lizzi0067
04-18-2004, 04:03 PM
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Inmate killings under scrutiny
By Kurt Erickson
SPRINGFIELD -- Four Illinois prison inmates were killed by their cellmates in the past eight months, causing alarm bells to ring among corrections officials, a prison watchdog group and the state's largest public sector union.
The four homicides, two of which remain under investigation, have drawn attention because only four prisoners died under similar circumstances in the previous five years.
"There's something going on," said James "Chip" Coldren, executive director of the John Howard Association, a Chicago-based prison watchdog group. "We are concerned about any deaths behind bars."
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which represents the bulk of the Illinois Department of Corrections' 14,000 workers, also is keeping a close eye on the numbers, saying the violence might be caused by staffing shortages.
"There is activity on the uptick," said AFSCME's Buddy Maupin, who oversees labor issues in the state's sprawling prison system.
A spokesman for IDOC acknowledged that the spike has resulted in corrections officials studying what may have led to the slayings.
"I won't tell you that it isn't a concern to us," Sergio Molina said.
The latest inmate killing came March 26 at Western Illinois Correctional Center. Prisoner Michael J. Robinson, 33, was found with multiple stab wounds outside a cell. Authorities are investigating the incident.
In late February, a 22-year-old Menard Correctional Center inmate was found dead in a cell he shared with another inmate. Prison officials investigating Joshua Daczewitz's death saying he may have been strangled.
Also in February, Stateville Correctional Center inmate Riley McLarin, 18, was found killed in his cell. Department of Corrections records don't indicate how he died.
In August, another Stateville inmate, Andrew Clark, died after being strangled by a fellow inmate.
Before those incidents occurred, there had not been an inmate murdered by another inmate in an Illinois prison for nearly two years.
There were only three other inmate murders dating to 1997. None of them was a prisoner at the Pontiac, Dwight, Logan or Lincoln facilities.
Molina said the common denominator in all of the homicides is that the victims were killed by their cellmates. In three of the cases, the incidents occurred in the cells, meaning understaffing shouldn't have been a factor in the deaths.
The latest homicide, however, occurred outside Robinson's cell at Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling.
"The issue at Western, if someone tells you there is not enough staff, I could argue that point because I know how many staff were in the cell house," Molina said. "I don't know how more staff in the cell house with the first three cases would have stopped what happened in those cells."
Correctional-officer staffing has dropped at the agency, but Molina said officials are in the process of boosting the number of front-line workers.
The department also has been undergoing changes among its top administrators since Gov. Rod Blagojevich took office. Donald Snyder, who ran the department under former Gov. George Ryan, was replaced by former Cook County Jail Superintendent Ernesto Velasco.
Velasco, however, quickly was replaced by former Macon County Sheriff Roger Walker. In addition, one of Blagojevich's close aides, Deanna Benos, was transferred to the department to serve as assistant director under Walker.
Molina said he doesn't believe changes in top brass are playing a role in the recent spate of murders.
"I don't believe that's been a component here," Molina said. "Those incidents could happen at any time."
In response to the deaths, the agency is investigating whether officials need to improve how they match cellmates in the future.
"There is a process that we go through to try to match up people as appropriately as we can, but it's not a perfect science," Molina said. "We may discover that we went through all the steps appropriately and it still happened."
Coldren said the John Howard Association wants more information on other inmate deaths in the system. For example, his organization surveyed operations at the maximum-security Pontiac facility in the wake of the death of inmate Preston McDowell.
McDowell died in a Peoria hospital in October after being removed from his cell by guards.
Figures provided by corrections officials did not detail those types of deaths among inmates.
"That's something we want to look at more closely," Coldren said.
Inmate killings under scrutiny
By Kurt Erickson
SPRINGFIELD -- Four Illinois prison inmates were killed by their cellmates in the past eight months, causing alarm bells to ring among corrections officials, a prison watchdog group and the state's largest public sector union.
The four homicides, two of which remain under investigation, have drawn attention because only four prisoners died under similar circumstances in the previous five years.
"There's something going on," said James "Chip" Coldren, executive director of the John Howard Association, a Chicago-based prison watchdog group. "We are concerned about any deaths behind bars."
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which represents the bulk of the Illinois Department of Corrections' 14,000 workers, also is keeping a close eye on the numbers, saying the violence might be caused by staffing shortages.
"There is activity on the uptick," said AFSCME's Buddy Maupin, who oversees labor issues in the state's sprawling prison system.
A spokesman for IDOC acknowledged that the spike has resulted in corrections officials studying what may have led to the slayings.
"I won't tell you that it isn't a concern to us," Sergio Molina said.
The latest inmate killing came March 26 at Western Illinois Correctional Center. Prisoner Michael J. Robinson, 33, was found with multiple stab wounds outside a cell. Authorities are investigating the incident.
In late February, a 22-year-old Menard Correctional Center inmate was found dead in a cell he shared with another inmate. Prison officials investigating Joshua Daczewitz's death saying he may have been strangled.
Also in February, Stateville Correctional Center inmate Riley McLarin, 18, was found killed in his cell. Department of Corrections records don't indicate how he died.
In August, another Stateville inmate, Andrew Clark, died after being strangled by a fellow inmate.
Before those incidents occurred, there had not been an inmate murdered by another inmate in an Illinois prison for nearly two years.
There were only three other inmate murders dating to 1997. None of them was a prisoner at the Pontiac, Dwight, Logan or Lincoln facilities.
Molina said the common denominator in all of the homicides is that the victims were killed by their cellmates. In three of the cases, the incidents occurred in the cells, meaning understaffing shouldn't have been a factor in the deaths.
The latest homicide, however, occurred outside Robinson's cell at Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling.
"The issue at Western, if someone tells you there is not enough staff, I could argue that point because I know how many staff were in the cell house," Molina said. "I don't know how more staff in the cell house with the first three cases would have stopped what happened in those cells."
Correctional-officer staffing has dropped at the agency, but Molina said officials are in the process of boosting the number of front-line workers.
The department also has been undergoing changes among its top administrators since Gov. Rod Blagojevich took office. Donald Snyder, who ran the department under former Gov. George Ryan, was replaced by former Cook County Jail Superintendent Ernesto Velasco.
Velasco, however, quickly was replaced by former Macon County Sheriff Roger Walker. In addition, one of Blagojevich's close aides, Deanna Benos, was transferred to the department to serve as assistant director under Walker.
Molina said he doesn't believe changes in top brass are playing a role in the recent spate of murders.
"I don't believe that's been a component here," Molina said. "Those incidents could happen at any time."
In response to the deaths, the agency is investigating whether officials need to improve how they match cellmates in the future.
"There is a process that we go through to try to match up people as appropriately as we can, but it's not a perfect science," Molina said. "We may discover that we went through all the steps appropriately and it still happened."
Coldren said the John Howard Association wants more information on other inmate deaths in the system. For example, his organization surveyed operations at the maximum-security Pontiac facility in the wake of the death of inmate Preston McDowell.
McDowell died in a Peoria hospital in October after being removed from his cell by guards.
Figures provided by corrections officials did not detail those types of deaths among inmates.
"That's something we want to look at more closely," Coldren said.