DES MOINES – Several guards were injured after an attack at an Iowa women’s prison, leading to accusations from an Iowa union leader.
AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan issued the following statement regarding the security situation at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville:
“On Tuesday, an inmate attacked a member of the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women (ICIW) staff in the dining hall. A fight then broke out in the dining hall that involved multiple inmates and staff. The fight resulted in four staff members sustaining injuries. At least two of those four injured staff were taken outside the facility for medical treatment. One of those staff members received serious injuries to their face.
“From February 2015 to today there have been sixteen inmate assaults on ICIW staff. Six of those assaults resulted in serious injury to ICIW staff. Some of these injured staff were unable to continue working in corrections while others have been unable to return to full duty.
“Warden Patti Wachtendorf has consistently refused to give staff the tools they need to do their job in the safest manner possible. Unlike staff at almost every other state prison, Iowa Correctional Institution for Women staff are not issued pepper spray to carry on their person while working. Staff are expected to always use brute force when an inmate becomes violent. This is less safe for everyone – both staff and inmates.
“Warden Wachtendorf’s poor leadership is compounded by the lack of staff. The number of inmates at ICIW has been increasing while the number of staff has been decreasing. This has created a situation that compromises the safety of inmates and staff.
“Warden Wachtendorf needs to start taking safety seriously.”
Unions are what made this country great in the first place. study your history
Unions served a purpose in the past, that is true. But like a lot of things it is not true anymore. Crooks have taken over the unions and they no longer represent the majority of the people. Public unions should be done away with as they destroy the economy.
If the folk actually knew how corrupt the union, state management, and the waste that goes on is. The Des Moines puts the lid on stories that would destroy them..
@Larry-Have you not ever heard of a work slowdown? That is what the unions do to try to force their employers to give them what they want.
He should be criticizing the guards for not doing their jobs correctly. If they were there would have not been a fight. They must be lazy and overpaid.
LVS-How can they do their job correctly if they are not given the proper tools to do their jobs? And how does that make them Lazy?
Wow, that’s so unusual for there to be any types of violence inside of a correctional facility. Even odder is the fact that Danny Homan finds something to complain about. “Unlike staff at almost every other state prison….” Please name the other, almost every other prisons, Danny.