Where is the Accountability?
Reading the blog written on February 4, 2013, by Director Charles L. Ryan
on his state owned website I was appalled by the tone of his message about
staff conduct or more appropriately, staff misconduct. Leading off with a
politically correct statement it appears that the Arizona Department of
Corrections is in deep trouble internally as it experiences a morality
breakdown and a severe lack of personal responsibility by its employees on or
off duty.
His message was focused on his tally of persons in uniform and
non-uniform that have been arrested or become involved in “illegal activities
each and every week.” He goes on to state that “in fact, in the past four and a
half years, there have been 640 staff arrests of which 433 – over two thirds –
were for behaviors like domestic violence, fighting, assaults, harassment, drug
use and possession.” Mr. Ryan was hired
back in January, 2009 by then Interim-Governor Janice Brewer
Certainly not a message to applaud, it is indicative of the lack of
leadership and accountability by those Director Ryan has appointed into offices
of responsibility and accountability to work for him as well as Arizona
taxpayers that pay their salaries. In addition to these arrests there were over
one thousand administrative disciplinary cases logged for the past year adding
more misconduct to the formulary that indicates a serious breakdown of law and
order as well as moral turpitude and character within our prison employee
workplace. It goes without saying that these type of behaviors impact the
supervision of incarcerated offenders in prison and out on parole status as
well.,
To keep this in perspective, it is obvious that there are more good
employees than bad ones however the director cannot and should not expect these
good employees, uniformed and non-uniformed to carry the burdens of those that
do not take their oath to the state seriously and put other staff in danger or
compromising positions by their own misconduct or inability to perform the job
hired to do. He needs to make executive administrative changes in the chain of
command and demand conformity to the rule of law. It is with much emphasis and
concern we need to address staff misconduct and ensure we make it mandatory
that all staff adhere to their oath, the laws of our state and the moral aptitude
required to wear the badge and enforce state laws within our prison systems.
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