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Six Department Of Corrections Staff Arrested And Fired
September 12, 2014
Six Florida Department of Corrections employees have been arrested and fired for alleged wrongdoings at a Panhandle facility.
The DOC announced Thursday that five members of its staff, Sergeant William Finch, Sergeant James Perkins, Sergeant Robert Miller, Sergeant Christopher Christmas, and Sergeant Dalton Riley, were arrested by the Office of Inspector General for charges of felony battery on an inmate, and a sixth staff member, Captain James Kirkland, was arrested with additional charges of official misconduct.
The staff worked at Northwest Florida Reception Center in Chipley. All six have been dismissed from DOC as a result of their actions.
“These arrests and terminations send a very clear message: we have zero tolerance for criminal activity by our staff. I expect everyone to do what is right and I have restated my commitment to hold those who do not to meet our expectations accountable for their wrongdoing. Our staff should be held to the highest standards, and those who fail to do the right thing will no longer work for this agency. As I have emphasized to our staff in my meetings around the state, we will not let the bad actions of a few undermine our culture of professionalism and tarnish the reputations of all the hard working men and women in our department,” DOC Secretary Mike Crews said.
Crews Crews and Deputy Secretary Tim Cannon met today with the command staff at Northwest Florida Reception Center as part of Crews’ commitment to personally visit every Department of Corrections institution to emphasize his expectations for transparency, accountability and professionalism.
Comments
18 Responses to “Six Department Of Corrections Staff Arrested And Fired”
As a parent of an inmate in prison do not want to hear about guards abusing their authority n thinking it’s okay to take matters into their own hands and beating on the inmates just because a person is in prison does not mean that they are a bad person doesn’t mean that their life is of less value then yours so I applaud Mr. Crews for doing an excellent job n continue the hard work
REGARDING:
“And it seems “well”, who posted on Sep. 12, thinks every inmate in prison is guilty. How mistaken you are.”
Few prosecutors will charge a person they believe are innocent.
Most judges won’t allow trial of a person without reasonable grounds to prosecute.
A jury won’t convict unless the evidence supports a conviction.
Courts of appeal are constantly on the lookout for errors on the part of the lower court judges.
Some people confess to crimes they haven’t committed to avoid the punishment if convicted of the crimes with which they’re charged, but even then, the judge generally won’t accept a nolo contendre or guilty plea unless convinced by them that they are actually guilty.
One of the nice things of the Innocence Project is that it is eliminating the few who confessed while actually being innocent of that particular charge. (They’re usually suspects due to other crimes they’ve been known to have committed.) The work has led to the freeing of 316 (out of 1,570,400 in state or federal incarceration at yearend 2012 and dropping) wrongfully convicted people between 1992 and 2014. Those would not be convicted currently due to DNA excluding them, so we‘re talking old cases. They checked on many others but found the evidence supported their convictions.
This doesn’t mean we should pay people to mistreat the convicts, just that actually innocence is not the norm, rather the exception and becoming more exceptional and our entire system of justice was built around only convicting the guilty.
David for perfect justice
I know we all like to think only dreadful people are in prison, but do you know that in the state of Florida, driving without a license 3 times will land you in prison? As will destroying turtle eggs, even accidentally? As will killing a rattlesnake, even if it is in your private property and a danger to your family? All of the people there are not hardened dangerous criminals, especially when they are in leg irons and handcuffs…
So glad the rotten apples are being plucked from the barrel. And it seems “well”, who posted on Sep. 12, thinks every inmate in prison is guilty. How mistaken you are. You need to educate yourself and learn about the Innocence Project.
I’ve experienced the initial guards (who check you in) at chipley, apalachicola, century, berrydale, and Pensacola work release…IMO, .berrydale had the most pleasant … Then, excluding chipley, each of the rest I found to have had several decent (normal), professional guards that I came into contact with during my check-in.. As I recall, most, if not all, were females too….I hope that Mr. Crews also checks into the past episodes of rampant nausea, vomiting and dysentery (from the food) that shut the apalachicola prison down- no outside visitation was allowed for a period of time…sick bay was overflowing and packed with sick inmates….. I found it very concerning that the health department (covering that region) had no knowledge of the epidemic going on there… Do the prisons have their own health inspectors? If so, that’s sort of like how the VA does an audit/inspection of the VA(themselves)…. Consequently, the facts and statistics can easily be twisted and misconstrued into quite a different picture – than reality.
As a parent of a prisoner the one thing I don’t understand is why so many of the employees who check you in have to be so rude. We have not done anything wrong and a lot of parents and grandparents are scared because we have never even been in a jail or prison. It amazes me at the ratio of those who are nice and helpful and the ones who are rude and act like you have a disease or something because you are kin to a prisoner. My opinion is if you hate your job go find another one and remember because there are prisoners you have a job.
@cj,
You had to know the ex inmates would be crying with joy.
Not smart enough to know how to avoid the good ole boys in the big house.
Would like to see prisons in the U. S. closed and send them too Mexico, tax dollars saved, no questions to answer.
As to so many needing a job – they have a opening almost all the time.
I would like to see y’all do their job for the low pay, long hours, short staffed and wondering which one is likely to try to kill you.
Finally someone is doing something to the good ole boy system. Now Mr. Crews just needs to make his presence known in our area. There has been numerous things done that has been swept underneath the rug from Captains, Lt., and other higher up to save Officers.
KUDOS to Mr. Crews and all others that aren’t afraid to uphold the oath they took many years ago. I’m all for cleaning up the system including the ones working in it. Just because someone wears BLUE doesn’t make them a bad person. Everyone of us has made bad decisions in our life time, just paid differently. And just because some of you wear BROWN/WHITE doesn’t make you any better or have more power. Treat people like you would want them to treat your family!
IT IS ABOUT TIME SOMETHING IS DONE TO SOME OF THESE COWBOYS AND GOON SQUADS THAT WANT TO INFLICT UNNECESSARY PAIN TO THE INMATES. WITH THIS BEING A RECEPTION CENTER–THE FIRST STOP FOR A NEW INMATE THEY ARE NOT HAPPY WITH HOW THINGS WENT IN COURT TO GET THEM SENT THERE AND MIGHT HAVE VOICED THEIR THOUGHTS AND MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN PHYSICAL BUT WITH THE SIZE THEY ARE AND THE TRAINING THESE OFFICERS HAVE THERE IS NO REASON FOR SO MANY TO BE INVOLVED IN GETTING A SITUATION UNDER CONTROL AND ABUSING AN INMATE. IT IS NOT LIKELY THESE OFFICERS WILL BE SENT TO PRISON FOR THIS BUT THEY WILL FEEL PAIN FROM IT THROUGH A FINANCIAL STANDPOINT AND THE POSSIBLY OF NOT GETTING A JOB IN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAIN BUT THEY COULD GET A JOB AS A BOUNCER. IT IS TIME SOME OF THESE FEEL THE PAIN IN CAMPAIGN–LIKE THE COPS NOT DOING THE RIGHT THING AND FEEL THE LAWS JUST APPLY TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND NOT THEM.
The rank of the disgraced guards recently terminated indicates that perhaps it was more than officers involved. These were highly ranked guards and to see them terminated sets off a reg flag in my brain: justice.
I hope if they are guilty, that these guards will be men enough to go to general population, and not in Protective custody. I
Hope they like to shave and are ok with another man belittling, harassing, demeaning and harassing them 24/7…
If I’m not mistaken, these guards worked in confinement, a secluded part of nwfrc where many men have been tortured and killed. It is incredibly difficult to get an inspector to be on the side of the inmate,so my hat is off to the inspector who was brave enough to stand up to his friends and work for justice.. don’t drop the soap corrupt cops and guards… for they will find out why the aids and std rate is uncontrollable behind the fence…please discover as much of the facts of this case as possible.. then let us cast our public opinion… until then, may these crooked guards experience sadness and pain being away from their loved ones and family…walk a mile or two in the shoes of the convicted now!
My kid was at chipley a few yrs ago… Of course, he was new to the system- but, it was there that he learned one (of many) valuable lessons: YOU DONT SEE THINGS and YOU DONT SAY THINGS ….you see, another inmate had experienced an injustice at the hands of a guard .. My nieve son had witnessed the incident and was asked by that inmate to write a statement regarding what he had observed and heard…he did- not quite understanding that the guards do not necessasarily play by the rules….there can be very negative consequences for being “truthful”…the violating guard was ultimately reprimanded…..while several of the other “good ole boys” had told my son that they would now be making life very difficult for him (for being truthful) while he was there- and they did….they can be very evil… My hope, as I smile, is that some of those same unethical, lying, “good ole boy” guards have now gotten their just rewards. (Karma)
I guess it’s kinda funny how we all lean differently in different stories.
I believe these people are still innocent at this time, only arrested not convicted.
I’m sure there are inmates that can fabricate stories and also officers that sometimes do wrong.
Either way I wouldn’t want either ” JOB”.
seems ironic that they worked at the “reception” center doesn’t it? I wonder how their “reception” went?
I hope 6 deserving people get a job promotion and 6 more can get their jobs. With so many needing a job, how can the employed gamble with their paycheck?
>>I wonder why theres no pretty pictures of these men in orange or green jump suits ?
Under Florida law, mugshots of corrections officers, including former corrections officers, are *not* public record. We can’t get the mugshots in order to publish them.
I wonder why theres no pretty pictures of these men in orange or green jump suits ? Surely if it was a mere simple citizen an 8 x 10 wouldve been posted !
#all*aint*fair*in*the*world*of*criminals