A prison guard who cares, and no one listens!
Skip Barnett
is a Michigan Corrections Officer who cares…and no one is listening!
This story
gets its roots in a recent staff meeting that was held at the Alger
Correctional Facility in Munising, where Barnett serves as a CO. He was not at the meeting, but the word came
down at the Deputy Warden had advised staff that he wanted the facility to go
backward in time, where it would be a “fun” place to work…and he didn’t want issues
coming across his desk.
A word of
clarification here. By “fun,” he didn’t
mean that this would be an exemplary place to work. He meant that, in the olden days, it was fun
to mistreat prisoners. He was allowing it again...he just didn't want to hear anything about it. Judging by response from the staff, according to Barnett, they were digging it.
Here’s how
Officer Barnett put it, in his message to our office: …there certainly is an unsavory aspect to a
Deputy Warden in a small prison upstate, with almost exclusively white staff,
being told to come into work and “have fun” with the primarily African American
prison population, and to tell the staff to 'NOT let me know what is going on.'
We’re not
just talking about some disgruntled prison guard here who has a grudge against
his superiors. Barnett is a 15-year
veteran of the department, is a graduate of West Point, and has a law degree.
Explaining
why he is trying to blow the whistle, he said, “I worked at a prison downstate
where inmate Souders died…and the state wrote out a huge check after getting a
big, black eye. I’d like to avoid going down that same road. We have a high percentage of new hires on
second shift. They need to be trained to
follow policy and procedure, and deserve leaders with open door policies.”
In my further
discussion with him, he said, “I’m tired of it.
They ‘bully’ everyone. I’m not going to be a part of it!”
He explained
that he had raised other issues about how the shift command and inspectors are
failing to properly hold officers to an acceptable performance standard. But when he complained, he said, his
superiors laughed. “I’d like to
stop this train from going in the direction it is heading before something
happens that causes Michigan to break out their check book…”
With our exposure of this story, we’re hoping it reaches the right people, and we’re
hoping for positive results. It would be
a shame to lose a quality CO like Officer Barnett, while we keep scoundrels in
positions of authority.
He’s not
trying to be soft on crime. He’s not
even saying that he’s “pro-inmate.” What
he is saying is that there are correct policies and procedures, and the
exemplary wardens in this state are those who exude integrity, treat prisoners in a humane manner, and maintain an “open
door” policy.
Is that too
much to expect from our tax dollars? Too
much to expect re the proper treatment of human beings of all races and creeds
in our state prison system? He has
written to higher authorities. He has
written to the Michigan Attorney General.
He has contacted the media. No
response. No response!
Having fun
with the black inmates is simply unacceptable.
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