ACU Mourns Fallen COs
Last fall, a Colorado CO was murdered and another from Philadelphia apparently took his own life. Union officials indicate that their deaths could have been prevented with proper staffing levels and employee assistance programs. In addition, Stanley A. Wiley of Council 7 in Texas was recently murdered by an inmate, making him the second member since 1999 to be killed in that state's prison system (see related story for details).
Sgt. Eric Autobee, Local 935 (Council 76), was bludgeoned by an inmate brandishing a soup ladle in the kitchen of the Limon Correctional Facility. Autobee is the first CO since 1929 to have been slain in Colorado.
Larry Odegard, the council's executive director, says the prison may have been understaffed on the day Autobee was killed. According to Odegard, the 23-year-old CO had no backup in an area where a number of utensils are within an inmate's grasp: "It's hard to know if it could have been prevented or not, but I do know that if they had been fully staffed, the chances are far better that it would not have happened."
Indeed, the prison's own official first-quarter report for 2002 states: "Staff shortages in food service and security continue to be a problem. With the hiring freeze, overtime and staff being asked to cover other shifts due to shortages, morale is lower than normal."
Out of a total staff of 8,500, the Department of Corrections had 450 vacancies when Autobee was murdered. Odegard says that prison officials won't release the staffing levels at Limon on that tragic day. But Autobee's father, Bob, a member of the Pueblo City Employees Association (an AFSCME affiliate) has filed suit to get those numbers.
Gov. Bill Owens (R) has asked lawmakers for a 4-percent budget increase for the corrections department — despite the fact that other agencies are receiving cuts or marginal increases. "It goes a lot further than what he had originally talked about [before Autobee's death]," Odegard notes. "The governor was trying to get by without any kind of an increase." The budget proposal does not address staff shortages.
Bob Autobee recalls the last time he saw his son — the night before he died, when Eric stopped by his parents' home. The elder Autobee told The Denver Post: "I kissed him on the head and said, 'I love you. Drive careful.'"
In Philadelphia, COPaul Potts was found dead in his car in a mall parking lot. Police state he was shot in the head and holding a gun, and they ruled it a suicide. Potts, of Local 159 (Council 33), worked at Curran-Fromhold prison, a maximum security facility in Philadelphia. He is the third officer from that unit in the past three years to commit suicide and the fifth since 1992.
The common thread running through those deaths is stress. But Donnie Moore, Local 159 president, says city officials have taken a "business as usual" attitude toward the tragedies.
Moore has worked at the prison for three years, and has been trying to get certified psychiatrists on staff to help COs. He points out that Council 47 — which represents social workers in Curran-Fromhold — has its own psychiatrists, as do state COs.
The city, he explains, is trying to curb costs, and wants Council 47 to share resources. Both unions disagree with that proposal because the psychiatrists won't be able to handle the caseload. Meanwhile, management has designated a prison official — without psychiatric or medical training — to handle COs dealing with stress.
