A legislative bill introduced recently by Sen. Alan Olsen of Canby calls for a review of Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, the state’s only women’s prison.
That’s a good start considering that since October, one Coffee Creek correctional officer has been convicted for having a sexual relationship with an inmate and another has been charged. Inside a prison, inmates are considered incapable of consenting to such relationships. The power that a prison guard holds over them is too great and inmates say women often won’t report inappropriate behavior out of fear of punishment or retribution.
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But the Republican senator’s proposed study shouldn’t stop at Coffee Creek. A complaint filed recently by a former state employee indicates the agency may have a more systemic problem that runs up to its top administrative offices.
As reported by Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Noelle Crombie, a former prison superintendent has filed a tort claim alleging he was fired after complaining that two high-level corrections administrators were having romantic relationships with other corrections employees. He also claims those officials sought to use their top positions to help those employees advance.
One of the officials, the department’s second-in-command, Deputy Director Kim Brockamp, resigned last fall. The other, Assistant Operations Director Mike Gower, remains on the job. Both, as well as John Myrick, the former prison superintendent who complained, all remain under investigation.
There’s not a lot of guidance regarding intra-office romances by the department. Spokeswoman Liz Craig says corrections employees can date as long as one doesn’t directly oversee the other. “There are tons of married couples,” working for the department, she added. That’s understandable, especially considering the agency operates 14 prisons, many that are in far-flung areas across the state and staffed by employees who often work odd schedules.
But corrections leaders must re-evaluate the culture they appear to be fostering. It’s hardly healthy when co-workers break out into argument as two women at the corrections headquarters did after learning they were both romantically involved with Gower, as the tort filing claims.
Recall, these are the folks in charge of setting a professional tone at facilities designed to rehabilitate felons. State corrections leaders must pay special attention at Coffee Creek, where the women’s past life experiences – in addition to their status as inmates – leave them uniquely vulnerable.
Yet at the Wilsonville facility, the male employee who oversees the inmate work program pleaded guilty last year to soliciting a prostitute during a police sting at a Tigard motel. He remains on the job today.
Senate Bill 658 needs to go further than simply calling for a review of Coffee Creek. The state also should examine the policies that guide the corrections department on how to create a workplace that feels safe and free of sexual harassment. What’s more, any reviews need to be conducted independently, a stipulation currently lacking in the bill. You can’t have employees of the troubled department overseeing this important work.
Sen. Olsen should keep pressing for answers.
“It appears that the Department of Corrections runs like a little fiefdom,” he told The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board, describing the agency as a “gigantic Peyton Place.”
“The dirt stays under the carpet,” he said, “until someone says, ‘This has to stop.'”
Without the drama, corrections employees already face one of the more stressful and difficult work environments. Inmates, too, have their own challenges serving their time and preparing for a better life on the outside. It’s time to clean up and minimize the destructive distractions.
— The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
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