| Corrections Pledges Action on Alleged Abuse in IMU |
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CORRECTIONS PLEDGES ACTION ON ALLEGED ABUSE
In response to news of a Marion County grand jury´s indictment of five individuals who had worked in the Intensive Management Unit (IMU) at Oregon State Penitentiary, Corrections Director David S. Cook reaffirmed the department´s full cooperation with the district attorney in pursuing criminal convictions. The staff allegedly abused inmates and/or allegedly perjured themselves in testimony before the grand jury.
"No Tolerance. Period." Director Cook said upon learning that staff who had worked in the IMU had been charged with misdemeanors and felonies in connection with unrelated, isolated incidents of abuse of inmates that occurred sporadically over a period of more than a year. The IMU is the state´s 196-bed super-maximum custody prison facility that houses and provides programs for inmates who have demonstrated that they cannot control their behavior in the general prison population.
Individuals Acted Independently
The grand jury´s actions and the results of the state police investigation support the fact that the staff acted independently and that the incidents were isolated and unrelated.
"I am confident that the individuals who allegedly engaged in criminal activities regarding their treatment of inmates have been identified and indicted," Director Cook said. "The next steps for the department include corrective actions to ensure, to the best of our ability, that these alleged actions cannot be repeated." In deference to the due process rights of the individuals allegedly involved, all indicted staff will work in restricted duty assignements. However, they will have no contact with inmates.
Additionally, the department´s investigative efforts now shift from the criminal arena and will focus on investigating known and suspected violations of the department´s rules, particularly those regarding conduct.
"We will take appropriate action to deal with any and every individual who chooses to violate our rules," Director Cook continued. "Although our investigations continue, we have a good idea from the work done to date of the staff involved and the extent of the damage . We must, by necessity and by law, complete our internal investigations and respect the due process rights of individuals, including those indicted, who may have violated our rules and be subject to disciplinary action.
"We also cannot overlook the emotional impact these indictments and the continuing administrative investigation has and will continue to have on our staff. We have more than 2500 very capable employees, many of whom are shaken by this news. In no way should these indictments impugn the reputations and dedication of this competent and professional work force.
"Again, the individuals acted independently. Their actions do not reflect the actions or the attitudes of the DOC staff generally or the IMU staff specifically. The system is not broken and has not been compromised."
Independent, Outside Review
That conclusion was affirmed by consultants funded by the National Institute of Corrections who studied the IMU in July. The Department of Corrections requested the outside review of IMU operations to, in part, discover whether the IMU activities and practices were consistent with industry standards. The consultants concluded that any problems in the IMU were the result of individual choices and actions and were not indicative of a pervasive, systemic problem.
"If there is any silver lining to this unconscionable situation, that is it," said Director Cook. "We have a basis now on which to pursue corrective action and (penitentiary superintendent) Frank Thompson is prepared to implement, in all or in part, the consultant´s recommendations as well as those of our own security authorities."
Those recommendations include the possibility of adding surveillance cameras, enhancing staff training, changing the duration of staff assignments to special housing units, screening staff assigned to special housing units, modifying the environment in the IMU for both inmates and staff.
Additionally, staff have been reminded of the existence of a hotline that runs directly into the Director´s Office that they may use anonymously to communicate with the department´s administration.
Chronology of Events
The Department of Corrections has its own investigative arm led by its independent Inspector General Les Dolecal. The allegations of abuse of inmates in the IMU came to Mrs. Dolecal´s attention in April, 1997. The penitentiary administration contacted her office without delay after the allegations initially came to the attention of Superintendent Thompson. The ODOC Special Investigations Unit (SIU) immediately initiated an investigation of the allegations presented and conducted interviews to evaluate the information.
The Oregon State Police were contacted by the Special Investigations Unit as soon as it appeared that the allegations were of a criminal nature. The State Police responded immediately and dedicated several members of the Salem detective unit to investigate the allegations. They worked very closely with the ODOC investigators to coordinate the investigation.
The State Police detectives and ODOC investigators interviewed dozens of people –including staff members and inmates – in an effort to collect as much information as possible regarding the allegations. Detective Mike Gower was the lead investigator for the State Police. DOC Special Investigations Unit Inspector Jim Bratton was the lead investigator for DOC. These individuals, assisted by some of their colleagues, spent countless hours sifting through the information collected and piecing the facts together. Detective Gower and Inspector Bratton also traveled out of state to conduct interviews with key witnesses.
The investigation took many twists and turns and kept expanding as additional information was discovered. In an effort to clearly resolve all allegations, the investigators "left no stone unturned" and followed up on all of the information developed.
Both DOC and the State Police were prepared to close the investigation more than once only to have a new piece of information surface which required further investigation. Although this caused the investigation to take much longer than anticipated, it was extremely important to investigate all pieces of information to ensure that those who engaged in misconduct were held accountable and those who were innocent were clearly exonerated.
"We were not going to sacrifice thoroughness for time as this would be an injustice to those accused and to the complainants and victims in this case," Mrs. Dolecal explained.
Allegations involving criminal activity have been investigated by the State Police and are being processed through the criminal justice system. The State Police and the Department of Corrections believe, based on the information we have at this time, that those involved in the criminal activity and administrative misconduct have been identified and will be held accountable.
As the criminal investigation concludes, the DOC Special Investigations Unit will focus on the administrative investigations. "We will keep the public informed to the best of our ability without compromising the due process rights of the individuals implicated or jeopardizing the integrity of the investigation," concluded Director Cook.
last revision 2-28-2000 peg cook
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