Correctional Officers
January 31, 2012
California cuts prison staffing
With about 14,000 fewer inmates in its prisons because most of them have been transferred to county jails, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is sending notices to 548 workers that they will lose their jobs.
The first wave of firings is set for Feb. 29. A second round is expected in the fall.
Those losing their jobs include about 140 guards...
LINK - CentralValleyBusinessTimes.com
January 31, 2012
CMC facing limited layoffs
Of the 545 layoff warning notices the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sent out last week, only seven went to employees of the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo.
As part of a state prison realignment that is slated to reduce the prison population by 33,000 within two years by moving some offenders to county jails, staff numbers are also slated to decline. Throughout the state prison system, there are now 14,000 fewer inmates than there were six months ago...
LINK - CalCoastNews.com
January 31, 2012
Barbs Fly in FL Private Prison Conflict
Florida correctional officers say a proposal to privatize some prisons amounts to the government picking winners and losers. They claim the losers will be correctional officers who would be unemployed or displaced, along with their families and communities. Proponents, including private prison operator GEO Group, counter that privately-managed prisons are money-savers for the state.
Captain Mike Riley, a corrections officer in Ocala, says private operators may throw current officers out the main prison gate...
LINK - PublicNewsService.org
December 22, 2011
CA State Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case on Corrections Furloughs
The state Supreme Court yesterday denied review of a First District Court of Appeal decision allowing the state to furlough unionized correctional officers.
The court voted 6-0 to allow the ruling in Brown v. Superior Court (California Correctional Peace Officers’ Association), A127292, to stand. The First District’s Div. Two ruled in October that the three-day-per-month furlough program initiated during Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration is lawful as applied to facilities manned by employees represented by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association....
LINK - MetNews.com
December 19, 2011
“Operation Santa” at Pelican Bay
Christmas came early for some students at Smith River Elementary School on Friday.
Children playing basketball and soccer and frolicking on the jungle gym stopped in their tracks when Santa Claus stepped out of a Pelican Bay State Prison Fire Truck that pulled onto the playground.
They hugged him from all sides and pulled at his beard while cheering....
LINK - Triplicate.com
December 13, 2011
San Berardino to impose LBF on county probation/correction officers
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors today will consider cutting salary and benefits for a group of probation correction officers, a move officials say will result in $3.6million savings annually.
County Chief Executive Officer Greg Devereaux is recommending that supervisors impose a "last, best and final offer" on the Specialized Peace Officer Unit and reject an arbitrator's recommendation that the county and the unit adopt a tentative agreement from June 30.
That agreement was rejected by members of the peace officer unit, and a later attempt to bargain failed...
LINK - SBSun.com
December 2, 2011
CCPOA supports Childhood Cancer Foundation of Southern California
The Loma Linda Drayson Center (25040 Stewart Street Loma Linda 92354) will be transformed into a Winter Wonderland for Childhood Cancer Foundation of Southern California’s (CCFSC) 30th Annual Christmas Celebration presented by San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The celebration is for children with cancer and their families who are registered with Childhood Cancer Foundation on Sunday, December 4, 2011 from 1:00-5:00pm. The annual celebration is provided by Childhood Cancer Foundation with the desire to provide families who are battling cancer the opportunity to enjoy the holidays in a safe environment.
More than 480 children and their parents have pre-registered to enjoy of the days holiday celebration. As the children arrive they are surrounded with 25 craft tables and activities to choose from. Christmas music will fill the gym with holiday cheer. Families will enjoy pizza that will be donated from Domino’s Pizza in Redlands and other goodies while listening to an interactive music program...
LINK - HighlandNews.net
November 23, 2011
PB inmates charged in Jan. attack
Two Pelican Bay State Prison inmates face attempted murder charges in connection with a January assault on three correctional officers who were sent to the hospital.
Inmates Omar Cardenas and Moses Osuna were appointed attorneys during their arraignment Thursday at the Del Norte County Superior Courthouse. They will enter their pleas at a subsequent hearing after they have the chance to speak with their attorneys.
Both are charged with attempted murder and several other felony charges...
LINK - Triplicate.com
September 29, 2011
Sloppy “investigative journalist” (who doesn’t contact CCPOA) writes what others say
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) staunchly defends California’s tough-on-crime policies, including strict sentencing laws and pro-incarceration policies. But CCPOA also defends its special interest: it protects the collective bargaining power, pay and benefits of prison guards. A small union with 30,000 members, it is also one of the state’s most powerful lobby organizations. CCPOA argues for a simple equation: stricter sentencing means more prisoners—and more prison guards. In California the results have been disastrous...
LINK - CapitalResearch.org
September 16, 2011
Scott Williams memorialized
On a Friday night, the president of the Local 3048 Federal Correctional Officers union, Barry Fredieu, received a telephone call that he had been waiting on for months.
The voice on the other end was Ryan Sherman, communications director of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), which represents peace officers statewide.
The news was of the passage of the Scott Williams Memorial Highway bill in the California Legislature. The two union members co-sponsored the bill that designates Highway 1 from the Santa Lucia Road turn-off to the main gate of the Vandenberg Air Force Base as Federal Correctional Officer Scott Williams Memorial Highway...
LINK - LompocRecord.com
September 15, 2011
SWAT Challenge: CCC participants, photo
More than 100 members from nine Special Weapons and Tactics teams across Northern California descended on the Mid-Valley on Wednesday to rescue imaginary hostages and take down make-believe terrorism suspects.
The Yuba Sutter SWAT Challenge, the first event of its kind in the area, provided realistic training exercises — and some competition — for visiting teams looking to test their skills in unfamiliar territory.
Matt Forest from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Susanville, took on a sequence of combined weapons course obstacles at the Yuba County Sheriff's Department shooting range...
LINK - Appeal-Democrat.com
September 13, 2011
C/O hit by ricochet bullet at RJD
A guard at Donovan State Prison suffered an apparently non-life-threatening bullet wound to the head Tuesday, apparently due to a ricochet from a law enforcement shooting range on the grounds of the penitentiary.
The gunshot injury at the Otay Mesa lockup was reported about 8:15 a.m., sheriff's Lt. Jim Walker said.
Officials at the Alta Road prison "thought the round came from their shooting range," according to Walker...
LINK - 760KFMB.com
September 13, 2011
Highway signs to honor fallen USP officer
Almost 15 years ago, Correctional Officer Scott Williams, a 29-year-old Marine veteran and father of two young girls, was stabbed to death by an inmate at the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary.
His family, friends and legions of his coworkers have never forgotten the young man and his loss, and have labored through the years to offer fitting tributes to his life.
Now, a segment of State Route 1 between Vandenberg Air Force Base and the turnoff to the Lompoc penitentiary at Santa Lucia Canyon Road will soon bear the designation "Federal Correctional Officer Scott Williams Memorial Highway..."
LINK - Newspress.com (subscription required)
See below for .pdf version of the story...
September 1, 2011
Federal Correctional Officer Scott Williams Memorial Highway - update
SCR 28 (Strickland) – designating a portion of State Hwy 1 near Lompoc as the Federal Correctional Officer Scott Williams Memorial Highway.
Officer Williams was murdered by an inmate at the US Penitentiary, Lompoc in 1997...
September 1, 2011
Governor Brown Joins CDCR to Honor Employees at 27th Annual Medal of Valor Ceremony
SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. today honored 48 employees during the department’s annual Medal of Valor Ceremony. Employees were recognized for extraordinary bravery and conduct above and beyond the call of duty, often in lifesaving incidents where public safety was at risk.
Governor Brown had praise for the award winners and their tireless dedication to public safety.
“These men and women exemplify what it means to serve the people of California,” said Governor Brown. “On behalf of all Californians, we honor their courage, commitment and resolve...”
August 23, 2011
LAO analysis of pension related initiative
Pursuant to Elections Code Section 9005, we have reviewed the proposed constitutional initiative regarding changes to pension benefit retirement ages for certain public sector pension systems (A.G. File No. 11‑0022).
Background
California Has Both Statewide and Local Public Pension Plans. The two largest entities managing state or local pension systems in California are the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). Combined, CalPERS and CalSTRS serve 3.1 million members (about 8 percent of California's population), including around 750,000 members and beneficiaries who currently receive benefit payments. Members of CalPERS include current and past employees of state government and the California State University (CSU), as well as judges and classified public school employees. In addition, hundreds of local governmental entities (including cities, counties, special districts, and county offices of education) choose to contract with CalPERS to provide pension benefits for their employees. Members of CalSTRS include current and past teachers and administrators of California's public school and community college districts. Members of CalPERS and CalSTRS receive differing levels of pension benefits. Many CalPERS members also participate in the federal Social Security program; in general, CalSTRS members do not...
LINK - LAO.ca.gov
August 21, 2011
CCPOA members compete in “Battle of the Badges”
Law enforcement and correctional officers, military personnel and a firefighter went toe to toe in the boxing ring Saturday night, raising money for charity in the Battle of the Badges Fight Series: Road to the Championship.
Held in the intimate courtyard setting of Liquid Nightclub in Citrus Heights, the well-attended event benefitted charities including the Armed Forces Foundation, Firefighters Burn Institute and Sacramento Sheriff's Toy Project.
Battle of the Badges Fight Series events are a lead-up to the title fight at Battle of the Badges VIII. Last year's Battle of the Badges VII was held in August at Memorial Auditorium...
LINK - SacramentoPress.com
August 19, 2011
Justices hear CCPOA ‘self-directed’ furlough case
The arguments are in. Now a panel of appellate justices must decide whether the state illegally furloughed some 32,000 correctional officers by cutting their pay by up to 15 percent per month but deferring the commensurate time off.
In documents filed in San Francisco's 1st District Court of Appeal and during courtroom debate on Thursday, lawyers for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association said the so-called "self-directed" furloughs were an illegal pay cut...
LINK - SacBee.com
August 9, 2011
A ‘shout out’ to correctional officers
They are the wall that separates the wolves from free society and permits every one of us to sleep soundly at night and go throughout the day without much worry. They are the ones who put themselves directly in harm's way so that we aren't. They are the ones who run and watch over our prisons so that we can live free to do pretty much everything we want to do that brings us -- and ours -- joy and happiness. They are the ones who confront threats to their lives every single day while they make sure that inmates get the care the courts say is prisoners' due. They are the ones getting gassed and stabbed, sworn at and derided. They are the ones who face assault with calm control, who manage masses of inmates who would rather see them bleeding or dead.
It's rather a sad commentary on us that many cannot see and appreciate this. Our correctional officers are an academy- trained, professional class of civil defenders whose only job it is to vouchsafe the safety of the rest of us who aren't walking their beat. It's also a sad commentary that many can't see beyond the misinformation spread about pay levels and benefits paid to those without whom we'd all be in deep trouble...
LINK - Bakersfield.com
July 20, 2011
Sac Bee blogs about pending CCPOA furlough case
Prompted by our recent posts on the "special fund" furlough cases in the state's 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, several blog users have called and emailed for the status on the fourth -- and legally distinct -- furlough case, CCPOA v. Schwarzenegger.
This gets a bit complicated, so hold on ...
Unlike the "special fund" cases before the 1st District Court, CCPOA won in the trial court by arguing that cutting their members' pay and then giving them the time off at a later date was a de facto pay cut...
LINK - Blogs.SacBee.com
June 29, 2011
CCPOA Member Alert: Lancaster Assault Update
June 28, 2011
CCPOA Member Alert: Lancaster Assault
CCPOA has been made aware of an officer assault that has taken place this morning at California State Prison, Los Angeles County...
June 27, 2011
“Code of Silence” pervades prison system, says columnist
Listen to KGEO 1230 AM from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday when Californian staffers discuss this issue and others. You can get your two cents in by calling 631-1230. Lois Henry hosts Mondays and Wednesdays, www.smarttalk1230am.com
We'd all like to think our state prisons are run by mature, competent, level-headed people. But a federal lawsuit filed earlier this month gives a glimpse of a world in which guards and administrators seem more like characters out of the movie "Mean Girls" than law enforcement professionals.
Beyond the petty backbiting, allegations in the suit also contend that the notorious "code of silence" still has a stranglehold on daily prison activities while administrators remain pathetically ineffective...
LINK - Bakersfield.com
June 24, 2011
The Golden State’s Iron Bars
“To borrow from Martin Luther King Jr.,” the head of the California prison guards union said a few years ago, “today I have a dream. I have a dream that the bricks and mortar that were planned to build new prisons will instead be used to build new schools…that an ounce of prevention will be embraced instead of a pound of cure.”
The place was the 2007 California Democratic convention. The speaker was Mike Jimenez, who had become president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) in 2002. Jimenez was attempting to set a new tone for the prison guards, who under his predecessor Don Novey had become the Golden State’s most powerful, feared, and obstructive public-sector union. And in at least one way, Jimenez succeeded: The tone of CCPOA became far more moderate than it had been under Novey’s hard-line leadership...
LINK - Reason.com
May 31, 2011
Earned vacation should be forfeit if mgmt refuses to let workers use them?
I’m still fuming about the Supreme Court’s decision forcing California to release 46,000 prisoners into our streets. The response from conservative, common sense pundits has been pretty universal: this is an outrageous decision that will result in more crime. The real travesty in all of this is that it could have been avoided. As I mention in the following video blog, money isn’t the issue. At least, not the amount of money, just how it’s being spent…
Even for jaded politicos, it’s shocking that Governor Brown’s initial response to the matter is to turn it into a blatant appeal for higher taxes. It’s almost like extortion: your wallet for your safety. Even the Sacramento Bee acknowledged the crass politicking with this headline: “Jerry Brown calls prison ruling a reason for taxes”
While it might be more frightening to be mugged by one of the thugs that will soon be unleashed on us, is it any less immoral for our leaders to demand our money or our safety? When California’s crime inevitably increases because of the state’s failure to build enough prisons, it will be on the heads of every government leader who sold out to the unions...
LINK - FlashReport.org
May 31, 2011
Another newspaper editor gets it wrong on CCPOA MOU
We could not help but notice that members of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, affectionately referred to as the “prison guards union,” voted 85 percent in the affirmative to ratify a new contract proposal that was approved by the state Legislature.
At first glance, nothing unusual, you might think. But it is like that old jar of mayonnaise in the refrigerator. You never really know until you crack it open for the smell test.
Some of us on The Signal Editorial Board have been active members of unions in the private sector, so we get the value unions can bring in creating more balance in the distribution of compensations in a free-market society.
And in a way, our hats go off to the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. Its members are focused in what they want and well-organized in pursuing it...
LINK - The-Signal.com
May 26, 2011
CCPOA and job growth in CA
Who's sponsoring a summit next month on promoting manufacturing in California? An unusual mix, according to an announcement:
Sacramento, CA -- Today California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, the California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA), and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) announced the "Everything Grows with Manufacturing" summit, to be held June 29, 2011 at the Sacramento Convention Center.
Got to give props to the prison-guards union -- words I never thought I'd write -- for understanding a little economics:
LINK - Redding.com
May 18, 2011
CCPOA contract, Pelican Bay in the news
More than 860 correctional officers at Pelican Bay State Prison will have to pay more toward their pensions but take fewer unpaid furlough days under a new contract signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Several labor contracts within Senate Bill 151 were approved Monday by the state Assembly on a 54-18 vote and presented to the governor.
The contracts affect more than 50,000 state workers, including prison guards, engineers, administrative law judges and other law enforcement officials...
LINK - Triplicate.com
May 16, 2011
Governor’s Revised Budget for Corrections
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is responsible for the incarceration of convicted felons, the supervision of these felons after their release on parole, and the provision of rehabilitative strategies designed to successfully reintegrate offenders into their communities. The CDCR is responsible for providing safe and secure detention facilities and necessary support services to inmates, including food, clothing, academic instruction, and vocational training.
The May Revision includes total funding of $9.5 billion ($9.4 billion General Fund and $134.2 million other funds) for all programs included in this Agency...
May 12, 2011
Former correctional officer kills two other C/Os, killed by police in shotout
A gunman killed by Riverside police after a nighttime rampage and his two slain victims were current or former officers with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, authorities said Wednesday evening. The bodies of the two victims — a man and woman — were found in front of a home in an upscale gated community.
The gunman fired at least a dozen rounds before he was fatally shot Tuesday evening by a responding officer, according to police and neighbors.
The shooter was identified as Virgil Anthony Millon, 46, a former lieutenant who left the Corrections Department in August 2008, according to the Riverside Police Department. He had been with the agency since 1987...
LINK - LATimes.com
April 20, 2011
Setting it straight
An editorial Sunday, "Brown regresses on prison contract," included several assertions that deserve correction regarding a 218-page contract the Brown administration has proposed for state prison officers:
• Salary increases for officers would not be tied to compensation for sheriff's deputies in Los Angeles County and police elsewhere. That language, included in a previous contract, was stricken from the current proposal...
LINK - SacBee.com
April 20, 2011
Re: SacBee Editorial: “Brown regresses on prison contract”
Letter to the Editor from Chuck Alexander:
Politics of the Editorial Board aside, it's grossly irresponsible of the Bee to print a list of "highlights" concerning CCPOA's proposed contract which are blatantly false...
[see .pdf file of letter attached at the bottom for full text]
The SacBee.com Editorial:
While he was governor, Gray Davis approved a plum contract for the state's 30,000 prison guards that effectively gave the California Correctional Peace Officers Association management control over the state's prison system.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger worked to wrest back control of the prisons from the CCPOA. But now that he is governor, Jerry Brown is reversing those hard-earned reforms on behalf of a major campaign contributor.
If this were a movie, we'd call it "Contract Giveaway: The Return of Gray," starring Jerry Brown...
LINK - SacBee.com
April 18, 2011
2nd Corrections Officer killed by inmate in a week
A Bowie County inmate shot and killed a female deputy as he was being transported to the county courthouse.
The inmate, identified as Tucker Strickland, then fled from the courthouse in the county's prison van. He was recaptured about 30 minutes later by authorities in Ashdown, AR.
The sheriff's office says Strickland was in Rusk County for a psychological evaluation and had just returned to Bowie County for a court hearing...
LINK - KSLA.com
March 16, 2011
Calif. prison guards reach tentative contract deal
A union representing state prison guards reached a tentative contract agreement Tuesday with Gov. Jerry Brown's administration _ five years after former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger imposed a contract stripping the union of much of its power in prison operations.
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association supported Brown in last year's gubernatorial campaign after years of being at odds with the Schwarzenegger administration.
Union spokesman JeVaughn Baker said negotiators were constrained by the state's nearly $27 billion budget deficit...
LINK - NCTimes.com
March 16, 2011
California prison guards union reaches contract
After years without a contract, the union that represents California's prison officers and parole agents has a new labor deal.
If approved by union members and lawmakers, the tentative agreement would end the furloughs for the 32,000 members of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association that have cut their pay by roughly 15 percent.
The union's bargaining team agreed to a contract that calls for one unpaid day per month for a year – roughly a 5 percent reduction of pay and hours – and for members to pay 2 percent more of their pay toward their pensions. The highest-paid officers also would get a yet-unspecified raise at the end of the contract...
LINK - SacBee.com
March 15, 2011
LA Times reports CCPOA reaches MOU with administration
California prison guards, who are represented by one of the largest and most politically powerful state-employee unions, have reached a contract agreement with Gov. Jerry Brown.
Neither the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. nor the governor's office would provide details of the long-awaited contract on Tuesday afternoon, but David Gay, a spokesman for the Department of Personnel Administration, confirmed a deal was struck early Tuesday morning.
The prison guards, who have a reputation for being among the best paid state employees, have been operating without a formal contract since reaching an impasse over wages and benefits with former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006...
LINK - LATimes.com
March 14, 2011
Calipatria C/O donates kidney to Lancaster Officer he never met!
After three years of dialysis and the possibility of death lurking in the shadows for Gaston Benjamin, a state correctional officer in Lancaster, a new lease on life was granted to him through the donation of a kidney by a fellow officer.
“It was emotional. I couldn’t help myself,” Benjamin said of his first meeting on Feb. 28 with his kidney donor, Luis Hernandez, a Calipatria State Prison correctional officer and Imperial Valley resident.
“I kept thinking to myself, ‘Is this a dream? Am I going to wake up in the same position again later?’” Benjamin said. “No, it was not a dream; it was reality.”
Benjamin was diagnosed with low-functioning kidneys in 2004 after a routine checkup...
LINK - IVPressOnline.com
March 10, 2011
Drinking whiskey with a sergeant at California’s securest prison
We met at a bar in the back of a Mexican restaurant at the edge of town.
I wanted to know about assaults, about verbal abuse, about what it feels like to kiss your kids goodbye every day knowing there’s a very real chance an inmate will rip your throat open with a chunk of cafeteria tray before nightfall.
He told me about accepting death beneath 18 fists and 18 feet, about feeding the man that stabbed your partner, about making love to your wife with a condom for three months because someone with hepatitis shoved feces in your mouth...
LINK - Informant.KALWNews.org
March 9, 2011
Former San Quentin C/O Speaks to Students
For almost 30 years, Jeff Evans acted as prison guard to some of the world's toughest criminals, but lately he's been holding a different audience captive — the students of Lake Tahoe Community College and Mt. Tallac High School. He hopes sharing his experiences will help young adults be successful, he said.
“It's just my way of giving back to the community,” Evans said.
Evans worked at San Quentin State Prison for 29 years before moving to South Lake Tahoe a year and a half ago. He tended to death row inmates, including Charles Manson and Stanley “Tookie” Williams, the co-founder of the Crips...
LINK - TahoeDailyTribune.com
March 8, 2011
Correctional Officer Furloughs - $1 Billion Liability
California prison guards and their supervisors have racked up 33.2 million hours of vacation, sick and other paid time off - an astounding accumulation that amounts to nearly half a year per worker.
It also adds up to a $1 billion liability for taxpayers of the deficit-plagued state.
Poor management at California's prisons has for years allowed workers to stock up on generous amounts of paid time off - a benefit that employees must either use or cash out when they retire. But the numbers swelled when former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger imposed furloughs in 2009, forcing prison guards and their supervisors to take unpaid days off each month to help save state cash...
LINK - SFGate.com
February 25, 2011
Little Hoover Commission: Cut retirement benefits for current employees, including C/Os
The Little Hoover Commission issued a report today recommending the reduction of pension benefits for all current public employees in the state.
Here are a few excerpts from the report:
- “The Legislature should give state and local governments the authority to alter the future, unaccrued retirement benefits for current public employees.”
- “Freezing earned pension benefits and re-setting pension formulas at a more realistic level going forward for current employees would allow governments to reduce their overall liabilities – particularly in public safety budgets. “
- “Police officers, firefighters and corrections officers have to be involved in the discussion because they, as a group, are younger, retire earlier and often comprise a larger share of personnel costs at both the state and local level.”
- “Public safety pensions cannot be exempted from the discussion because of political inconvenience.”
January 13, 2011
Inmates attack 3 prison officers
An attack on correctional officers at Pelican Bay State Prison sent three of them to the hospital Tuesday morning.
The officers suffered face and chest wounds after two inmates blitzed them with makeshift knives while in the exercise yard around 9:30 a.m.
Other officers quelled the assault using physical force and batons. Two weapons, one fashioned from metal and the other plastic, were recovered...
LINK - Triplicate.com
January 11, 2011
Inmates Attack Pelican Bay Officers
CRESCENT CITY, Calif. - Three Pelican Bay State Prison correctional officers were hurt Tuesday when they were attacked by two inmates, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said. The officers -- ages 37, 43 and 45 -- were treated at a local hospital for lacerations and puncture wounds and released, the state said. The prison will remain locked down until further notice."
Our foremost concern is for the safety and well-being of our dedicated staff," Warden Gregory Lewis said in a prepared statement. "Our officers' injuries are not life-threatening and we are glad they were discharged from the hospital today. Our thoughts and prayers are with them for a speedy recovery."
The state said the attack occurred about 9:25 a.m. when two inmates rushed the officers with prison-made weapons while being released into the exercise yard. Custody staff members in the immediate area responded and stopped the attack with physical force and batons. Two weapons were recovered...
LINK - KCRA.com
Official Press Statement from CDCR - CDCRToday.blogspot.com
November 9, 2010
Schwarzenegger creating hundreds of correctional jobs (in other states)
California’s prison crisis is proving to be something of an economic opportunity for other states.
Last week, officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced a deal to send more inmates to facilities out of state in order to meet a court order to reduce prison overcrowding.
That includes some 2,600 California inmates who could be heading to a former youth correctional facility in the town of Baldwin, Mich. The facility is run by The GEO Group, a private prison company...
LINK - CaliforniaWatch.org
November 5, 2010
Calipatria prison employee to be honored for heroic deed
A Calipatria State Prison employee is slated to receive a commendation following his rescue of a family of four this week from a partially submerged vehicle that plunged into the Central Main Canal off Austin Road, an official said Thursday.
Jesus Coronado, who oversees health care access for inmates, is going to be recommended for a medal of valor for his heroic deed Wednesday by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Administrative Lt. Jorge Santana. The award ceremony would be in May in Sacramento, Santana said.
A press release of the incident that was reported at 4:59 p.m. had not been issued by the California Highway Patrol since no injuries were reported, said Highway Patrol Officer Pablo Torrez. Non-injury crashes are not covered in press releases by the Highway Patrol, Torres said...
LINK - IVPressOnline.com
October 29, 2010
A State Senate Race that Really, Really Matters
By Allysia Finley, Wall Street Journal's Political Diary
October 21, 2010
Preston Youth Correctional Facility to close
Officials have confirmed that the Preston Youth Correctional Facility in Ione, the oldest operating facility for juvenile offenders in the state, will close.
A statement issued today by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the move is in response to a declining ward population at youth correctional facilities statewide. CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate said that the 224 youths currently housed at Preston would be moved to one of the five remaining Division of Juvenile Justice facilities in the state by June 2011.
CDCR spokesman Bill Sessa said the 445 employees who will be affected by the closure will be offered positions at other facilities...
LINK - Ledger-Dispatch.com
October 21, 2010
CDCR to Close Preston Youth Correctional Facility
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) today announced that it will close the state’s oldest operating facility for juvenile offenders, the Preston Youth Correctional Facility in Ione. The move is in response to a declining population as more youth are remaining at the local county level.
“These changes will allow the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to operate more effectively and efficiently as the state adapts to changes in our youth population,” said CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate. “We have made great strides in developing improved treatment and rehabilitation programs for juvenile offenders, and it is important that DJJ operate as cost-effectively as possible to continue that progress.”
Cate noted that the 224 youth currently housed at Preston will be incorporated no later than June, 2011 into the DJJ’s remaining facilities: the O.H. Close and N.A. Chaderjian youth correctional facilities in Stockton, the Southern Youth Reception Center and Clinic in Norwalk (Los Angeles County) and the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility...
LINK - CDCRToday.blogspot.com
October 10, 2010
No stranger to a bruising budget battle
As the chief architect of Rick Scott's economic plan, Donna Arduin likely will face a tough fight in Tallahassee getting the plan passed, if Scott is elected the state's next governor.
But don't expect Arduin to back down.
She has faced these fights before.
Upon arriving in California in 2003 to advise Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on a budget crisis, Arduin was labeled an "ogre" by a legislative leader based on her advocacy for a Florida budget cut that would have eliminated Medicaid payments for adults needing eyeglasses or dental work...
LINK - HeraldTribune.com
October 7, 2010
Off-duty prison employees help accident victims
BLYTHE - Chuckawalla Valley State Prison (CVSP) and Ironwood State Prison staff members aided a family of four that was involved in a single-vehicle rollover on Interstate 10 on Aug. 3.
CVSP correctional officers David Matthews, Andre Templer, Sgt. Paul Ayala, Sgt. Melecio Madrid, Lt. Courtney Horne, and registered nurse Mara Winsick, responded to a life-threatening emergency while on their way to work that Tuesday afternoon.
Matthews observed a Chevrolet SUV transporting a family of four, that had rolled over several times after suffering a blown tire...
LINK - PaloVerdeValleyTimes.com
October 1, 2010
A Guide to Furloughs Litigation
By Gregg Adam and Jonathan Yank
Despite rumors of a pending state budget deal—which may or may not end the present round of furloughs—Unit 6 members remains subject to the onerous terms of the Governor’s furlough orders and CDCR/DPA efforts to implement them. Employee salaries are reduced by 15% and—to add insult to injury—many (if not most) of our members actually work on their “supposed” furlough days...
September 29, 2010
Chu Vue Found Guilty Of First-Degree Murder
Former Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy Chu Vue has been found guilty of first-degree murder for orchestrating the 2008 killing of his wife's lover, Steven Lo.
Chu will spend the rest of his life in prison with no possibility of parole for the shooting death of Lo, who was also a state correctional officer.
Chu was also found guilty of being an accessory to a felony, harboring a fugitive and illegally accessing another person's data...
LINK - CBS13.com
September 22, 2010
CDCR’s 12-hour shift proposal could prevent volunteering
Correctional peace officers at Pelican Bay State Prison are asking for support in protesting shift changes they say will limit their ability to serve as volunteers in the community.
Officers recently requested letters of support from the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors and the Crescent City Council to send to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
Paul Wenning, Pelican Bay chapter president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said CDCR is proposing a switch from 8-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts...
LINK - Triplicate.com
September 21, 2010
Whitman willing to take pension cutbacks to the ballot box
Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman said Monday that she would place pension cutbacks on the ballot if negotiations with state workers fail and would consider using her personal fortune not only to win office but to advance her agenda if elected.
Taking the issue to voters is "not my first choice," she told The Bee's editorial board. "But if we have to … this is an issue we have got to take up."
The former eBay CEO and billionaire said she "possibly" would put her own money behind a ballot measure campaign...
September 20, 2010
Whitman proposes reduced pensions for correctional officers and privatized prisons
Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman told The Sacramento Bee editorial board this morning that, if elected, she'll negotiate with the three biggest public employee unions to create 401(k)-style retirement plans for new state workers.
She also said she would "take a whack" at reining in the state's prison costs, including moving prisoners to other states and cutting prison health care costs.
She added that she would seek pension reforms for prison guards, while other public safety employees would be exempt from such changes...
LINK - SacBee.com Capitol Alert Blog
CLICK HERE to see video clips from the Meg Whitman interview with the Sacramento Bee.
September 2, 2010
State prison officials considering layoffs
California prison officials are reviewing recommended staff eliminations sent to them last week by prison wardens.
State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials in August asked for a 3 percent employee reduction - about 1,100 positions - to save between $80 million and $100 million.
An analysis of the potential cuts is expected to be completed in about 30 days, state prison officials said...
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
August 24, 2010
CDCR’s plans to reduce prison staffing in the news
A state proposal to lay off 3 percent of guards and employees at adult prisons has drawn the ire of union officials concerned about employee safety and staffing levels.
The plan, which has yet to be approved by state prison officials, was outlined in an Aug.10 memo to state prison wardens from George Giurbino, director of the Division of Adult Institutions for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
About 1,100 positions - most of which would be correction officers - would be cut, said Joe Baumann, chapter president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco...
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
August 20, 2010
CDCR Calls for Additional 3% Reduction
Due to the State of California's dire fiscal crisis, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), Division of Adult Institutions (DAI), is asking for your assistance in evaluating the impact of a three percent position reduction for the 2010-11 fiscal year. I understand this process represents a potentially significant undertaking; however, all viable options must be identified and explored as we work together indetermining alternative methods to safely reduce DAI statewide expenditures...
August 2, 2010
Life on furlough: Working 12 months for 11 months pay
...While some places ask workers to give up just a few days, elsewhere it can be much worse. California, for example, requires employees to take off three unpaid days a month, while Hawaii is mandates 18 days a year through mid-2011.
For the states, this effort is racking up big savings. That's helping to close the enormous budget gaps many states face. In California, the 14% pay cut has saved the state $2.8 billion in its first 17 months and $147.2 million per month now.
But for workers, the furloughs can be equivalent to losing as much as a month's pay each year. For Dwight Weatherford, it has meant filing for bankruptcy...
LINK - Money.CNN.com
May 21, 2010
Correctional officers living in tents to draw attention to paycuts
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...
LINK - Bakersfield.com
May 19, 2010
SROA - Offers of Employment: Another Example of Management Stupidity
As you may recall in May of 2009 a large number of letters went out to BU6 Correctional Officers indicating that they were affected by a potential Layoff. Officers who received the Layoff letter also received a CDCR “pre-filled out” scantron indicating that, if subject to a layoff, they would work anywhere in the state. The names of all those officers were put on an SROA list.
CCPOA went to the negotiations table regarding the Layoff. The end result was that no Correctional Officer was laid off. This should have eliminated the need for the SROA List...
May 18, 2010
Mule Creek State Prison employees give back to the community
Over the years, Mule Creek State Prison employees have become more engrained in the local communities. These employees are making a difference by giving back to the communities where they live and work, by involving themselves in a variety of community-service groups and other contributions.
Mule Creek State Prison hosts an annual Holiday Employee Toy Drive, which has been a huge success. The prison partners with the Amador County Sheriff's Department.
The goal is to collect 1,000 toys donated by the prison's employees. The toys are displayed on a float driven in the Ione Christmas Parade, after which the toys are turned over to the Sheriff's Department for distribution at Saint Sava Mission in Jackson...
LINK - Ledger-Dispatch.com
April 21, 2010
Corrections officers say cuts raise safety issues
NORCO - Less than a year after Chino's destructive prison riot, state corrections officers say cost-cutting could contribute to another just like it.
The safety of the public and of prison officers is imperiled by a 3 percent to 5 percent reduction in staffing levels statewide, according to dozens of local corrections officers who protested the decreases on Tuesday at the California Rehabilitation Center.
The officers said inmates receive less supervision, which encourages them to take advantage of less-secure situations.
"My main concern is knowing the troops are being denied proper coverage," said James Howell, a corrections officer at the CRC.
"We're already outnumbered from the get-go. This is about safety. Somebody is gonna get hurt..."
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
April 8, 2010
In the Line of Duty Scratchers
March 17, 2010
State issues report on 2009 Calif prison riot
A state report issued Tuesday on a gang and racially motivated riot at a California prison last year recommends changes in managing inmate gang members as well as improvements in communication and use of technology to identify inmates during disturbances.
The report by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation analyzed a two-hour rampage that erupted at the California Institution for Men in Chino on Aug. 8 as a result of Hispanic and white inmates attacking black inmates at a portion of the facility where inmates are received into the prison.
Nearly 1,200 inmates were involved, including 249 who required medical treatment for injuries. Six dormitories at CIM's Reception Center West were heavily damaged...
LINK - Google News (AP)
March 15, 2010
Correctional Officer attacked at North Kern
A 43-year old female correctional officer is recovering today after being attacked and beaten by a violent inmate.
The incident happened Saturday morning at the North Kern State Prison near Delano.
Prison officials say the attack was unprovoked and the inmate - 37-year old Rus Loc from Los Angeles - had only been there for a few days...
LINK - KMJNow.com
This morning, March 13, 2010, at approximately 8:14 a.m., a 43-year-old female correctional officer at North Kern State Prison (NKSP) sustained moderate injuries in an unprovoked attack by a 37-year-old inmate in the reception center part of the prison. The correctional officer was transported to Delano Regional Medical Center where she remains in stable condition. The inmate was identified as inmate Russ Loc, who has been housed at the prison since March 8, 2010, after being convicted in Los Angeles County for forced oral copulation resulting in great bodily injury...
LINK - KGET.com
March 2, 2010
Pot, cell phones, chargers and tobacco packed into footballs, thrown onto CRC’s yard
Two footballs filled with pot, tobacco and cell phones sailed over a prison fence before dawn today in Norco prompting the arrest of two San Diego County residents, according to Riverside County sheriff's officials.
"The footballs were taped closed with packing tape and tossed over the perimeter fence line ... into a preselected area," Sgt. Adam Vallejo said in a written statement. "A correctional officer from the prison saw the footballs being thrown ... and summoned additional (officers) to collect the items and detain the suspects.
The incomplete passes were made at 3:10 a.m. at the California Rehabilitation Center at Fifth Street and Wilson Avenue. The footballs contained about an ounce of marijuana, about eight ounces of tobacco and 11 cellular phones complete with chargers and instruction booklets, according to the statement....
LINK - PE.com
March 2, 2010
Sheriff Baca proposes Castaic jail shutdown in budget move
Asked to slash his department budget by $128 million, Sheriff Lee Baca has proposed a near shutdown of the 1,900-bed Castaic jail and ordering his command staff, including himself, to go back out on patrol, officials said Tuesday.
Baca said he would move nearly all the inmates and staff out of the North Facility at the Pitchess Detention Center, sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said. The proposal would save the department $26 million.
And in an effort to reduce overtime, Baca is ordering his sergeants, lieutenants, captains, commanders, chiefs and assistant sheriffs to go back out on patrol that would otherwise be done by deputies forced to work overtime...
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
February 25, 2010
Woman convicted as accessory in correctional officer killing
Sacramento prosecutors have obtained their first conviction in the October 2008 shooting death of a California correctional officer in the garage of his south area home.
Allyssa Vue, 37, the sister of former sheriff's deputy Chu Vue, who is the principal defendant in the slaying of Steve Lo, pleaded no contest Friday to acting as an accessory in the case.
She was sentenced to 90 days on the sheriff's work project and five years of probation, according to Sacramento County Superior Court records...
LINK - SacBee.com
February 24, 2010
Sister pleads no contest in Lo murder plot case
The sister of a former Sacramento County sheriff's deputy charged with plotting a murder has pleaded no contest to being an accessory.
Prosecutors say Allyssa Vue rented a motel room for two of her brothers, who are charged in the fatal shooting of state correctional officer Steve Lo.
Vue's brother, Chu Vue, is the principal defendant, accused of ordering Lo's killing because Lo was having an affair with his wife. Authorities say Chu Vue had his brothers, Gary Vue and Chong Vue, carry out the October 2008 murder...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
February 3, 2010
SATF Officer stabbed in head by inmate
A correctional officer was stabbed by an inmate Tuesday at the state prison at Corcoran.
The female guard was stabbed in the head with a makeshift weapon in a housing unit at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility, according to prison public information officer Michele Kane.
The unidentified officer was treated at a hospital and released. There were no other injuries, Kane said.
Prison officials hadn't determined a reason for the attack as of Tuesday night. The prison was placed on lockdown while the investigation got underway…
LINK - BakersfieldNOW.com
January 25, 2010
Schwarzenegger coming after unions - again
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has put organized labor squarely in his cross-hairs in 2010, opening a fight that will largely determine the shape of his final year in office.
Schwarzenegger's proposals would cut the size of the union workforce, reduce pay, shrink future pensions and roll back job protections won through collective bargaining.
Labor and the unions' Democratic allies are already girding for battle.
"It's a continuing jihad against organized labor," said Steve Maviglio, a Sacramento-based Democratic strategist. "The governor thinks public employee unions are Enemy No. 1."…
LINK - LATimes.com
January 19, 2010
Editorial: “Governor needs to be fair with CCPOA workers”
As the wife of a California correctional officer I am compelled to respond to the article in the Record on Thursday,Jan.14, 2010. ("Governor fights prison guard furlough ruling").
Since our budget crisis started, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) have forfeited approximately 15% of their income.
Additionally they do not receive holiday or overtime pay when they are worked. The governor is now seeking another 5% cut in wages and increase their pension contribution another 5% for a total of about 25% lost income…
LINK - MantecaBulletin.com
January 16, 2010
Ruling halts California prison pay tied to furloughs
An appeals court handed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a furlough lawsuit win Friday over Controller John Chiang and the union representing the state's correctional officers – at least for now.
The ruling by San Francisco's 1st District Court of Appeal temporarily keeps Chiang from restoring the state's 30,000 prison officers and their immediate supervisors to full pay for the time that they work.
The controller had said he would eliminate a pay reduction imposed on the guards in keeping with an Alameda judge's decision in December that so-called "self-directed" furloughs at prisons violate labor law. Such furloughs allow the state to cut workers' pay but defer the time off…
LINK - SacBee.com
January 12, 2010
New furlough dispute brews between controller and Schwarzenegger administration
State Controller John Chiang told Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration today that he intends to end forced furloughs for state correctional officers this month, prompting a threat from the governor's office to dock other pay from state prison workers and resort to layoffs.
If Chiang follows through on his decision and it is not overturned, the prison guards would be the largest group of state workers to have succeeded in overturning the forced furloughs that have been in effect for a year and amount to a 15% reduction in pay…
LINK - LATimesblogs.LATimes.com
January 11, 2010
An officer’s wife speaks out on furloughs
Prison guards have been living with furlough days since last February.
During the past 11 months, dozens of lawsuits have been filed and are pending against furlough days. Some of the verdicts that are pending would order the state to pay back the money that was taken from state employees who took furlough days.
Although these workers would be receiving big checks, some say it's too late. Eyewitness News talked with one woman who is married to a prison guard. For the sake of her husband's job, she wanted to remain anonymous…
LINK - BakersfieldNow.com
January 5, 2010
Editorial: “Prison guards working with no pay”
I love those tales that go around about correctional officers and how they are overpaid, underworked and sucking the system dry with their overtime. Quite good tales, huh? More like fairy tales!
I have never seen a harder working group of people in my life. Like the officer attacked at California State Prison-Sacramento, here is a group of people who go to work every day and put their lives in danger for the safety of the people of California.
They even come to work when they are "furloughed."
LINK - ModBee.com
December 17, 2009
Official Statement: CCPOA Wins Furlough Lawsuit, Reiterates Offer to Help Legislature Reduce Costs
West Sacramento, CA - An Alameda Court judge today ruled that the Governor's order to "furlough" California's correctional peace officers - which has reduced their pay but requires them to work their full schedule - was an illegal pay cut that violated labor law, and that the more than 30,000 officers, sergeants and lieutenants "are due their full pay for time worked."
"It's unfortunate that we were forced to file this lawsuit in the first place, but we're obviously pleased that the court ruled to protect these officers' rights," said Mike Jimenez, President of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA). "We made numerous attempts to work with this Administration to find better, more legitimate ways to cut corrections costs, but we were rebuffed. Legal action was our last, and only resort.
"However, we once again extend our cooperation and assistance to the State Legislature and Department Secretary to help identify sensible cost savings measures within the corrections system," said Jimenez. "We've proactively offered savings and reform recommendations on a nearly annual basis - and will be releasing our latest "New Direction" blueprint on corrections reform in January."
View the full decision and read another statement from CCPOA re: the lawsuit at ccpoa.org.
December 17, 2009
Schwarzenegger reacts to Alameda ruling
We just got off the phone with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's spokeswoman, Rachel Arrezola. We had left a message with the administration this morning asking for a reaction from the governor to CCPOA furlough lawsuit win.
Here's the statement Arrezola read:
"Over the last year all areas of state government have been forced to cut back and do more with less as the state has dealt with closing a $60 billion deficit. The governor has made the difficult but necessary decisions to cut spending and order furloughs and he will continue to stand firm to protect taxpayers and move California forward…"
LINK - SacBee.com Weblogs
December 17, 2009
Judge rules furloughs invalid for prison guards
A state judge today struck down Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's furloughs of correctional officers, who have been working on furlough days and banking the unpaid time off.
Judge Frank Roesch of Alameda County Superior Court ruled that the governor's furlough order violated state law. He ordered the state to pay the prison workers for the unpaid hours they have worked.
To save money, Schwarzenegger last summer began furloughing for three days a month nearly every category of state worker…
LINK - LATimes.com
December 17, 2009
Judge: Schwarzenegger can’t furlough prison guards
A judge has ruled against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's furlough order for thousands of California prison guards.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch on Thursday sided with the California Correctional Peace Officers Association and ordered the state to pay prison guards back for the days they worked without pay….
LINK - Google.com (AP News)
December 17, 2009
Correctional officers win furlough lawsuit
An Alameda Superior Court judge has ruled that furloughs Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered are illegal for state prison officers whose pay is reduced but who have to wait to take the time off.
The order by Judge Frank Roesch means that roughly 40,000 state correctional officers, their sergeant and lieutenants are due their full pay for time worked.
The judge's order commands Schwarzenegger "… to pay all employees represented by (the union) in this action of all hours worked for which furlough credits have not been utilized…"
LINK - SacBee.com
December 17, 2009
CCPOA files new federal lawsuit against Schwarzenegger over furloughs, federal labor law violations,
A federal class action accuses California of violating labor laws by ordering state workers to work during furlough days, and promising them a day off later. The class of prison and correctional workers reported their grievances to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis in June; now they want action.
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association, a major political force in California, claims that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his administration are violating federal laws on wages and hours, overtime and record keeping…
LINK - CourtHouseNews.com
December 12, 2009
Suspect in killing of CMF officer convicted of murder in Minnesota
One of four defendants accused in the shooting death of a California prison guard in Sacramento has been convicted of another murder in Minnesota.
A Hennepin County District Court jury returned the verdict Thursday against Gary Vue, 28.
His older brother, former Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Chu Vue, 44, is accused of arranging the Oct. 15, 2008, Sacramento slaying of correctional officer Steve Lo…
LINK - SacBee.com
November 23, 2009
CA Bureau of State Audits’ review of CDCR spending of federal stimulus
Dear Governor and Legislative Leaders:
On February 17, 2009, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
of 2009 (Recovery Act) to help fight the negative effects of the United States' economic recession. California expects to receive $85 billion in additional federal funding over the next several years for both new and existing federal programs. With this increased funding comes a renewed emphasis on accountability and public transparency to ensure federal funds are spent properly. A key component of such accountability and transparency is the California State Auditor's Office (State Auditor's Office) annual report on internal control and compliance with federal laws and regulations. The State Auditor's Office conducts this audit in accordance with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133…
November 16, 2009
Unions blast furlough order
Lawyers representing state worker unions and a few government agencies pounded away at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's furloughs for the better part of three hours this morning in Alameda Superior Court, arguing that the policy is illegally harming the government, an overreach, a violation of minimum wage laws and outrageously irrational.
And that was in just two cases brought by California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment and California Correctional Peace Officers Association to Judge Frank Roesch's Oakland courtroom. SEIU Local 1000 and Union of American Physicians and Dentists will argue their cases this afternoon.
Roesch took both cases under submission and he'll probably do the same with those he hears this afternoon, which means he's going to think about what he's heard and issue a ruling later. That could take several days or several weeks…
LINK - SacBee.com
November 10, 2009
Schwarzenegger to go after public employee pensions… again
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger estimated Monday that California's budget will fall out of balance by $5 billion to $7 billion this fiscal year, on top of a $7.4 billion gap already projected for 2010-11.
If true, state leaders would confront at least a $12.4 billion to $14.4 billion problem when Schwarzenegger releases his budget in January. California currently has an $84.6 billion general fund budget.
The Republican governor spoke with The Fresno Bee editorial board Monday after signing a bill placing a water bond on the November 2010 ballot…
LINK - SacBee.com
October 21, 2009
Study: Furloughing at 24-hour facilities doesn’t save
Furloughing employees at 24-hour care facilities could end up costing more in the long run than it saves in the short term, according to a study released this month by the state Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes.
The situation could create additional, significant costs for taxpayers down the road because furloughs aren't eliminating but instead are pushing labor costs to the future, the report says.
"Some state jobs cannot stop for furloughs," the report says, "most prominently the care and supervision of prison inmates and people with serious developmental disabilities and mental illnesses."
Under an executive order from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in July most state workers began taking three unpaid days off per month, the equivalent of a 14percent pay cut for the 2009-10 fiscal year…
LINK - SBSun.com
October 15, 2009
Federal correctional officers lobby for pepper spray
Gary Pullings knows what he wants as a correctional officer at U.S. Penitentiary Atwater.
"I want to carry the damn pepper spray," Pullings said Wednesday.
The 30-year-old former Marine, an Atwater guard since 2006, said he and his fellow officers remain dangerously exposed at the maximum security prison. He contends that staffing is too low and incarceration policies are imperfect…
LINK - ModBee.com
October 13, 2009
Built to win Correctional officer defies the odds on the job and in the gym
Curiosity led Trish Hamashin to pick up a body building magazine at a college bookstore years ago. As she flipped through the pages, the young student was surprised to see photos of women bodybuilders, including Miss Olympia, featured in what she thought was a male-only sport.
"I had no idea women participated in that sport," the Vacaville resident recalled.
A competitive gymnast in high school and college, Hamashin's discovery would soon set her on a different path…
LINK - TheReporter.com
October 12, 2009
Correctional officers highlighted in “Battle of the Badges”
Once the sun set in West Sacramento, the stage lights flickered on and the red boxing gloves came up.
Saturday's Raley Field Rumble pitted firefighters, corrections officers and law enforcement officers from all over Northern California against one another, all in the name of Sacramento charities.
"We like to support different charities each year," said Isreal Montes Jr., creator of the event. "We keep it local in Sacramento. This year we're supporting the Firefighters Burn Institute, Sheriff Toy Project and Sacramento Fallen Officers Resource Fund."
Correction officers Montes and Yvonne Vasquez, from California State Prison Sacramento, started the city's "Battle of the Badges" in 2003. The inspiration for it struck Montes after he won a gold medal at the Western States Police and Fire Games that same year…
LINK - SacramentoPress.com
October 8, 2009
A Corcoran C/O gets his letter to the editor on furloughs printed in the paper
I like my job as a correctional officer, but I am alarmed by the lack of concern for public safety and the safety of officers who work at our prisons.
Our governor declared that the state Assembly lacks guts to cut prison costs. I find that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lacks the experience to lead our state. He has shifted the burden for the state's debt to counties and cities by taking badly needed funds from their budget to fix the state's budget.
Shifting responsibility is not an answer. It's a cowardly way of making someone else deal with a problem that's wholly the state's responsibility. Shifting inmates to overcrowded county jails and disregarding sentencing guidelines by creating new ones, and letting inmates go to save money, only sends a signal to cities and counties that the state will disregard public safety in order to shirk responsibility to protect the public…
LINK - Bakersfield.com
October 7, 2009
Non-sworn jail guard plans advance despite union protest
Supervisors this morning gave the go-ahead to plans for staffing a new type of non-sworn jail guards despite protest from the sheriff's union president who said the plans could compromise the safety of inmates and guards.
Supervisors voted 4-1 to move forward with the program — part of Sheriff Sandra Hutchens' plan to trim costs by replacing sworn deputies at the jails with less expensive civilians. Today's vote gave a blessing for the department's plan to staff the first 50 Correctional Services Assistant jobs and assign a general representation unit under the Orange County Employees Association.
Chairwoman Pat Bates voted against the plan, saying she thought the new positions should be filled safety officers, not civilians…
LINK - FreedomBlogging.com
September 28, 2009
Opinion: “Reason prisons’ costs up varies”
A recent audit says that the state's prison inmate population fell 1 percent in the past three years —- and prison costs jumped 32 percent.
Part of the problem is correctional officer wages, according to the report that state Auditor Elaine Howle released earlier this month. It also criticizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, with its $10 billion annual budget, for lacking "the data necessary" to figure out how overtime and other factors heap on costs.
But as Corrections Deputy Director Dave Lewis said, "The problems we face are more complex than data." The department accounts for 10 percent of the general fund, so "it's a lightning rod for criticism," he said, whenever there's money trouble…
LINK - NCTimes.com
September 23, 2009
Prosecution starts in murder trial of ex-deputy
Prosecutors called their first witnesses today in what is expected to be a two-day preliminary hearing to determine if former Sacramento County sheriff's deputy Chu Vue will be tried for murder in last year's purported love-triangle shooting death of California correctional officer Steve Lo.
Most of the morning's Sacramento Superior Court testimony in front of Judge Ronald W. Tochterman had a Sacramento police sergeant recounting the extensive cellular telephone records and video surveillance footage. Prosecutors contend this evidence will show a pattern of Vue and three co-defendants, including two of his brothers, casing out the victim's house weeks before the Oct. 15 shooting and then carrying out the attack.
Investigators believe Vue plotted the killing because Lo was having an affair with the ex-deputy's wife…
LINK - SacBee.com
September 19, 2009
Freeway renamed to honor slain Gonzales
A portion of the 71 Freeway on Friday was renamed in honor of slain Corrections Officer Manuel Gonzales.
The Gonzales family were joined by Inland Valley and state officials, including Matthew Cate, director of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, at a dedication ceremony on Friday morning at the California Institution for Men.
The green freeway sign, which reads "Correctional Officer Manuel A. Gonzales Jr. Memorial Highway," will be placed near Central Avenue. It will signify a portion of the 71 from Central Avenue in Chino Hills to the 60 Freeway in Chino…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
September 9, 2009
Nevada realizes prison furloughs won’t solve budget problems
The head of Nevada's prison system Tuesday said his fears of requiring correctional staff to take furloughs were exacerbated by last month's prison riot in Southern California.
Howard Skolnik reiterated to the state Board of Examiners that he doesn't believe furloughs at state correctional institutions can be safely implemented.
In August, 175 inmates were injured during a riot at the California Institution for Men in Chino, where seven of eight housing units were left uninhabitable.
"On the day they had their incident, approximately 15 percent of their officers were on furlough," Skolnik said. "I personally don't believe that having those officers present would have stopped that incident from taking place, but I think 15 more staff could have significantly reduced the time and amount of damage that was done…"
LINK - MercuryNews.com
August 21, 2009
Correctional Officer Stabbed at Corcoran State Prison
A correctional officer is recovering from a stabbing at Corcoran State Prison.
Authorities say an inmate stabbed the prison guard in the arm Friday morning in the security housing unit.
That's where prisoners who commit crimes in prison are locked up. The attack occurred when officers entered the inmate's cell for an emergency medical incident.
The officer was sent to a hospital for treatment — but is expected to be ok…
LINK - ABCLocal.go.com
August 13, 2009
CCI remains on lockdown
The California Correctional Institution in Cummings Valley remains on a modified program as of Wednesday, Aug. 12 in response to the serious inmate disturbance at the California Institution for Men in Chino over the weekend.
A modified program is not as severe as a lockdown, in which all inmates are confined to their cells, said California Correctional Institution (CCI) Public Information Officer Jon Bartelmie.
The Chino disturbance erupted Saturday, Aug. 8. Bartelmie said that CCI sent 79 officers, supervisors and medical personnel to assist at the Chino facility. The last one returned Tuesday, Aug. 11…
LINK - TehachapiNews.com
July 28, 2009
Inmate Assaults 2 Merced Correctional Officers
An inmate punched a female correctional officer in the chest and hit another in the face on Saturday, deputies said.
The officers were moving the man to a safety cell because he felt "suicidal," according to the Merced County Sheriff's Department. That's when he lashed out, deputies said.
A third officer came out and fired his Taser gun at 26-year-old Antonio Moreno, deputies said. He was handcuffed and taken to a safety cell…
LINK - KCRA.com Sacramento
