Senate panel hears about Department of Corrections corruption

During the past year, the Florida Department of Corrections has come under fire for inmate deaths, allegations of abuse by prison guards, coverups, understaffing, and officer shift issues. Tuesday in Tallahassee, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee heard firsthand from some DOC officials who say they have come under retaliation for reporting such incidents.

First up for the hour-long hearing was Doug Glissom, who works in the inspector general’s office.

He talked about inmate Quentin Faust, who complained of seizures and sought medical treatment before dying at Jackson Correctional Institution in 2012. Glissom said the IG’s office found “multiple violations” in Faust’s treatment after his death was listed as suspicious. Glissom said that after he opened a criminal case on the matter, he was told to close it based on a conversation with the office of Attorney General.

A second case involved a physician with a revoked medical license who was hired by another doctor inside the Department of Corrections in 2010. Grissom said the case died out, even though the doctor inside the department admitted that he had hired the physician with the revoked license, which is against state law.

A third case involved allegations of problems at a training center academy that involved a high-ranking official inside Corrections. Glissom said that once they had identified that official as a suspect, they were called to the office of the inspector general and told that he had a “Capitol connection.”

“There was a clear message there,” Glissom said, creating what he called a chilling effect on the investigation. He said he was later told from “upper management” that anything  he needed for the investigation would have to go through the same person identified as a subject. Several days later, he was told again by upper management that the person had gone to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and received “a slap on the wrist.”

Gulf County Sheriff Mike Harrison previously worked inside the inspector general’s office at Corrections from 2010-2012. He discussed an investigation where charges were being made against a warden and an assistant warden at a correctional institution. “We uncovered some evidence that would have indicated again, we could have charged criminally on it,” he said. But he said he was instructed by “upper-level management in the IG’s office” not to pursue those charges with the State Attorney’s Office.

“I come from a law enforcement background, not so much administrative investigation background,” Harrison said. “I was used to (the concept that) if someone broke the law, you took the charges to the State Attorney’s Office and you proceed forward. That didn’t appear to be the case in the inspector general’s office. It was quite frustrating for me.”

The next speaker said the incidents inside Florida prisons compared to Abu Ghraib, the infamous Baghdad prison where Iraqi prisoners were subjected to torture and abuse by members of the U.S. military in 2004.

“We’ve heard that these are isolated incidents,” said Aubrey Land, a member of the DOC’s inspector general’s office since 2006. ” I believe this committee, you have brought this to light, and it’s not going to go away.”

Land emphasized that “in the shadows” were honorable men and women who work in the department: “They do a job that few would want for a salary that very few would tolerate.”

He said, though, that too often DOC staffers had done the wrong thing, bringing shame to everyone. Calling the Department of Corrections an agency “in crisis,” Land said the agency is broken but can be repaired.

“We need leadership. We need a true direction. Our ship has been adrift way too long,” he said. “We need to set a course and maintain that course.”

Prison staffers spoke out as well.

Sgt. Andrea Shaw said she had her shifts on weekends changed with no explanation. She also discussed the danger when at times just a couple of prison employees would be responsible for supervising more than 140 prisoners.

A bill that has been proposed in the Criminal Justice Committee would increase training standards for corrections workers, create anonymous ways for prisoners and staff to report abuses, require additional inspections of facilities, and establish new criminal penalties for those charged with abuse. Fleming Island Republican Sen. Rob Bradley has proposed an amendment that would create an oversight board to create performance standards for all of the state’s 142 correctional facilities, as well as conduct annual reviews to ensure prisons and work camps meet goals.

Glissom, Land and another official who spoke Tuesday, John Ulm, were denied whistleblower protections a year ago after they spoke out. Current DOC head Julie Jones, though, told Chairman Greg Evers that the men would not be retaliated against for their testimony Tuesday.