By Charlie Frago
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
State prison officials fired seven corrections officers for abusing inmates at the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys, including pepper-spraying noncombative inmates and intentionally walking at least one inmate into prison bars, a spokesman said Thursday.
The firings come in the midst of an FBI investigation announced earlier this month into reports of civil-rights violations against inmates.
Lt. Cheryl Evans, 37, a 13-year veteran of the Department of Correction, was fired Thursday. Six other officers — four correctional officers and two sergeants — were dismissed Tuesday, said Dina Tyler, prison spokesman.
Evans is white. The six other officers are black. Tyler said she could not identify them because, unlike the high-ranking Evans, they have the right to appeal their termination.
The state investigation is continuing and will likely result in “four or five” more officers facing disciplinary action, including termination, she said.
From September through June, the tight-knit group of officers - four women and three men - who worked in the 468-bed maximum-security section of the prison reportedly used excessive force against eight inmates on multiple occasions. Five of the inmates are white.
The abuses occurred about once a month, Tyler said.
In July, prison workers and inmates told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the beatings were racially motivated. The workers and inmates requested anonymity for fear of being fired or otherwise punished.
Tyler confirmed Thursday that prison officials had initially suspected a racial aspect to the abuse, but she said further investigation yielded no evidence that the black officers focused on white inmates. She noted that three of the inmates singled out by the officers are black.
“We heard the same thing you did, but the [racial angle] just didn’t bear fruit. We looked at it, but it appeared that this was just a group of officers that just went too far,” Tyler said.
The motive of the rogue officers seemed to be retaliation against inmates who had “mouthed off” or otherwise proved troublesome, Tyler said.
The incidents always included a group of officers abusing one inmate at a time. In one case, an inmate was intentionally walked into prison bars, resulting in a cut above his eye. Other inmates were doused with pepper spray after they were already following orders, she said.
The excessive-force violations came to light after inmates and their families alerted high-ranking officials in Pine Bluff. The officers were placed on administrative leave without pay on June 22.
The FBI began its investigation shortly after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported the state probe on July 4.
Warden Greg Harmon and Assistant Warden Steve Outlaw, who has immediate supervisory responsibilities for the maximum security section at Brickeys, don’t appear to have been aware of the abuse and likely won’t be punished, Tyler said.
Outlaw came back from a suspension in late July after he mistakenly approved the release of the wrong inmate from the prison in May. The inmate was quickly apprehended in Jefferson County without incident.
Harmon declined comment Thursday.
Most of the 350 officers who work in the massive 1,632-bed prison in Lee County follow policy, Tyler said, “We don’t believe the officers acted appropriately at all. They were wrong,” she said.
The unidentified officers ranged in age from 27 to 49. One officer had worked for the prison system just over a year. Others were veterans, with one having more than nine years’ experience.
The inmates involved — whom Tyler also declined to identify — are still at East Arkansas. She said their safety was not a concern as the other corrections officers at the prison had received the message that mistreating inmates was not going to be tolerated.
“I think everybody’s eyes are wide open on this now,” Tyler said.
The FBI also continues to investigate other excessive-force violations at the Maximum Security Unit at Tucker that resulted in six officers being fired in September.
Another officer, Capt. Eric Hobbs, resigned in the midst of a parallel investigation of beating an inmate. Hobbs is the nephew of Chief Deputy Director Ray Hobbs.
The FBI also did not return a telephone message left with the bureau’s Little Rock office seeking comment Thursday.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe is satisfied with the Correction Department’s handling of the situation, said spokesman Matt DeCample.
“The department is following the correct course of action,” he said.
The fired officers could face federal criminal charges — most likely for violating the inmates’ civil rights — but that would be up to the FBI, Tyler said.
Copyright 2007 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc.