Texas CO Murdered in Line of Duty
Daniel Nagle, CO3 and president of AFSCME Local 3890 (Council 7), was killed by an inmate while in the line of duty Dec. 17 at the McConnell prison unit in Beeville, Texas.
His body was found minutes before his shift ended. A crudely sharpened metal rod was found alongside. Investigators have a suspect in custody but have not released the person’s name.
Only two weeks earlier, during a rally at the state capitol in Austin, Officer Nagle had prophetically and chillingly declared, “Someone will have to be killed before the Texas Department of Criminal Justice does anything about the shortage of staff.”
Officer Nagle’s death underscores the need for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to overhaul a prison system that is in dire straits. Carlos Carrasco, executive director of AFSCME Council 7 (Correctional Employees Council), explains that state corrections is undermanned by more than 2,000 COs. Texas has the nation’s second-largest state prison system after California, yet ranks 46th in pay for COs with a top salary of $26,000. Texas COs earn $8,000 less than the national average, adds Carrasco.
“Many of the corrections officers in Texas have a third job,” says Carrasco. “In some families you have both husband and wife working as corrections officers, and each one also has another job besides that. Some families are looking at four jobs — two for each parent” — to make ends meet
Morale also is understandably low and several COs have resigned since Nagle’s death. Three days after that event, a female, single-parent CO went to work but was forced to wait outside with her co-workers. Prison officials wouldn’t allow them in. Says Carrasco: “She went back home and turned on the TV and found out there was a riot in the unit that she was in, but they were never told. She found out through the news media. She went back to the facility and handed in her resignation.”
Another female CO was stabbed during that riot and she, too, resigned. “She had no job to go to. I don’t know if she’s working,” says Carrasco. “What scared her more than losing her job was losing her life.”
Unfortunately, Carrasco observes, the work of COs isn’t as visible as that of police or other law enforcement personnel. Further, they aren’t recognized as a vital resource in the judicial system.
Republican Presidential candidate Gov. George W. Bush doesn’t seem alarmed about the state of corrections in Texas. “Daniel Nagle was killed Dec. 17. The governor did not send a letter to the family until Dec. 22,” Carrasco reveals. “The governor did not order that all state buildings lower their flags to half staff.
“The sentiment among some people in Texas is, ‘He can’t take care of us. How’s he going to take care of the United States?’”
Since the rally and Nagle’s death, Council 7 has sponsored a week-long, around-the-clock candlelight vigil in Austin. The “Candle Across Texas” march across Texas will take the candle to every city with a correctional facility and continue until July 5.In the meantime, the council is visiting with each commissioner’s court in Texas seeking resolutions that support COs, as well as requesting a special legislative session that addresses pay and staffing issues. The court — which operates in each of the state’s 240 counties — is made up of a judge and four commissioners. A lot of them “are shocked to know what [COs’] jobs consist of and what little pay they’re making,” reports Carrasco.
Officer Nagle leaves behind a wife and three young children. Donations for his family may be sent to: The Nagle Memorial Fund, National Bank of Gatesville, P.O. Box 779, Gatesville, Texas 76528. Checks should be made out to the “Nagle Memorial Fund.”
