Post by Greener on Apr 20, 2009 5:34:17 GMT -5
Guards accused of beating inmates
The Florida Department of Corrections has placed 15 correctional officers on administrative leave while it investigates allegations of inmate abuse at Florida State Prison and Union Correctional Institution.
In the incident at FSP, officers are accused of beating inmates during a time period when they apparently thought that the prison’s surveillance cameras had been disengaged and thus their actions were not being videotaped.
Prison employees who contacted The Sun and prison officials said the alleged incidents at FSP outside Starke, where 11 officers were placed on administrative leave, happened on April 8 after a power plant explosion inside the prison.
The alleged incident at Union Correctional at Raiford happened April 9, and it was unclear what may have triggered it.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said no one was injured in the explosion and subsequent fire at FSP.
“It was at about 6 a.m., and the switch gear system — the main breaker for the prison — exploded,” Plessinger said. “The institution had partial power for a good part of that day until Clay Electric (Cooperative) put in a temporary pole and transformer to bypass the entire power house, which was built in the 1940s.”
Allegations are that, because monitors for surveillance cameras and recorders were not working after the explosion, some correctional officers may have thought the entire system was not working and assaulted inmates because they thought their actions were not being recorded.
“Both systems – surveillance and recording – were working,” Plessinger said, but she declined to provide details about what cameras inside the prison may have recorded.
In one incident — recounted to The Sun by two sources — an inmate allegedly exposed himself to a female correctional officer. When male officers arrived to take the inmate to a confinement cell, they reportedly beat the inmate to discourage future incidents, according to the two sources.
State Attorney Bill Cervone said he expected that DOC’s inspector general would be delivering the results of an internal investigation to his office soon.
“I am aware that there are allegations being made,” Cervone said Tuesday afternoon. “We will review anything brought to us to determine if there is anything we should get involved in.”
Less information is available about the incident that led to four officers being placed on administrative leave at Union Correctional. Plessinger said state law prohibits release of detailed information until investigations are complete.
source: www.gainesville.com/article/20090414/articles/904149903
The Florida Department of Corrections has placed 15 correctional officers on administrative leave while it investigates allegations of inmate abuse at Florida State Prison and Union Correctional Institution.
In the incident at FSP, officers are accused of beating inmates during a time period when they apparently thought that the prison’s surveillance cameras had been disengaged and thus their actions were not being videotaped.
Prison employees who contacted The Sun and prison officials said the alleged incidents at FSP outside Starke, where 11 officers were placed on administrative leave, happened on April 8 after a power plant explosion inside the prison.
The alleged incident at Union Correctional at Raiford happened April 9, and it was unclear what may have triggered it.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said no one was injured in the explosion and subsequent fire at FSP.
“It was at about 6 a.m., and the switch gear system — the main breaker for the prison — exploded,” Plessinger said. “The institution had partial power for a good part of that day until Clay Electric (Cooperative) put in a temporary pole and transformer to bypass the entire power house, which was built in the 1940s.”
Allegations are that, because monitors for surveillance cameras and recorders were not working after the explosion, some correctional officers may have thought the entire system was not working and assaulted inmates because they thought their actions were not being recorded.
“Both systems – surveillance and recording – were working,” Plessinger said, but she declined to provide details about what cameras inside the prison may have recorded.
In one incident — recounted to The Sun by two sources — an inmate allegedly exposed himself to a female correctional officer. When male officers arrived to take the inmate to a confinement cell, they reportedly beat the inmate to discourage future incidents, according to the two sources.
State Attorney Bill Cervone said he expected that DOC’s inspector general would be delivering the results of an internal investigation to his office soon.
“I am aware that there are allegations being made,” Cervone said Tuesday afternoon. “We will review anything brought to us to determine if there is anything we should get involved in.”
Less information is available about the incident that led to four officers being placed on administrative leave at Union Correctional. Plessinger said state law prohibits release of detailed information until investigations are complete.
source: www.gainesville.com/article/20090414/articles/904149903