Jail officer calls for better security
By Phil Anderson
The Topeka Capital-Journal
TOPEKA, Kansas — A corrections officer who was severely injured a week ago today when he was thrown over a second-floor rail at the Shawnee County Jail is out of the hospital and able to walk under his own power.
Now, the officer - who plans to return to work as soon as he is able - and his wife are pressing the jail to make security upgrades, as well as to bring the perpetrator to justice.
In an interview Thursday, jail officer Thomas Dorsett said he was injured when an inmate came up from behind him and threw him over a rail, causing him to fall an estimated 15 to 20 feet and land on a stairwell.
Dorsett, who was released from the hospital Tuesday, suffered a fractured skull, facial fractures and has a blood clot on his brain. His right eye remains swollen shut, and there is substantial bruising on his face. He has cracked and bruised ribs and also has seven staples in the back of his head to close a wound. The staples, he said, are to be removed today.
In spite of his injuries, no surgeries are planned, and Dorsett said he could return to work in as little as two weeks, though he said he has been urged to take as much time as he needs to recover.
Dorsett, 27, an Army veteran who has worked as a jail officer since October, says he can’t remember many details about the incident.
However, he is certain of one thing - no fight preceded his fall, contrary to previous reports.
“There was no altercation,” Dorsett said. “The inmate, he came up behind me and threw me over the rail is pretty much all that happened. There was no fight, no altercation. He came up behind me and decided he was going to chuck me over the rail.”
Dorsett, who stands 6-1, said he weighs in the neighborhood of 150 pounds.
Though he knows the identity of his assailant, Dorsett said he wasn’t at liberty to divulge his name.
He did say, however, that he had no previous problems with the inmate.
Dorsett, originally of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was checking on the well-being of inmates while making his 15-minute rounds about 9:30 a.m. Jan. 23 on the second floor of a jail module. He later was told by jail officials he was doing everything by the book at the time of the attack.
Inmates in the module are allowed free movement during parts of the day, Dorsett said, which is how the inmate had access to him.
About 25 inmates were in the module at the time. Dorsett, who like other jail officers is unarmed, was alone with the inmates.
Following the attack and fall, Dorsett was taken to a Topeka hospital. He said he appreciates the help of coworkers and administrators at the jail.
“These guys have done everything in their power to support us,” Dorsett said. “The whole jail community - they’ve done everything they can to support us.”
The jail was placed under lockdown Jan. 23. The lockdown was lifted Wednesday, jail officials said.
The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.
“We do have a suspect,” said Maj. Eve Kendall, of the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. “He has not been charged, so we’re not releasing a name.”
Kendall said after the sheriff’s office investigation is completed, likely sometime next week, a report will be sent to the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office, which would be responsible for filing charges. The name of the suspect will be released if charges are filed.
Kendall said the jail is forming a task force to look into security issues. Recommendations will be forwarded to Shawnee County Department of Corrections director Dick Kline for implementation.
Cherie Dorsett, 29, the injured officer’s wife, said she already has visited with jail officials about changes she says need to be made to ensure officers’ safety and that such an incident doesn’t occur again.
She said her birthday was this past Sunday.
The only gift that mattered, she said, was having her husband alive.
Copyright 2009 The Topeka Capital-Journal