Guard Blames Prison Staff Cuts For Attack

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Guard Blames Prison Staff Cuts For Attack

Woman Suffered Black Eye, Split Lips In Attack

PENDLETON, Ind.-- A prison guard who was beaten by an inmate claims she was made vulnerable to attack by staffing cuts at the Pendleton Correctional Facility.

Brandi Gilland suffered a black eye and split lips in the Dec. 21 attack, which occurred as she was securing cells for the night. She fended off her attacker with pepper spray and escaped.

The 30-year-old Daleville woman told The Herald Bulletin of Anderson that recent changes in procedure due to reduced staffing have made the 1,900-inmate maximum-security prison unsafe.

Those changes mean guards must do security checks and lock down inmates at night by themselves.

Prison Superintendent Brett A. Mize said assaults on staff are down from last year and the staff is only eight fewer than a year ago. He said the attack on Gilland was an isolated incident.

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In Madison County, a prison guard who was beaten by an inmate at "Pendleton Correctional Facility" blames staffing cutbacks.

Brandi Gilland suffered a black eye and split lips in the December 21st attack.

She says she was securing cells for the night when she was beaten. Gilland says recent changes in procedure due to cutbacks has made the maximum-security prison unsafe.

Prison officials say the staff was only reduced by eight and assaults are down from last year. The also describe the attack on Gilland as an isolated incident.

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Pendleton - A prison guard who was beaten by an inmate claims she was made vulnerable to attack by staffing cuts at the Pendleton Correctional Facility.

Brandi Gilland said she was attacked about 11 p.m. Dec. 21 by an inmate who may have been irate because she had previously confiscated his MP3 player. She fended off her attacker with pepper spray and used her keys to escape the locked 48-cell unit. Officers trying to come to her aid were unable to reach her because they forgot to retrieve keys from a supervisor's office, she said.

The 30-year-old Daleville woman suffered a black eye and split lips in the attack. She said she was considering the possibility of suing the Department of Correction over the attack.

"Nothing's going to change," she said. "They're going to keep doing what they're doing until somebody steps up."

Gilland told The Herald Bulletin of Anderson that recent changes in procedure due to reduced staffing have made the 1,900-inmate maximum-security prison unsafe.

Those changes meant Gilland was by herself when she was attacked while securing cells for the night, she said. Seven years ago, two guards and a supervisor would have been in the unit, she said. That later was changed to one guard per unit who stayed in a locked control room.

She said the policy changed a few weeks ago, requiring the lone guard to perform security checks and lock down inmates at night.

"We'll be out of sight of cameras and everything else," she said. "The reason was since searches weren't being done. It was due to staff shortages. It was all due to staff and saving money."

Prison Superintendent Brett A. Mize, however, said the prison staff of 347 is only eight fewer than a year ago, and that includes 298 guards. Mize said he had received permission to hire 11 more officers and two additional sergeants, who are expected to start in mid-January.

He said assaults on staff by offenders were down to 20 this year from 82 last year. He said the attack on Gilland was an isolated incident.

"Staff are a lot safer here," he said. "Offenders are a lot safer here."

Mize said procedure was changed to have guards walk around the unit so inmates would be better supervised. Security cameras can't see into cells, he said.

Mize denied the prison ever had a policy of two guards and a supervisor working in each unit as Gilland maintained. He said attacks are always possible because of the nature of prison work.

"We do work in a maximum-security prison, and that's going to happen," he said.

The inmate who attacked Gilland was placed in disciplinary segregation for a year and may face formal charges. He is currently scheduled to be released in 2015.

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Another guard attacked at Pendleton prison

Jeffrey Treadway was convicted in a 2005 murder.

Guard Brandi Gilland was attacked earlier this month at the prison.

Pendleton - An employee at the Pendleton Correctional Facility was assaulted Monday morning.

Joseph Neill, a maintenance supervisor at the prison, was assaulted by an offender with a weapon around 10 a.m., according to superintendent Brett Mize. Neill sustained approximately ten puncture wounds to his leg and lower body, though none of the injuries were life-threatening or serious. He was treated and released from St. John's Hospital in Anderson before returning to the facility following treatment.

The alleged attacker was identified as Jeffrey Treadway, 49, who is serving a life sentence without parole on a murder charge out of Marion County. He is also serving sentences for other charges for robbery and battery. He was found guilty of the assault on Neill by the Facility Disciplinary Hearing Body and is being transferred to another facility.

Treadway was convicted of attacking and killing 82-year-old Donald Carroll in 2005. Prosecutors say Treadway beat Carroll with a brick in his east side home. They say he also stole money from the World War II veteran and attacked his wife, who survived.

Officials say the prison will be working with the Indiana State Police and the Madison County Prosecutor's Office to pursue criminal charges against Treadway for a prisoner in possession of a dangerous device or material and battery with bodily injury - both felonies.

The motive for the attack appears to have been retaliation against Neill, who had recently filed a disciplinary report on Treadway.

Prison guard Brandi Gilland was also attacked and beaten by an inmate at the prison on December 17.

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Prison superintendent talks safety after guard beating

Pendleton - As prison workers clamor for more help after a guard in Pendleton was beaten on the job, the prison's superintendent is talking about safety inside the prison's walls.

New pictures showed the injuries 30-year-old guard Brandi Gilland suffered when she was beaten on the job at the maximum security prison in Pendleton.

An industrial horn signals a day's work done for inmates inside the prison. But watching over Indiana's worst offenders, is a job that's never done and downright dangerous.

Gilland has the black eye and split lip to prove it.

"I wish I could say that it's never going to happen, but just by where we work, there's always that possibility," said Pendleton Superintendent Brett Mize, speaking of the potential for violence against prison guards.

Gilland was alone and checking individual cells Sunday, December 17, when prison authorities say inmate Rico Comer attacked her. Gilland had seized an unauthorized MP3 player from Comer weeks ago, causing him to lose visiting privileges.

"He took revenge on her for that conduct report," Mize told Eyewitness News. "When the incident happened, Officer Gilland handled the situation on her own, when she pulled out her chemical agent, used appropriate force and the situation was taken care of before staff got there to assist."

But she and other guards now say new prison policy that requires them to check individual cells alone puts them at risk.

In an email to 13 Investigates, one guard wrote, "Administration was warned repeatedly by C/O's that this would get an officer killed."

The superintendent says there have been a total of three guard assaults since April in the Disciplinary Segregation Unit.

"That's the worst of worst offenders inside this maximum security prison," Mize added.

A total of 20 officers were assaulted the entire year, compared to 82 in 2007.

But that is of little comfort to Officer Gilland, who said Department of Correction policies are limiting what she can say about the ordeal.

"I'm sorry, I can't talk right now about any incident that happened at the prison," said the guard, who still has bruises under her left eye.

The superintendent, who took over in April, denies the attack on Gilland was the result of weak security.

"I think the number of assaults that decreased from last year to this year speaks for itself," said Mize. "So again, I think we have a good handle on what we're trying to do here with security procedures and everything we've implemented is working."

Facility numbers show there were ten fewer correction officers this year compared to 2007. The superintendent plans to hire 11 guards by mid-January. He also believes increasing job responsibilities for inmates and making it easier for them to get into G.E.D. programs will make a difference in keeping assaults at bay.

It's unclear if Gilland will return to work on Tuesday as scheduled. She has been reassigned to a non-inmate unit for now and indicated days ago that she is seeking possible lawsuit against the state.