A correctional officer at Tabor Correctional Institution is under investigation following the overdose death of an inmate there, the Tabor City Police Department reports. A prison with 1,000 inmates should have a total of at least 300 to 350 officers, he said. virtual: false, We value and appreciate the difficult jobs that prison guards perform, and we will not allow the criminal actions of a few to compromise the safety of the prison environment for all.. The incident resulted in an "active shooter" announcement being broadcast over the hospital's public address system. He resigned from his position on Monday. [28], Once Kenworthy, first hired in 1982 as a corrections officer [21] retired after a long career with the North Carolina Department of Corrections, numerous controversies under the new leadership were reported. All rights reserved. The other officer on shift with Thompson had been at Tabor Correctional since June 2019. [53], On December 8, 2016, an officer was arrested for "unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously" allowed the sexual abuse between her son and the alleged victim to occur. Video from the area showed Officer Wesley Thompson retrieve two packages from under the podium, place envelopes on top of them and deliver them to an inmates cell. Police were called in to investigate, with assistant from the NC State Bureau of Investigation. The Tabor Correctional Institution was constructed on a 37-acre site in east Tabor City, Columbus County. Investigators filed a separate report for drug trafficking/smuggling following their conversation with Bullard on Nov. 18. The officer had previously worked for the armored car company and was planning to behead the owners to make the robbery appear to be an act of terrorism. Copyright 2023 High School Job Shadowing Program/Senior Projects, Two Chadbourn police officers receive heroism awards for saving lives during fires, Emergency personnel, community partners conduct active shooter training at East Columbus High, #UNSOLVED: Shining light on cold cases in the Cape Fear, a WWAY special report, 'Teacher of the Month' dedicates life to special needs students after high school internship. researches product purchases and suppliers. While the inmates paid for the food, state resources were used to deliver these meals. Investigators then interviewed Thompson and another officer working his same shift. LUMBERTON A former Tabor Correctional Institution officer has been charged with multiple drug offenses after a Thursday search of his home yielded enough fentanyl to kill thousands of people . and I think Ill get the names of the people who actually got his organs and maybe one day I can meet them, Pressley said. 2175 N. Roberts Ave, He is assigned to the Chino Institute for Men. "The health and safety of the staff and the offender population is our top priority." David Guice, the states chief deputy secretary for adult correction and juvenile justice, said he does not yet know whether better staffing at Bertie would have made any difference the day that Callahan was killed. By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com A correctional officer at Tabor Correctional Institution is under investigation following the overdose death of an inmate there, the Tabor City Police Department reports. Speaking with officers on Nov. 16, Associate Warden Jamie Bullard said he was investigating a sergeant at the prison and another inmate. North Carolina Prison guards are paid at the lower end of the national scale,[17] although North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory proposed in April 2015 significant increases in officer pay, although the raise may be partially based on the custody level of the prison. [10], Early in 2014, an addition housing 252 minimum inmates opened, rasing the maximum number of inmates housed at Tabor Prison to 1,752. Fontana officers responded and determined that the investigation should be handled by Ontario police since the incident started there. Meggan Callahan was killed there allegedly by an inmate who beat her to death with a fire extinguisher. According to state law, correctional officers cannot have been convicted of misdemeanors for three years. Guice, the prison leader, acknowledged that the state faces significant staffing challenges. number: 3, Three correctional officers named in two separate incident reports filed by the Tabor City Police Department have resigned in the past week. State figures. David released a statement on the situation Wednesday. Over the past four years, the Division of Prisons has: We educate, train and do everything possible to keep contraband out. North Carolina. Its unclear whether better staffing would have saved Callahans life. identifies important training information, interacts with each other and It was first opened in 1984 and came with 240 inmates; however, over time, the facility has become even bigger with the capability of housing around 1752 inmates. On Nov. 18, the day after Goodson was pronounced dead, investigators again met with Bullard, who showed them videos from the night Goodson apparently overdosed. The other suspect is Jeff Thomas Jelinek, 30, an officer with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Sgt. It houses over 1700 mixed classification inmates. July 17, 2022. [30], In October 2012, a correctional officer was arrested in the parking lot of Tabor Correction Institute, according to Tabor City Police, and charged with one count of providing tobacco to an inmate and two counts of a sex offense in an institution. All rights reserved. At Polk Correctional Institution, north of Durham, two or three officers are routinely put in charge of monitoring more than 200 inmates in the chow hall, said Sierra Gravitte, an officer who this month resigned from the prison after four years on the job. Bertie now houses about 935 inmates. Roy Cooper has asked him to review the circumstances to ensure this doesnt happen again.. While speaking about Goodson, Bullard mentioned prison staff had found more drugs under a podium in a unit. Speaking with officers on Nov. 16, Associate Warden Jamie Bullard said he was investigating a sergeant at the prison and another inmate. TABOR CITY, N.C. (WECT) -Three correctional officers are off the job amid allegations of drug smuggling and after an inmate died from an apparent overdose. Only one faces criminal charges at this time, though the State Bureau of Investigation has opened a probe in the matter. The smuggling of drugs into prisons is a nationwide problem, not just a North Carolina problem. Lumberton, NC 28358, Lumberton, NC News, Obituaries, classifieds, and Sports. Thompson was booked at the Columbus County Detention Center Friday evening, his bond set at $25,000 secured, Conway said. #ThisIsThePlace. We was really hoping for him to be home for Thanksgiving.. There has been no evidence indicating that either suspect represented themselves as police officers during the commission of the crimes.. Had there been more, he said, one female officer might never have been assaulted. And they say pay increases approved by the legislature in 2015 will also help with recruiting. Orban then fled, leaving his service weapon behind and still in the victims vehicle, police said. [42], In April 2015, a WECT expose showed why five officers had been terminated and also announced the retirement of Chavez. Jacobs, 53, had been the warden at Lumberton Correctional Institution in Lumberton since 2020. Maddens arrest comes after the recent arrests of three Robeson County detention officers in April for charges of identity theft. One correctional officer has been charged, and two others have resigned in the wake of the overdose death of an inmate at Tabor Correctional Institution. Weve got to find a way to retain the people who work for us, Guice said. But some experts interviewed by the Observer said thats a possibility. Drugs are thrown over the fences (often stuffed into footballs or basketballs), hidden in the mail, brought in by staff or smuggled in during visitation. The Sheriffs Office will work with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine if more guns were stolen or if any were used in crimes. TABOR CITY, N.C. (WECT) - An inmate at Tabor Correctional Institution died of an apparent suicide, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety. The ATFs database called the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, or NIBIN, also will be used to determine if guns were stolen. Jacobs, 53, had been the warden at Lumberton Correctional Institution in Lumberton since 2020. . Enter https://www.corrections1.com/ and click OK. Weve got a lot of folks who are not staying with us.. [11], Before its official opening, the prison was used in various training exercises. Pressley rushed to be by her sons side at the hospital where she heard his last heartbeat. "[54], On April 24, 2017 an officer was arrested, accused of having sex with an inmate. EOW: Monday, January 10, 2022. April 5, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. WESTMINSTER - An off-duty Westminster police officer and an off-duty state corrections officer were arrested Saturday night in connection with a carjacking, kidnapping . These allegations are under internal investigation as well. Its as simple as that.. Bertie isnt the only state prison with staffing problems. [55], In June 2017, an inmate assigned to a work detail at a second prison escaped. [20] Kenworthy had been named as Administrator prior to the prison's opening on June 29, 2007.[21]. "His death is tragic, and we continue to work hard to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in our prisons," said Todd Ishee, Commissioner of Prisons. Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division, TX. Search by Year. Please let me know if you encounter any resistance or unwillingness to pay.". [22][23] Inmates were found guilty of additional charges due to these assaults. Your morale goes down," she said. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is committed to continually improving the Public Inmate Locator System web experience to locate inmates. While this is a criminal investigation, the District Attorneys Office is coordinating closely with leadership at the Department of Public Safety to ensure that they have sufficient information to make important personnel decisions. Bertie Correctional Institution was understaffed in the month that Sgt. Mobile App | Weather App | WWAYTV3 Email Sign Up, We're everywhere you need us to be. Investigators filed their first report, with the crime/incident listed as negligent manslaughter, on Nov. 18, six days after an inmate, Dustin Goodson, was taken to the hospital by prison staff for a suspected drug overdose. The cause of death was reported as having been natural causes,[34] however, a WECT report dated July 30, 2015 revealed that the cause of death was "methanol toxicity" from a concoction of chemicals including hand sanitizer that the inmate drank. It was later determined that Orban telephoned Jelinek, who picked up Orban in Fontana and drove him back to the Ontario Mills parking lot, police said. Jacobs began his career in 1993 as a correctional officer at the former Cabarrus Correctional Center. (The officer) said that Thompson had come to her and asked her if she wanted to make some extra money on several occasions but that she didnt want anything to do with it, investigators wrote in the report. Prisons has a zero tolerance for the introduction of contraband to any prison from any source. Madden was placed in the Robeson County Detention Center under a $1,075,000 secured bond, according to the Sheriffs Office. A Tabor Correctional Institution supervisor reported the inmate overdose to Tabor City police on Nov. 16, who began an investigation into the matter. An investigation into the officer was ongoing at the time of the news report, although Department of Corrections Spokesman Keith Acree said "Most often when employees are caught doing this and charged, they resign," Acree was unable to say how many employees resigned after being charged with drug offenses, although the news report reference two other recent issues with prison employees. Brian Dawe, executive director of the American Correctional Officer Intelligence Network (ACOIN), said Bertie like most of the nations prisons appeared to be badly understaffed, based on the numbers that state prison officials provided to the Observer. evvnt_require("evvnt/discovery_plugin").init({ This is a constant battle, fought daily. But prison officials did release the monthly figures, which show that the prison had 211 officers available to work in April. }); Meggan Callahan was killed there - allegedly by an inmate who beat her to death with a fire extinguisher. [31], As reported by WECT in February 2014, the new Administrator was accused of forcing employees to pay the new Administrator for promotions through an Administrator-designed "fundraising" campaign. TABOR CITY, NC (WWAY) One correctional officer has been charged, and two others have resigned in the wake of the overdose death of an inmate at Tabor Correctional Institution. Upon the airing of the story, the Director of the North Carolina Division of Prisons suspended these activities, pending yet another review stating, "The Division of Prisons is surveying the activities of all service clubs across the prison system and developing more specific governing policies for these clubs to ensure that they are operating consistently and are providing true rehabilitative benefits." 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The stamp, if used on mail sent to inmates, restricts law enforcement personnel and prison workers from opening mail prior to the delivery to inmates, Wilkins said. McCoy heard the officer curse and saw her struggling with an inmate. The cost to build the prison was approximately $94million,[9] although the use of inmate labor greatly reduced what this amount would have been if private contractors had been used. The second officer admitted she knew about Thompsons drug activity.
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