, allocation or any other major decision is put in a position of trust and the position is used to determine faulty findings, these findings can be influenced, degraded or devaluated by his executive position to contain such findings and dismiss them or lower them to a lesser finding at will.

This defeats the entire discovery and information gathering process of any investigation especially this one where the performance, compliance and management skills of MTC is in question as well as his own agency’s responsibility to ensure compliance with all contractual services and agreements.

I appeal to you, our members of the Legislature, to call for another lead designated investigator or person for this investigation of the MTC Kingman riots. A good example of choosing an independent individual would be command position at the Attorney General’s or the director of our Department of Public Safety administration.