Report points to prison security failures

6-8-2009 National:

WASHINGTON — A government inquiry into the most recent fatal assault of a federal correctional officer details multiple security breakdowns and underscores a fear among federal officials who say inmates have grown increasingly violent in their dealings with prison staff.

Jose Rivera's June 20 killing, captured by surveillance cameras inside the high security U.S. Penitentiary Atwater in California, provides a chilling view into the U.S. prison system where weapons are plentiful and some violent inmates are allowed to "sleep off" bouts of drunkenness fueled by homemade cocktails, according to a Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) report obtained by USA TODAY.

During the attack, Rivera, a 22-year-old Iraq war veteran, struggled for his life while a locked door blocked several of his colleagues from responding.

"It was like Rivera was caught in a bear trap," said Mark Peacock, the officer's attorney. "If the staff was able to respond with adequate force, Rivera might have survived the attack."

Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley, who declined to comment on the Rivera report, says there is "a sense that assaults (on staff) are more severe." Following the Rivera killing, authorities recovered 175 weapons in the facility, the report states.

Bryan Lowry, president of the federal prison employees association, says overcrowding is endangering prison officers and staffers. According to BOP records, the system is 36% over capacity and 48% over capacity in high security units.

In the federal system, which manages 204,327 inmates, serious assaults to staffers increased slightly in 2008, from 72 to 82, according to BOP records. Less serious attacks (pushing, shoving) increased, from 1,281 in 2007 to 1,522 in 2008. Inmate slayings were up, from 12 in 2007 to 15 in 2008.

At the time of the Rivera attack, according to the report, he was assigned to lockdown a high security unit for the afternoon inmate count when he was allegedly slashed in the torso by convicted murderer Jose Sablan. The officer was wounded before he could secure Sablan and James Guerrero, a convicted armed robber, in their cell. Both inmates, according to the report, appeared to be intoxicated.

As surveillance cameras rolled, Rivera attempted to escape and activated his electronic body alarm to summon help. He was allegedly tackled by Guerrero, who pinned the officer down while Sablan continued to stab Rivera with a makeshift ice pick. Rivera was stabbed at least 17 times before an officer arrived with a key to the door.

"This delay to get responding staff into the unit could have been reduced," the report concluded.

The day before the attack, one prison guard raised questions about whether Guerrero, known as a "disruptive," could be housed safely in the same unit with Sablan, according to the FBI's report of its interview with the guard.

"Going to put him (Guerrero) with another killer," the guard told a colleague. "Okay if that's what you are going to do. We'll be lucky if he doesn't kill somebody before the night is out." ..Source.. by Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY