COVER STORY: Courage Under Fire

A Fair Contract and a Little Respect. That's Not Too Much to Ask for Working the Toughest Beat in the State in an Environment Where Violence Outbreaks are a Sure Bet.
by Ian Pickett, C.O., California Correctional Institution, Tehachapi

Courage Under Fire

At Calipatria State Prison near El Centro, California, Aug. 18, 2005, started out like any other day. Just routine duties, until a correctional officer noticed an inmate concealing something suspicious inside his clothing. The officer approached the inmate and ordered him to submit to a clothed body search.

As soon as the officer started the pat down, he realized the inmate was concealing an inmate-manufactured weapon. When the officer grabbed onto the weapon, the inmate began to struggle. Fearing for his safety, the officer forced the inmate to the ground. As soon as they landed on the ground, 10-12 inmates immediately ran to and attacked that officer, repeatedly stabbing, slashing, and kicking the officer in the head and upper body. As other staff responded to the incident they, too, were attacked by inmates.

When I arrived on the scene I saw that assaulted officer. It was my closest friend, a very dedicated officer who taught me so much. Officer G. Harbert had been viciously assaulted and was walking off the yard under his own power. I could hardly see his eyes and he was literally covered in his own blood.

Less than five minutes later, as I went to help secure the yard and other inmates, I heard yelling behind me. When I turned around, I saw officers being attacked by inmates in front of our dining hall. The female dining officer had been chased throughout the dining hall and was subsequently attacked as she made her exit out front.

I sprinted to that area in an effort to assist the officers under siege. As I got closer, I was yelling for the inmates to get down but they continued their savage attack on my partners. I grabbed onto one inmate and tackled him to the ground where he and I struggled. He bit my hand and continued to fight until finally I was able to gain control of him. My other partners fought with and gained control of the other assailants.

Less than two minutes later, I walked back out onto the yard in an effort to again start securing the yard. Almost immediately, the audible alarm on housing unit Charlie 5 began to sound. I responded to the alarm. As I entered the building, I saw a captain completely enveloped by at least six inmates who were assaulting him. All in all, there were 25-30 inmates waiting for us in ambush inside that building with a mixture of weapons ranging from mop handles to knives. I ran directly to the captain and engaged the inmates attacking him. Together, we did our best to defend ourselves from the attempt being made on our lives.

Meanwhile, the bravest people I have ever worked with continued to defend themselves against the rest of the inmates. With nearly 30 of them and only six officers, it was at that moment that I really did not believe I would make it out of that building alive that day.

We continued to fight for our lives to the best of our abilities for what seemed like a lifetime until a gunner, who saw an officer about to be seriously or fatally stabbed, pulled the trigger on a mini-14 rifle, killing an attacking inmate and effectively ending the riot.

The three incidents had gone on for close to an hour.

Some of my partners had come close to death. I suffered injuries to my back, including bulged discs, nerve damage, and lacerations to my face. All of us were happy to be alive, yet shocked to have survived. Not one of us could take more credit than the next. We had fought and won for each other, together.

The next morning I was back at work answering the questions from the Office of Internal Affairs about the shooting death of the inmate. I guess they were there to find out if we had defended our lives in an ethical manner.

The day after that I returned to work, full duty, as did many of the victims of the assault that day. The ones who didn't return soon would. They were only waiting for their wounds to heal. They are, in fact, the definition of bravery and an inspiration to me-as they should be to you.

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