In January 1996, an inmate utilizing several combination locks in a mesh laundry bag assaulted a correctional officer at my institution. After a violent struggle with several other staff, the inmate was subdued and ultimately transferred to another institution. The victim of the assault medically retired because of the significance of the head injuries she'd received.

The follow-up investigation revealed that the inmate had a long history of schizophrenia and hadn't received his medication in the three weeks that he'd been housed at the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC). No one in health care services had been monitoring the inmate's medication regimen. The confrontation between the officer and the inmate was triggered by the inmate's distress over his mother's failing to arrive for an expected visit, a woman who'd passed away some 5 years previously.

When I approached management about my concerns related to staffing, lack of training, and a lack of written policies and procedures, the response I've received was, "You've always had them here. Treat them like you've always treated them." Since that date, the number of inmates in CRC's Mental Health Delivery System has climbed from less than 300 to more than 800. While we've received an increase in psychiatrists and psychologists, we've never received the additional staff necessary to supervise and distribute medication within the allotted time frames, and the training received by C/O's is still lacking at best.

…Many of the issues that plague the inmate population directly affect the working conditions and safety of the correctional officers of this country. I would hope that…the stereotype of the violent, knuckle dragging "prison guard" can be put to rest once and for all. For too long it's been used to simplify systemic problems that the vast majority of the public has no interest in: prisons.

Excerpted from a written statement submitted to the Commission