Widespread corruption at DOC under Governor Scott’s watch

Roger Caldwell
Roger Caldwell

Widespread corruption at DOC under Governor Scott’s watch

By Roger Caldwell

     The Florida Department of Corrections is being investigated for widespread corruption, inmate abuse, mismanagement, and inmate’s death. There is very little information from Scott’s administration, the Department of Corrections Secretary, Mike Crews, and everyone is keeping quiet. There were reports back in September 2010, of inmates being abused, but the problems were sweep under the rug and never investigated.

As the issues escalated, there were changes in the DOC secretary, but the problems were never addressed and never investigated. In 2012 an inmate, Darren Rainey was locked in a scalding hot shower by the guards at the Dade Correctional Institution as a punishment for defecating in his cell.

He was left in this shower for two hours, and he collapsed and died.

Three inmates filed complaints about the death, but the DOC suspended the internal investigations two summers ago. It is obvious that there was a cover up and nobody wanted to know the truth.

But the Miami Herald kept digging and in 2014, the police are starting to interview witnesses. There were a string of news reports from the Miami Herald and now DOC Secretary Mike Crews has declared himself “outraged.” Hours before Crews issued his statement; the Herald reported that three more inmates’ deaths had occurred in Florida prisons.

There appears to be a standard operating procedure with the behavior of the leadership in the Florida DOC. Violence, lies, and cover-ups are running rampant throughout the system, and everyone is told to look the other way, and keep silent.

Finally, this week four DOC investigators are filing a whistle-blower complaint, which will turn into a lawsuit. The investigators complained to DOC officials, and Governor Scot’s inspector general Melinda Miguel, but nothing was done. Since nothing was done on the state level, they have decided to get the federal government engaged with the FBI.

“The IG whistle blower complaint has been filed by pros, says former Department of Corrections Chief James McDonough.  “They surely complained within the system as the cases were originally being investigated, and they would have run those complaints up the chain of command. The names I see among them are mature, responsible, and conscientious. Whistle blowing would have been the last option exercised.”

The system is broken, corrupt, and the inmates are treated inhumanly like animals. The prison gangs control the prison populations, and the guards smuggle drugs into the prison. Sexual favors and other contraband are controlled by the gangs, and the guards look the other way. The conditions are deplorable and there is widespread corruption, but Jeff Atwater our Chief Financial Officer is always talking about fiscal integrity, accountability, and ethics.

Something is wrong with our Governor and his administration, when there is widespread corruption in the Florida DOC, and no one is trying to correct the abuse and inhumane conditions. Inmates are dying and gangs are running our prisons. Saving money with privatization, and administrators walking around with blinders on is no way to run Florida prisons.

 

 

About Carma Henry 24363 Articles
Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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