Watch security camera video of the April 21, 2013, incident at MyDaytonDailyNews.com
Staff force against inmates
Lebanon Correctional Institution
Year No. incidents
2008 335
2009 594
2010 821
2011 1019
2012 512
2013 484
Source: Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Security camera surveillance footage at Lebanon Correctional Institution shows that a corrections officer slammed inmate Louis Rivera into a steel door, grabbed him by the throat, tripped him to the ground and handcuffed him. As the guard pulled Rivera to his feet by his cuffed arms, the inmate’s head hit the wall.
The video offers a rare glimpse of violent encounters in Ohio’s prisons, particularly at high-security facilities such as Lebanon Correctional.
“The warden did find the use of force to be inappropriate and the employee was disciplined,” said Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith.
An internal review committee determined that Corrections Officer Steven Cole used poor judgment and excessive, inappropriate force. DRC gave Cole, who was hired in June 2009, a two-day working suspension, which only results in a pay loss if the employee files a grievance over it and loses the case at arbitration.
The Ohio Highway Patrol was not asked to investigate the incident, which happened April 21, 2013, in the J-block housing unit at the prison. “They would only contact the patrol if they believed something criminal had happened,” Smith said.
ACLU of Ohio Public Policy Director Mike Brickner said the patrol, which investigates crimes on state properties including prisons, should be called whenever an inmate is injured or there is an excessive use of force to avoid concerns of a cover-up.
“The best thing when you have a situation like this is to have a full investigation, have an independent third party come in,” said Brickner.
Rivera was checked out in the prison infirmary where nurses reported he suffered no obvious injuries, according to DRC investigative documents. Later, Rivera complained of a bruised neck, bruised pectoral muscle and strained shoulder, the documents show.
Cole said in his report that Rivera was verbally abusive, bumped into his shoulder and clenched his left fist. “At this time I felt myself to be in danger. I then attempted a balance displacement technique by striking him in the upper chest with an open hand placing him on the wall. At this time, (inmate) Rivera grabbed me around the head, being physically combative…” Cole reported.
The video footage doesn’t show Rivera clenching his left fist or grabbing the officer’s head. It shows Cole swiftly grabbing Rivera by the neck and the inmate’s left hand holding Cole in the armpit. In the video, Rivera seems compliant during the take down and handcuffing. There is no audio in the surveillance footage.
Cole’s first report did not mention Rivera’s head hitting the wall while he was handcuffed. He later told the investigating committee that when he tried to help Rivera to his feet, the inmate was “dead weight” and unable to bring his feet underneath him. Cole reported that he needed to take a step back to avoid getting knocked over. “Once I took that step back, Rivera’s momentum took him towards the wall and his head struck it.”
A review of the video footage, though, shows Rivera was attempting to get to his knees and it appears Cole swung Rivera’s head into the wall.
Ed Voorhies, DRC’s managing director of operations and an expert on use of force training, said pulling Rivera up by his wrists while he was cuffed is not how corrections officers are trained. Voorhies, who reviewed the video and documentation, called it “unsettling.”
“This incident is not representative of how our department uses force,” he said.
Voorhies said Cole should have called for backup during at least three points: When he noticed Rivera taking something out of the garbage – a common place inmates hide contraband; when he became suspicious that Rivera was under the influence of drugs or alcohol; and when the inmate became verbally abusive.
“He continued to engage the offender,” Voohries said.
After he was taken out of J-block by Cole, a prison lieutenant sprayed Rivera’s face with pepper spray after he refused orders to calm down. That use of force was deemed appropriate by prison officials.
Lebanon Correctional has had a higher rate of use of force incidents than at comparable prisons and more than double the overall DRC rate, according to a 2013 report by the Correctional Institutions Inspection Committee, a watchdog group that monitors Ohio prisons.
Nonetheless, use of force has been declining since it peaked in 2011 at Lebanon Correctional and system-wide. DRC data show staff used force against Lebanon inmates 335 times in 2008, 594 in 2009, 821 in 2010, 1,019 in 2011, 512 in 2012 and 484 in 2013. That follows a similar climb, peak and fall across the prison system where force has been used 27,843 times against inmates since 2008.
Inmate on staff assaults across the prison system have averaged 1,053 per year while inmate on inmate assaults have averaged 1,310 per year since 2008, according to DRC data.
Voorhies said inappropriate use of force is costly because it creates resentment toward prison staff and can lead to injuries, workers’ compensation claims and inmate lawsuits.
Rivera, 37, is now imprisoned at the Warren Correctional Institution.
Prison system officials refused to allow Rivera to be interviewed for this story.
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