Published: November 07, 2009 11:37 pm      

Prison officers won’t get jobs back

Actions toward 22 fired employees said ‘legitimate, consistant and fair’

CUMBERLAND — Twenty-two correctional officers fired by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services at Hagerstown and Cumberland prisons won't be getting their jobs back, regardless of the outcome of any criminal trials.

That disposition was made known by department secretary Gary Maynard in response to questions posed during an hour-long interview Friday at the Times-News.

“Our basic job is to follow the law and abide by the decision of the court,” said Maynard, who added that a number of other officers faced administrative actions although they were not charged criminally as were six officers at the North Branch Correctional Institution for alleged inmate brutality. He said the incident that led to the charges was not a fault of policy and procedures but of bad decisions made by the involved officers.

Maynard said his agency acted appropriately in dismissing all 22 correctional officers and he said that administrative position would not change. He said the department’s actions toward the officers were “legitimate, consistent and fair.”

“I don’t want to see another correctional officer fired because he beat up an inmate,” said the state official who oversees the entire Maryland prison system. He said “99.9 percent” of the correctional officers act professionally and responsibly on a consistent basis.

“Our strongest asset is our people,” he said.

Maynard spoke about budget cuts, stating that the department has made necessary budget cuts without adversely affecting the security of the prison system. He said $4.5 million has been saved by cutting unnecessary overtime expenditures, and budget cuts throughout the system have totaled $74 million. “The budget cuts have hurt but we have healed up pretty fast,” he said.

Maynard also said that the prison system staffing is at 98 percent and inmate population is being reduced. “Staffing is better than it’s ever been,” he said.

Concerning gang activity, Maynard said information-sharing throughout the prison system now identifies inmates immediately as to any possible gang association. That information is shared with various agencies in the state, as evidenced by a newly published Gang Intervention and Prevention Resource brochure that is available to the public. The brochure is designed to provide communities and families with information necessary to identify gang activity. For a copy, call the Governor’s Office of Crime Control at (410) 821-2828.

Maynard also said the agency is prepared to deal with any further budget cuts that might be mandated although he is hopeful that none will be made.

Detailing a number of inmate program initiatives, Maynard highlighted the production of furniture by the prison system’s Maryland Correctional Enterprises that will ultimately provide numerous items, such as desks and tables, to the Allegany County Board of Education and other agencies in the state.

Public works projects, such as planting up to 1 million trees across the Free State, construction of oyster cages that will help clean up the Chesapeake Bay and some of its tributaries, and local inmate work projects were among numerous agency initiatives that are proving beneficial to communities across the state while also helping to improve the lives of inmates involved in the projects, he said.

Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com.