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Officials Confirm Holman Prison Correctional Officers Skip Work
September 27, 2016
The Alabama Department of Corrections has confirmed reports that numerous correctional officers at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore did not report to work on Saturday.
“Some correctional officers assigned to William C. Holman Correctional Facility did not report for the third shift on Saturday,” Bob Horton, ADOC spokesman, said. “As a result, officers from other correctional facilities augmented Holman’s security staff. Prison officials have not reported further incidents.”
“Most officers assigned to the facility’s third shift reported to work the following day. At no time did the officers state that they were participating in a strike, nor did they express any demands or grievances,” an ADOC news release Tuesday afternoon stated. “The Department of Corrections confirms unofficial reports of an officer strike at the prison came from inmate advocate groups and not from department officials.”
“Last night at Holman prison an emergency situation developed as ALL of the officers assigned to the second shift waged a historic work strike for the first time in the history of the Alabama Department of Corrections,” prisoner advocacy group The Free Alabama Movement wrote in a statement.
“Assistant Commissioner Grantt Culliver was dispatched to the prison, where he then had to order supervisors from another prison, Atmore CF, to report to Holman prison just to be able to serve meals,” FAM added in a press statement.
“The officers at Holman, who have been defying ADOC policy and speaking publicly to the media, had communicated their plans to FAM members, and expressed their support for nonviolent and peaceful demonstrations against the human rights conditions existent at Holman,” FAM declared.
The strike came the same day as the funeral for Holman corrections officer Kenneth Bettis, 44, of Monroeville who died after being assaulted and stabbed by an inmate at the Atmore facility. The stabbing came in retaliation for being denied an extra tray of food in the facility’s dining hall during the noon meal.
Holman has been the center of several prison disturbances and inmate strikes this year.
NorthEscambia.com photos.
Comments
20 Responses to “Officials Confirm Holman Prison Correctional Officers Skip Work”
We need better leadership. Holman is understaffed due to officers quitting. Not suppose to speak publicly about this an oath was taken but I will say a fellow officer lost his life due to the lack of staff & lack of concern for our safety. When your in a mess hall with over three hundred inmates alone that is dangerous & an officer lost his life b/c of it over something as petty as not giving an inmate extra French fries…Yes we know what environment we’re going into & a lot of us are willing to do so under better conditions. We expect our superiors to care about our safety not putting one officer in a dorm with over one hundred inmates. Walk a day in our shoes & you’ll realize drastic measures has to be taken to ensure that we are heard. Grievances hasn’t worked in the past they’re being overlooked by ADOC. If we keep accepting this type of treatment out of fear of being fired then we’re going to continue to be killed & treated as if our lives does not matter.
The warden has no management skills. He should be terminated. The BP oil money should be used to build a new prison. Until bentley is removed from office, nothing will be improved.
Time for changes, it’s fine time you, your family & the incarcerated one should change, why should that person have AC, better food, etc., it’s my belief that person got its self there not you or others, that person should have known better, you chose to give that dog AC when you brought it home, that dog doesn’t pay for that, now beings you think your family member should have it, are you willing to pay for it? I think not! But you think others should pay for it well, they got themselves into it let them deal with it & quit trying to enable. I could say more but this subject disgusts me.
Just like with the nursing profession, staffing issues have become dangerous for staff, patients and inmates and it ends up driving out the experienced staff, reducing safety for all. No matter how much employees complain about safety, or morale, it is totally ignored until there are “sickouts” and strikes or somebody dies etc. which gets people’s attention. Somebody has to do this job and if you had to go to work in those conditions every day, you might change your tune. Saying “if you don’t like it, do something else” solves nothing…the problems just continue and get worse for everyone.
Alabama prison system period needs to have a major overhaul. I have a family member incarcerated and it is horrible. I’m not saying they need to live a life of luxury but hey maybe A/C would be nice, my own dog has A/C. Alabama needs a change from the top down. Inmates are there for a reason and I understand that, but not all inmates are killers,rapist, etc.. Some of these prisons are not safe for anyone, including corrections officers, these facilities are a danger for all. Then you have the CO’s that are so fed up not receiving help that they take it out on the inmates which in turn trigger other events…the food itself is horrible “not to be consumed by humans” comes to mind and marked on boxes behind the facilities. CO’s need to be searched upon arriving, when one facility has a known drug problem and the warden says they know it is a problem but can’t do anything..come on now, you can do something, have a K9 units upon entering the prison checking both inmates (work release) and CO’s reporting to work. i bet that would handle some of the drug problem. Inmates also do not receive proper medical care..i know of women who have their baby in prison and never received their proper post pardon check up, or when injured while working there within the prison they do not receive proper care, instead the so call “nurse” just pushes pills down their throat…come on we can do better. No wonder these CO’s are getting fed up, I promise if you could just visit one facility located in Alabama your eyes would be opened too!
So a day without pay ?
LWOP… Unapproved leave
Not going to work endangered your co-workers and the citizens of your state. There are better ways to heard. Lobby your senators and congressmen, write letters to your governor, get the media involved. But to abandon your brothers and sisters in a time of need is unforgivable. Professionals should never act this way.
the problem here is twofold. You have a group of correctional officers who weren’t FORCED in to taking up that line of work, but now are upset? Find another line of work and see if you’re happier. You also have an entire prison full of thugs and degenerates who even though they are in prison, continue to show they are not to be held accountable for their actions. All you do when they extend their days is to keep them off the streets. The behavior isn’t changed, the attitudes aren’t altered, they just get more days and become more dangerous to the officers charged with monitoring the building(because security is an illusion there) Change is needed but as long as we have agencies like the ACLU and bleeding-heart lawyers and judges, nothing will get better.
The state of Alabama should hire someone to oversee the management, of the day to day operations of the prison.
They need to take buses to Montgomery, round up the 140 members of Alabama state legislature and Bob “Hands On” Bentley take them to Holman and let them guard the prisoners.
This needs to be done in both FL an AL prisons until the administration’s take the officers safety serious. Let the wardens, majors and other administration go down on the pounds and work and get a dose of reality. They will soon sing a different tune.
Everyone needs to band together and make their voices heard. The governor doing nothing and this prison is out of control. I am begging my husband to leave this job and he is strongly considering it. If everyone goes on strike they will take notice.
The unions are in bed with the politicians. There were will never be any raises are enough staff to use are leave. Unless we (correctinal staff) start fighting for it.
These prisons are understaffed and those men and women are underpaid a man was stabbed over not getting extra food and killed something has to be done about the way the system is being run and we definitely need more man and woman power in the prisons to help take care of these prisoners there is a man dead and a family that has lost over absolutely nothing a tray of them food may God bless your family and help them through this time and help them heal. Amen
That is not the way to be heard. They should fire the ones that were part of that. Glad you’re not my co worker. If you’re unhappy, look for another job and turn in your notice. Leaving your coworkers out to dry is bad. What a shame! I remember when Reagan fired all the Air Traffic Controllers….you put lives at risk….think of others! Do the right thing the right way.
These prisons are understaffed and those men and women are underpaid a man was stabbed over not getting extra food and killed something has to be done about the way the system is being run and we definitely need more man and woman power in the prisons to help take care of these prisoners there is a man dead and a family that has lost over absolutely nothing a tray of them food may God bless your family and help them through this time and help them heal and Men
Perhaps someone needs to find a job in another field , isn’t that right Matt
Stop being part of the problem..and by the way- you will be unemployed
@Matt- please do not enlist in our armed forces of the United States with that mentality
Our armed forces took an oath- just like you but the difference is- they mean it until death
Grow up
Fire the while dang lot of them, every single one. Not showing up for work like that put the safety of the inmates and the safety of the other corrections officers at risk. Anyone who would willingly do this once would do it again and that’s not acceptable.
This is what I’m talking about we have been told for years as correction officers we don’t have the right to protest but I say we do we have the right protest they have always threatened we would be fired well ok you can’t get people to work now so fire the protesters and see where you at it is time for change the administration knows our safety is at risk like never before and they are doing nothing about it