Rescue California

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Investigators blame governor
BUT PRISON OFFICIAL SAYS CLOSING OF OFFICE IS BASED ON BUDGET SHORTAGE NOT POLITICS

June 03, 2003

SACRAMENTO - In an unusual public complaint, two state prison investigators alleged Monday that the administration of Gov. Gray Davis is trying to shut down their unit because they aggressively pursued charges of misconduct against prison guards.

The agents contend the move to close the prison internal affairs office in Rancho Cucamonga is a favor to the powerful prison guard union, a major campaign donor to Davis and legislators.

In a claim filed with the state, Robert Maldonado and Richard Feaster charge that their office has been targeted, in part, because of a probe of a 2002 prison altercation in which five shackled prisoners allegedly ``were attacked and beaten'' by staff members.

Russ Heimrich, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said the decision to close the Rancho Cucamonga internal affairs office, one of three such offices in the state, was a cost-cutting move to save nearly $1 million and was not influenced by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association.

``This was something we decided to do,'' Heimrich said, noting that it was far less sweeping than what the union has recommended in its own proposed budget cuts. Davis made the proposal to close the office request in his revised budget plan issued last month. The other offices are in Bakersfield and Rancho Cordova.

Lance Corcoran, executive vice president of the union, said he hadn't seen the complaint but described it as ``borderline paranoid on their part.'' In suggesting budget cuts, Corcoran said, ``we didn't specifically target any office or investigative unit.''

The union supported the creation of the internal affairs unit with three offices, but, Corcoran said, it still believes many complaints are best examined by investigators stationed at individual prisons.

The complaint filed Monday, a precursor to a lawsuit seeking damages, is unusual because the two veteran officers are leveling a criticism more typical of prison opponents: that the union has undue influence over the nation's largest corrections system.

Maldonado and Feaster say the state first sought to trim positions from investigative offices across the state but ``the original plan was abandoned in order to acquiesce to the CCPOA's desire to have the southern regional office'' closed.

They also contend that the union pressured Edward Alameida Jr., the prison system director, to order them to turn over crucial documents in their investigation of the altercation involving inmates at the California Institution for Men in Chino. Eventually, the probe was taken over by Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for Lockyer, said the results of the investigation were turned over to San Bernardino County prosecutors. He said the officers allegedly involved in the case declined to be interviewed. And he said Lockyer declined requests from the union for copies of interviews with inmates.

An attorney for the investigators could not be reached for comment Monday. Their five-page filing provided few details.

However, Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, said she has spoken with the investigators, who believe their office is being closed out of retaliation.

``It's most troublesome to me that it would appear that an actual investigation they embarked upon was thwarted by intervention by the CCPOA,'' Speier said.

The senator said the investigators showed her pictures of the inmates who allegedly had been engaged in a fight with officers at the California Institution for Men. They were later transferred to another prison, and photos appear to show ``they had been beaten up,'' Speier said.

What troubles Speier is that, under the law, any investigation must be completed in a timely manner, but Maldonado and Feaster were forced to suspend their probe.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Mark Gladstone at mgladstone@mercurynews.com or (916) 325-4314.