Pinstripe Anarchy

The Motto of the "Pinstripe Wall"
"I'm not talking,
Well that's all I got to say."
"The Yardbirds" from the '60s

On Thursday, February 23, 2006, the following members of the California Department Of Rehabilitation And Corrections' (CalDORC's) "Code Of Silence" club known as the "Pinstripe Wall" refused to cooperate with an Assembly fact finding committee, co-chaired by Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez, D-Norwalk, by boycotting requests to appear and provide information regarding the "Sex Offender Shuffle" in which high-risk sex offenders on parole are being shuffled from motel to motel every four days.:

CLICK HERE for the story.

*Roderick Hickman, secretary for the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
*J.P. Tremblay, assistant secretary for the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
*Jeanne Woodford, undersecretary for the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
*James L'Etoile, director for the Division of Adult Parole Operations

In a showdown with CalDORC, the Assembly committee, in a 5-0 vote, will require their testimony, under oath, through the issuance of subpoenas.

Hopefully this will bring the "nose-thumbing" of a contemptuous and out-of-control CalDORC to an end, at least for this hearing.

The "trickle-down" theory of ethics in CalDORC or leadership by example.

Observably, the contempt for the public's elected representatives and, by extension, the public at large, is not confined to the corporate limits of the municipality of Sacramento, in fact, it is pervasive throughout California state government as feudal state bureaucrats run their serfdoms quite independently of laws and operating policies which have been established by the State Legislature.

What arrogance!

Quite literally these bureaucrats, at all levels, are telling the public that their representatives can pass laws and operating policies to regulate their activities, but they have no intention of complying with them. Schwarzenneger's agencies have turned the law in California into nothing more than a Dog-And-Pony show, leaving the taxpayer with "Taxation Without Representation" at the hands of the "Pinstripe Anarchists".

Are you OK with that?

Maybe some tea would help?

Lorraine Bradley

These are a few of my scariest things.

Speedy Probe vowed
Ramos: DA's office won't drag feet in shooting investigation
By Rod Leveque, Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO - District Attorney Michael Ramos vowed Friday to make a prompt decision on whether he will file criminal charges against a sheriff's deputy caught on videotape shooting an unarmed man.

Two of the scariest correlations to be drawn in San Bernardino County are:

1. The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office and investigations
CLICK HERE

and

2. The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office and prosecutions
CLICK HERE
and
CLICK HERE

In the past, the The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office has based their investigations on the political realities of the times and, if there were any investigation at all, commenced their investigations with fundamental political assumptions which lead to predictable results.

Depending on which side of the issue an individual or group was positioned, this could be either a good or bad thing as it would expedite their agenda. However, lacking a credible investigation, there would be no justice for the folks on the wrong side of the District Attorney's politics. This is a sad-but-true reality of the politics of justice in San Bernardino County.

For the sake of argument, if the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office were capable of a credible investigation, then there is the other side of this equation which they must overcome, the prosecution.

Prosecutions by the District Attorney's office seem to resemble episodes of Abbott and Costello rather than Law and Order and, like it or not Mr. Ramos, if the shoe fits you must wear it.

Fortunately, for Elio Carrion and his family, if the DA's office, once again, drops the ball in this case as in past cases, there is recourse in the civil courts, just like O.J..

Lorraine Bradley

The torpedo's role in CalDORC

tor·pe·do*
n. pl. tor·pe·does

1. A cigar-shaped, self-propelled underwater projectile launched from a submarine, aircraft, or ship and designed to detonate on contact with or in the vicinity of a target.
2. Any of various submarine explosive devices, especially a submarine mine.
3. A small explosive placed on a railroad track that is fired by the weight of the train to sound a warning of an approaching hazard.
4. An explosive fired in an oil or gas well to begin or increase the flow.
5. A small firework consisting of gravel wrapped in tissue paper with a percussion cap that explodes when thrown against a hard surface.
6. See electric ray.
7. Slang. A professional assassin or thug.

I have just read an interesting article in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, located HERE, in which the "Blue Wall" is discussed. This is the, alleged, "Code Of Silence" which exists in the law enforcement community and portions of this article are tremendously insightful when applied, with modifications, to the California Department Of Rehabilitation And Corrections (CalDORC).

When used within CalDORC, the terms "Green Wall" and "Code Of Silence", conjures up images of Correctional Peace Officer line staff (who wear the "Green" referred to in "Green Wall") covering up wrongdoing perpetrated by themselves and their partners. However, if the terms "Green Wall", "Code Of Silence" and "Corruption" are to be synonymous with departmental decadence, I would recommend the term "Pinstripe Wall" (the suit and tie crowd) be added to the growing list of clichés.

In the Daily Bulletin article, Bruce Burg, criminal justice professor from Cal State Long Beach, stated that the blue wall is perpetuated because those who participate in it are promoted, and those who don't follow the code are ostracized and harassed. Nowhere is this more true than within CalDORC.

The operative question is, "Promoted by whom and why?"

The torpedo's role in enforcing the Code Of Silence or "Who are you gonna believe, me or your lyin' eyes?"

From crooked Departmental investigators to employees committing serial misconduct, the Pinstripe Wall insures that those who have acted in their behalf will be rewarded through promotion rather than disciplined for their violation of State laws, rules and regulations. As long as the misconduct is directed toward the ethical employees who insists on the rule of law and not the rule of men, these "torpedoes" will be protected and rewarded through promotion as they continue their rise to increasingly influential positions of power within CalDORC. Having, long since, cast aside their uniform and their belief in ethics, they will insure that corruption will continue within the departmental ranks.

Today's torpedo will become tomorrow's charter member of the Pinstripe Wall, launching other torpedoes toward ethical targets within CalDORC.

Mike, are you listening?

Lorraine Bradley

*The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Rejecting employment with CalDORC!

For those job seekers who have sent me e-mail, in which you express that the information contained within this blog constituted a pivotal factor not to seek employment with CalDORC, I salute you.

To quote the slogan of a national financial institution, "There is more to life than money" and, while the California prison guards union has accomplished all within their legal power to negotiate favorable wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment for their membership, they have no authority in the selection process of the correctional managers and administrators who continually fail to execute the duties of their office.

While you would benefit from the prodigious successes of CCPOA, you would be working for individuals who, depending on who you ask, have developed a management style that exists somewhere between The Three Stooges and John Dillinger.

In a continuing validation of your decision, I offer you the following, as reported:

On 1-30-06 During the swing shift (Third Watch) a Female Sergeant was doing post checks at a dormitory facility within the CIM complex known as the Reception Center West (RCW).

As she arrived at Mariposa Hall (dorm setting) She began to receive "Cat Calls" from a group of white inmates and, as a result, the Sergeant ordered yard staff to assist with searching the dorm and doing strip searches of the inmates.

Additional staff arrived and began searching the bunks and checking all inmates housed in the unit for contraband. Some weapons were recovered from a couple of Hispanic Inmates who were transferred out of the unit.

At approximately 2045 hours an alarm sounded from Mariposa Hall, the White and Hispanic Inmates began fighting amongst themselves.

A code 3 response (assistance from other facilities within the CIM complex) was called for and within a short time order was restored to the unit.

Approximately 70 white and 80 Hispanics inmates were involved.

Apparently, the hispanics believed that the problem was caused by the white inmate's "cat calling" of the female Sergeant, thereby bringing unwanted attention to the unit. Hostile words were exchanged between the whites and the Hispanics prior to the alarm sounding.

West yard staff responded well and got the situation under control, no staff injuries were reported as of this writing. Several inmates received minor wounds.

It is further reported that three Correctional Officers, working within Mariposa Hall, utilized an outside window in the staff office as an escape route by exiting this window when the fighting began, thereby preventing injury and, possibly, death.

There is, currently, a construction project underway at the Reception Center West (RCW) to fence off the individual housing units, a project which, reportedly, will close off the escape routes for correctional staff facing these types of emergency situations. Informed sources state that there is a grievance addressing this issue on file, however, amazingly, it is being resisted at the Institutional level and is now under review in Sacramento.

These sources further state that, in the aftermath of the riot, in which "CN" gas was deployed, Correctional Officers, untrained in CN gas decontamination, were attempting to clean up the gas remnants while wearing paper smocks, hair-nets and gas masks. With this outfit, they would have been more at home serving limburger cheese in the chow hall than cleaning up a hazardous and toxic chemical.

Fortunately for those of you who have rejected the idea of employment with CalDORC, you will never get the dubious honor of receiving inane instructions from Larry, Moe and Curly-Joe.

More to come.

Lorraine Bradley
http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com