Campbell calls for immediate resignation of Arizona DOC Director
Charles Ryan
STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX
– House Minority Leader Chad
Campbell, D-Phoenix (District 24), is calling for the immediate resignation of
Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan.
“Director Ryan has exhibited a
pattern of mismanagement and a lack of leadership resulting in an unsafe
corrections system in our state,” Campbell
said. “Under his direction, our corrections system has wasted tax dollars,
jeopardized people’s lives and damaged the state’s credibility.”
Campbell’s action follows the recent death of an inmate in a Buckeye
prison. Suicide and homicide rates
occurring within Arizona
prisons have earned the facilities negative attention in the past.
“We’ve seen reports
that Arizona’s prison suicide rate was 60 percent higher than
the national average between the years of 2010 and 2012,” Campbell said. “In addition to this, the
attempt to cover
up what happened to an inmate allowed to bleed to death in front of prison
guards is a gruesome consequence of Ryan’s negligence.”
Campbell said he believes Ryan has failed to properly supervise private prison contracts. He
points to the inmate escape from Kingman as an example.
“In 2010, three inmates
convicted of violent crimes including murder and armed robbery, escaped a
privately operated state prison in Kingman,” Campbell said. “Following this incident, Ryan
admitted that the DOC didn’t properly monitor this facility. This is a
community safety issue.”
Campbell said private prisons cost more than state-run
prisons and that the DOC has failed to hold the private prison companies
accountable for the terms of their contracts with the state. He also said the state
awards contracts in a manner that is not transparent and seems indicative of
cronyism. An example of this occurred earlier this year, when the
DOC terminated a contract with Wexford Health Sources, a private company
that provided healthcare for inmates statewide.
“The Department of
Corrections contracted with a company that has a controversial
record of service. In fact, one of Wexford’s employees exposed more than
100 people to hepatitis C in a prison in Buckeye,” Campbell said. “The DOC terminates that
contract and replaces Wexford with Corizon, another company surrounded
by controversy that also happens to have ties to people who are close to
the governor. This situation reeks of patronage.”
Campbell thinks using tax dollars on mismanaged facilities
is unacceptable.
“We are wasting taxpayer
money on mismanaged facilities,” Campbell
said. “That is especially true with the for-profit, private prisons. They are
not saving the state money.”
Last year, Republicans repealed
a state law in the budget requiring a comparison of state and private prisons
every two years to ensure that private prisons were providing the same quality
of services as state prisons at a lower cost. Department of Corrections Per
Capita Cost Reports compiled over five years consistently show that the state
is losing money on private prisons, and security audits show serious safety
flaws in all of Arizona’s for-profit prisons, including malfunctioning cameras
and alarm systems.
“For years, Ryan has showed that he is
incapable of properly handling his position. Arizonans deserve better. He
should resign immediately,” Campbell
said.
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Reasons to call for Director
Ryan’s resignation
1.
Security failures. A
recent audit by the State Auditor General found disturbing security
violations at state prisons, including broken perimeter alarm systems that
staff ignored and a failure to keep an inventory of keys.
2.
Personnel problems. News reports
have indicated that there is low
morale at state prisons and that employee turnover is very high. The Arizona
Correctional Peace Officers Association submitted a letter of “no
confidence” regarding Director Charles Ryan.
3.
Criminal behavior. The Arizona Department of Corrections Inspector General
has documented
hundreds of acts of criminal conduct by DOC employees, including DUI and
domestic violence.
4.
Pattern of mismanagement and lack
of leadership.
One examples of mismanagement is the awarding of the medical care contract to
Wexford, then rescinding that contract and re-awarding it to Corizon. Both
companies have faced controversy and accusations of poor medical services.
5.
Conflict of interest.
The Department of Corrections has close ties
to the private prison industry as well as private health care providers. One example is Chuck Coughlin’s relationship
with Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which has a contract with the
state to provide private prisons. Coughlin has a well-known relationship with
the governor, who appointed Director Ryan to his position. Another example is
Director Ryan’s ties to Terry Stewart who works with Advanced Correctional
Management, which lobbies for private prison expansion, as well as Stewart’s
work with Corizon, which was eventually awarded the statewide contract to
provide health care to inmates.
6.
High suicide rates. Suicide
rates at state prisons were 60 percent higher than the national average
between 2010 and 2012.
7.
Poor medical care. Inmate medical
care has been severely neglected. Egregious examples of inmates being given
grossly inadequate health care have been outlined in the class action lawsuit
against DOC.
8.
Abuse and neglect of inmates. There has been a pattern
of abuse and neglect of inmates, including Marcia Powell who died after
being left outside in the sun for many hours and Tony Lester who was allowed to
bleed to death in prison while correctional officers watched and did nothing to
help him.
9.
Private prison problems.
In addition to the conflict of interest noted above, Director Ryan has
also failed
to properly manage private prison contracts and supervise the private
prisons. The inmates
escaping from Kingman is one example of his failure to oversee the private
prisons. Additionally, private prisons often cost more than state-run prisons,
and DOC has failed to hold the private prison companies accountable for the
terms of their contracts with the state.
