The following is a response to an editorial in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin found here:
Prison fixing its problems for a change
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While Mr. Poulos, Warden of the California Institution for Men in Chino, may be worthy of praise, for the implementation of the recommendations of the Inspector General relevant to the death of Correctional Officer Manuel Gonzalez nearly two years ago, he was merely following a specific set of instructions designed to address a tragedy which had already occurred.
The true test of the competence of any manager is their capacity for independent thought and action, thereby averting future tragedies, rather than merely cleaning up the mistakes of predecessors at the instructions of others, after the fact. In this measure, Warden Poulos is sorely lacking.
Recently, there was a construction project at the Reception Center West at the California Institution for Men in which the housing units were fenced off from each other. During the construction phase, there was a riot at the Reception Center West in which the only thing saving the Correctional Officers who were on duty in the rioting housing unit, was the escape route of the office windows into the yard.
The recently completed fencing project now closes off all escape routes for the Correctional Officers who will be greatly outnumbered in the next riot.
The recommendations for an escape route for the Correctional Officers working the RCW dormitories have been ignored by the Poulos Administration.
Also, recently, there have been two, serious, assaults on staff by inmates due, in large part, to the physical layout of some of the dormitories at the MSF (minimum) yard.
In five of the dormitory housing units at MSF, the Correctional Officers's only office is an open-air podium in the middle of the dormitory. There is no proper office with walls and, under the theory that the "minimum" yard is populated by an inmate population that is appropriate for a minimum custody classification, this physical plant deficiency may seem proper. However, as recent history demonstrates, the housing of the inmate population at CIM is not always appropriate to their custody needs.
This deficiency in physical plant has yet to be corrected or even scheduled for correction, inviting the next staff assault.
While reactivity defines an acceptable, albeit mediocre, Correctional Manager, it is pro-activity which defines a great one. While Mr. Poulos is busy cleaning the wreckage from the tracks caused by the train-wreck of his predecessors, his inattention at the switch guarantees that the next wreck will be his.
I believe your kudos are a bit premature.
Prison fixing its problems for a change
==============================
While Mr. Poulos, Warden of the California Institution for Men in Chino, may be worthy of praise, for the implementation of the recommendations of the Inspector General relevant to the death of Correctional Officer Manuel Gonzalez nearly two years ago, he was merely following a specific set of instructions designed to address a tragedy which had already occurred.
The true test of the competence of any manager is their capacity for independent thought and action, thereby averting future tragedies, rather than merely cleaning up the mistakes of predecessors at the instructions of others, after the fact. In this measure, Warden Poulos is sorely lacking.
Recently, there was a construction project at the Reception Center West at the California Institution for Men in which the housing units were fenced off from each other. During the construction phase, there was a riot at the Reception Center West in which the only thing saving the Correctional Officers who were on duty in the rioting housing unit, was the escape route of the office windows into the yard.
The recently completed fencing project now closes off all escape routes for the Correctional Officers who will be greatly outnumbered in the next riot.
The recommendations for an escape route for the Correctional Officers working the RCW dormitories have been ignored by the Poulos Administration.
Also, recently, there have been two, serious, assaults on staff by inmates due, in large part, to the physical layout of some of the dormitories at the MSF (minimum) yard.
In five of the dormitory housing units at MSF, the Correctional Officers's only office is an open-air podium in the middle of the dormitory. There is no proper office with walls and, under the theory that the "minimum" yard is populated by an inmate population that is appropriate for a minimum custody classification, this physical plant deficiency may seem proper. However, as recent history demonstrates, the housing of the inmate population at CIM is not always appropriate to their custody needs.
This deficiency in physical plant has yet to be corrected or even scheduled for correction, inviting the next staff assault.
While reactivity defines an acceptable, albeit mediocre, Correctional Manager, it is pro-activity which defines a great one. While Mr. Poulos is busy cleaning the wreckage from the tracks caused by the train-wreck of his predecessors, his inattention at the switch guarantees that the next wreck will be his.
I believe your kudos are a bit premature.
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