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Saturday, July 19, 1997

Inmate assaults on guards rising

By ANNA M. TINSLEY / Harte-Hanks Austin Bureau

AUSTIN - Texas inmates are assaulting prison guards at an alarming rate, using increasingly violent methods from homemade knives to throwing hot coffee.

The number of attacks has nearly tripled since 1994, spurred by prison gangs, declining parole rates and long-term convicts who feel they have nothing to lose by assaulting guards.

In 1994, 311 prison guards and employees were assaulted by inmates compared with 918 last year, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records.

During the first six months of this calendar year, there were 338 inmate assaults against prison employees and guards, records show.

Prison officials say there are more inmates than in past years, which could account for some of the assaults. And they say more assaults are being logged because of improved reporting procedures.

"That's not to lessen the seriousness of the situation. We take officer assaults very seriously," said Gary Johnson, director of TDCJ's institutional division. "One assault is too many. ... There's a price to pay for assaulting an officer."

Every day, about 30,000 guards watch over an estimated 136,000 inmates. Assaults run the gamut from spitting on a guard, hitting or kicking a guard - even throwing hot coffee, urine, paper or feces at officers.

"The people you find in here you won't find in Sunday School," said Larry Fitzgerald, a TDCJ spokesman.

Especially not at the Connally Unit in Kenedy, about 90 miles north of Corpus Christi.

A Harte-Hanks Austin Bureau analysis of TDCJ records shows that the Connally Unit reported the most inmate assaults against prison officials - 340 - from 1995 through June 1997.

Abilene's French Robertson Unit ranked 11th with 65 assaults. The John Middleton Transfer Facility in Abilene was 31st with 11 assaults in the same time period.

Other area prisons ranked near the middle of the state's 105 prisons and state jails. The Price Daniel Unit in Snyder and the Thomas Havins Unit in Brownwood each ranked 38th with four assaults; the Daniel Webster Wallace Unit in Colorado City had one assault; and the Walker Sayle State Jail in Breckenridge had one assault.

The statistics include attacks against prison employees, such as those who work in the infirmary, but TDCJ officials say most attacks were against prison guards. The assaults include those with and without weapons.

Criminologists and law officials say inmates are serving more time in prison now, which could contribute to the rise in assaults.

In 1992, Texas inmates typically served 17 percent of their sentence. In 1996, they served about 36 percent of their sentence, TDCJ records show.

Increased prison time is due to a 1993 law that requires violent offenders to serve half their sentence before they are eligible for parole, said Rob Kepple, general counsel for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association.

Previously, inmates had to serve one-fourth of their sentence before being eligible for parole, Kepple said.

The most trouble-making inmates are usually the younger ones who arrive in prison with no chance of getting out in less than 20 years because they were convicted of a violent crime, prison officials say.

"It's those inmates we are having the most difficulty with because they are facing 20 to 30 years flat time and feel they have nothing to lose," said Larry Todd, a TDCJ spokesman.

A Texas criminologist said a number of inmates also are more violent because of gangs.

As police officers crack down on certain types of crimes - including weapons possessions, organized drug dealing - street gang members end up in jail, said Ken Adams, an associate professor in Sam Houston State University's College of Criminal Justice.

"They get along OK with fellow gang members but not with members of different gangs," Adams said. "There starts to be a lot of friction in prison as gangs start to stake out their turf."

And the longer the inmates are there - especially those for violent crimes - the more friction there will be, Adams said.

"Sentencing practices that send certain inmates to prison can have a dramatic impact on the rates of assaults," he said.

Overall, the inmate population is now a lot tougher than it was 10 years ago, TDCJ's Johnson said.

"There are younger, more violent offenders coming to prison and they don't have a lot of respect for anybody," Johnson said.

And that's something correctional officers worry about, officials say.

Texas has a high number of guard assaults because the state's prison population is large - second only to California, said Jim Turpin, a spokesman with the American Correctional Association.

But the problem, he said, is nationwide.

"This has been a problem for as long as there have been prisons and it's a major concern for us," Turpin said. "This is something you have to be aware of - it's part of the job. You always have to be aware of what's going on around you and what might happen." Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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