| May 2005 Corrections News Online |
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| Director's Message: |
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As we wrap up our annual celebration of National Corrections Employees Week 2005, we are grateful for so many things – especially for the work each of you do to fulfill our mission: to promote public safety by holding offenders accountable for their actions while reducing the risk of future criminal behavior.
That “public safety” was very close to home on April 25, when OSP Inmate Leighton Bates confronted Cpl. Rebecca McLauchlin with a large shank and held her hostage for more than three hours.
Few things in corrections are as challenging as a hostage crisis. Throughout the night, we were continually impressed by the actions of everyone involved. First, Cpl. McLauchlin stayed calm and displayed fortitude and courage, using her experience and training to help secure her safety.
Second, we learned that DOC’s emergency response system works. Our crisis negotiation team did a remarkable job, as did everyone involved in the incident.
It sometimes takes a crisis situation for the world to recognize our professionalism, preparation and skills. With 4,000 employees and 13,000 inmates, the opportunity for things to go wrong is constantly with us. We know the planning, training and practice we demand of all our corrections professionals pays off by preventing incidents each and every day.
Each of you plays an important role in the safe, secure and effective operation of this department. From the meals prepared by Food Services to the people in accounting who pay the bills, there isn’t anyone superfluous to the work of the agency. It takes the planning, preparing and action of every member of the DOC team to make it all work so well.
Again, we can’t say often enough how your dedication and work to fulfill our mission and implement the Oregon Accountability Model is appreciated and respected. Thank you, and be proud of what you do.
Sincerely,
 
Max Williams Mitch Morrow
Director Deputy Director
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| Safety Break for Oregon |
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The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (OR-OSHA) recently announced that although many private-sector industries have experienced a dramatic reduction of injuries over the past five years, the serious-injury disabling claim rate for state agencies has slowly increased. In 1999, two out of every 100 state employees were seriously injured; in 2003, the rate had climbed to 2.4 per 100 workers.
State workers provide many services under potentially dangerous conditions. However, according to OR-OSHA, 60 percent of accepted serious injury/disabling claims in the state system occur in typical public administration environments: offices.
“By percentage, the Department of Corrections has fewer ‘office’ workers than most other state agencies,” says DOC Safety and Risk Manager Wendell Hensell. “However, no matter where we work, we need to be vigilant in our safety efforts.”
Mr. Hensell works with safety and risk liaisons at each DOC work location to increase awareness of safety. “Actively looking for unsafe conditions is one of the best deterrents of workplace accidents,” he says. “It is when we become complacent that accidents tend to occur.”
DOC will join OR-OSHA to take part in the 3rd Annual “Safety Break for Oregon” on May 11. The day is designed to raise awareness and showcase the value of workplace safety and health in preventing injuries and illnesses. Each work location should pay special attention to safety issues on that day.
For more information or to learn more about your local safety committee contact Wendell Hensell at (503) 378-6873 ext. 7150 or by e-mail to wendell.j.hensell@state.or.us.
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| Another Safety Issue: Drivers, Be Careful! |
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DOC employees drive nearly 4 million on-the-job miles a year. Overall, the Department has a good driving record. However, in the last five months, the number of citizen complaints about DOC drivers has increased. The agency has also begun to receive photo radar warning tickets from around the state, particularly for speeding in school zones.
The Department of Administrative Services Risk Management Division tracks each citizen complaint as well as traffic warnings and tickets. Risk Management contacts DOC, and the offending driver is tracked through vehicle check-out records. That person’s supervisor is then required to fill out a DAS form that asks seven questions, including how the agency will respond to the complaint.
You have a duty as a state employee to observe all the rules and be above reproach in your driving. The public is ever vigilant in watching for vehicles with E-plates that are speeding or breaking any other traffic law. Also remember, the same rules apply when you are in your own private vehicle on state business.
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| Prison Rape Elimination Act Update |
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DOC is taking action to implement the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003. A policy workgroup chaired by Institutions Administrator Joan Palmateer recently developed a draft policy to coordinate the work and changes that must take place throughout the Department.
As DOC Director Max Williams said in October 2004, even one rape in prison is one too many. The Department has already taken some significant steps to implement PREA, including the Inspector General’s telephone hotlines for staff and inmates, plans for increased training of employees, and the submission of the language that is now Senate Bill 89, which increases criminal penalties for any sexual contact between staff and persons in their custody.
Another key element is that each prison has established a PREA liaison and a Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). These people will be leaders in ensuring that the provisions of the act are carried out locally, and will be trained to ensure that any reports of sexual assault are properly investigated, treated and reported.
For more information on the Prison Rape Elimination Act, watch your newsletters and e-mail. If you have specific questions, please send them to nancy.sellers@state.or.us and she will forward them to the appropriate person for an answer.
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| Guest Contributor: Take Your Kids to Work Day 2005 |
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Written by Marley Blaylock, age 9
(daughter of Operations Division Executive Support Specialist Betty Blaylock)
On Take your Kids to Work Day, I learned that there are many different jobs at ODOC. You could be a corrections officer, or pay bills, or make sure there is enough food, or answer phones. There are people who do the same jobs even.
Inmates came and talked to us. They told us what they did to get in prison, and that they did not want to go back. A lady told us how a law is made and all the steps it has to go through before it passes. They brought in drug dogs and hid drugs and made the dogs find them. The dogs mostly like to play with tennis balls. The dogs sit when they find drugs.
Transport officers handcuffed and shackled us. Then, we took a ride on their transport bus. You could not open the windows and if you were bad you got put in a cage so you can’t move hardly. On the bus we got to see different prisons and baby geese. It was different than a school bus. When we got back, we went to lunch with the whole group. The morning was fun and I learned a lot!
Editor’s note:Kudos to everyone who participated in Take Your Kids to Work Day on April 28. The events statewide were reported to be educational and fun for the children and a great success.
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| DOC Co-sponsors Gang Conference |
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Co-sponsored by DOC, the Northwest Gang Investigators Association (NWGIA) will hold its annual Spring Training Conference May 16-19 at the Wilsonville Holiday Inn and Conference Center. Topics covered this year include street gangs, prison gangs, gang tattoo recognition, organized crime and domestic terrorism.
“This is one of the best gang training conferences in the state," says Mike Beagen, president of the NWGIA and DOC’s STG investigator. "We attract instructors from local, state and federal agencies around the country to present at our conference."
Space is limited. If you are interested in attending, please contact Mike Beagen as soon as possible at (503) 945-9008 or by e-mail: michael.beagen@state.or.us.
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| And the Survey Says .... |
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Just a reminder that all surveys coming into the Department of Corrections need to be routed through the Public Affairs Office. This is done to ensure accurate tracking, consistent answers across the agency and that no surveys fall through the cracks. The intent is to be value added, not to hinder you in providing the information!
So, no matter where in the agency you work, if you receive a survey please contact Marie Garcia in DOC Public Affairs at (503) 945-9837 or by e-mail to: marie.d.garcia@state.or.us.
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| ZIP Files Now Blocked by E-mail |
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You have likely noticed that DOC has been bombarded with SPAM emails that have a .zip attachment. This is one of the most common methods of delivering a virus or other nasty element into our network and computers. Because of this, ISSD is now blocking all zip extensions.
When that happened in the past, you would receive a message that an extension had been blocked. However, there are so many of these zip extensions coming into DOC that the notifications were confusing and alarming to users, and were taking up a considerable amount of time and server space. For these reasons, ISSD will no longer notify you when a zip attachment is blocked.
If you need to receive a zip attachment at work and suspect it was blocked, the best thing to do is to send an e-mail to the distribution list for the e-mail administrators (in Outlook it is “e-mailadmins@state.or.us) and ask them to release it.
For more information, please contact ISSD Operations Manager Jerry Johnson at (503) 378-3798 ext. 22405 or e-mail: jerry.r.Johnson@state.or.us.
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| Reminder: Outlook Calendaring Can't Read Minds .... |
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The calendaring function of Outlook is a great asset to staff who schedule meetings. However, when searching for open meeting times on calendars, the system doesn’t recognize days that are “blocked out” with just a notation in the top bar (below the date). That means the time looks available to the computer, when really it is not, and meeting times have to be rescheduled.
If you will be unavailable for meetings, please take a moment to actually block out that time on your Outlook calendar for the day. That way, you will be shown as unavailable and meetings can be planned accordingly.
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| More News..... |
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State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons - Statistical Tables 2002.
Released every two years, these electronic tables present statistical data on adults who were convicted of a felony and sentenced in state courts and include:
Available online at: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/scscfst.htm.
Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2004.
This annual report presents data on prison and jail inmates, collected from national prisoner statistics counts and the annual survey of jails in 2004.
Available online at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pjim04.htm.
- Staff have a toll-free number to call to report any information regarding abuse, misconduct, waste or fraud: (877) 678-4222.
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| About Corrections News Online |
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DOC Corrections News
Oregon Department of Corrections
Max Williams, Director
Mitch Morrow, Deputy Director
Receive Corrections News Online
at your home e-mail address…
Send a request to:
from your home computer.
The mission of the Oregon Department of Corrections is to
promote public safety by holding offenders accountable for their
actions and reducing the risk of future criminal behavior.
For more information or to submit story ideas, please call Nancy Sellers, editor, in the
DOC Public Affairs Office at (503) 945-9225 or e-mail: nancy.sellers@state.or.us.
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