SACRAMENTO — Six correctional counselors involved in a videotaped beating of two inmates at a state youth prison in Stockton have been fired for misconduct during and after the episode, officials said Thursday.
Capping a case that drew national attention, the California Youth Authority dismissed the employees after an internal investigation concluded that they had used unnecessary force and made false statements about the Jan. 20 episode.
"The administration will not tolerate abuses against wards, and we will go after misconduct aggressively," said youth authority Director Walter Allen III. "But the majority of our employees are dedicated and are providing therapeutic services to a very difficult population."
The graphic videotape was unveiled at a dramatic Capitol hearing in April. It quickly turned up on network newscasts and fueled calls for reform of California's scandal-plagued prison system.
The six counselors plan to appeal their terminations to the state personnel board, said David Darchuk, an official with the prison guards union who said his organization was outraged by the dismissals.
The employees are "people of high integrity who were trying to do the right thing," he said, adding that their firings had demoralized staff at the N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Center, where the incident occurred.
"We feel unsafe, we feel unsupported by this administration," said Darchuk, a chapter president for the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. "Most people think the guys in the youth authority are bad boys. Let me tell you, these are not a bunch of bicycle thieves, not a bunch of runaways, not a bunch of incorrigibles. These are bad people. And we try to make them better."
A relative of one of the youths involved in the episode, however, said the counselors deserved to be dismissed because they had clearly used excessive force.
"It's obvious to everybody who saw that videotape that they went way over the line," said Lisa Baker, whose nephew, Vincent, was hit and kicked while lying face-down and motionless. "Vincent wasn't even fighting back. They could have controlled that situation much differently."
The incident began as two correctional counselors were talking with inmates Narcisco Morales, 21, and Baker, 20, in a small housing unit office at the Stockton facility. After Morales punched one of the counselors in the nose, a scuffle ensued, spilling out into a lounge area that is monitored by a security camera.
