Prison Guards

Re "Overtime Pays Off at Prisons" (Feb. 10): I am sickened by the whole affair of the prison guards' wage and perks packages. I begrudge no working person a decent salary and benefits, but this goes way over the line. To have no control over sick-day call-ins and then to allow them to count toward overtime is indefensible. The 34% increase in wages and its $500 million a year cost to taxpayers is criminal. The entire package is so redolent of the stink of crooked politicians and influence-buying that it is devastating to anyone with a sense of decency.

The lucrative new labor pact Gov. Gray Davis signed with the state prison guards union will cost California more than half a billion dollars annually when it takes full effect, according to a critical audit released Tuesday. The report by state auditor Elaine Howle also said the Department of Corrections' failure to attract and retain employees leads to massive spending on overtime, contributing to its frequent budget deficits.

Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. prison guards quit or are fired each year, a likely consequence of stresses created by low-paid work with often violent or mentally ill inmates in crowded jails, prison experts said Friday. While high turnover among guards is not new, two recent prison escapes, in Texas and Alabama, put the spotlight on conditions inside the nation's correctional facilities and the dangers that arise when prison jobs go unfilled. About 1.

A court-appointed monitor says Pelican Bay State Prison has failed to move quickly or firmly enough against guards and other staff who used excessive force against inmates.

One of four guards accused of setting up a prisoner's rape testified Thursday that the inmate never asked for help or said his life would be in danger because of his new cellmate. Sgt. Joe Sanchez said inmate Eddie Dillard simply asked to be moved from his cell and never mentioned that his cellmate, Wayne Robertson, had raped him. Robertson is known at Corcoran as the "Booty Bandit" because of his well-known propensity to rape other prisoners.

A correctional officer at Centinela State Prison has been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to smuggle narcotics and cellphones to inmates. Daniel Jones Jr. was arrested Jan. 15 following a six-month investigation, said Michael Capeci, an investigator with the Imperial County district attorney's office. Jones and his girlfriend, Leslie Saldana, are suspected of being involved in a conspiracy to smuggle marijuana, cocaine and phones into the prison. They were released on bail pending a Feb.

A prison guard pleaded guilty Monday to bribery and other federal charges stemming from a scheme to smuggle whiskey and 14 grams of cocaine to an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. In addition to his plea to two counts of bribery by a public official, Willie Simmons, 30, of Inglewood pleaded guilty to two counts of providing contraband in a prison and one count of distributing cocaine, U.S. Atty. Lourdes Baird said.

A guard at the Metropolitan Detention Center was arraigned Friday on charges that he accepted a $1,000 bribe to deliver whiskey and cocaine to an inmate. Willie Simmons, 30, of Inglewood was arraigned on a charge of bribery and providing contraband in a prison and was released on $25,000 bail pending another hearing. Simmons' arrest was part of an undercover sting operation with a cooperating inmate at the detention center in downtown Los Angeles. Assistant U.S. Atty.

One of four female staffers who alleged sexual harassment and retaliation by corrections officers at the California Correctional Center in Susanville will receive $400,000 from state officials to settle the suit. More than $1.1 million in public money has been used in the last two years to resolve the sexual harassment claims by the staffers. The recent settlement will be paid to former Correctional Officer Terri Sanchez. The three other staffers also settled their lawsuits. Though Gov.

The family of slain Chino Institution for Men correctional officer Manuel Gonzalez has filed a $100-million federal lawsuit against California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency Secretary Roderick Q. Hickman and others for "deliberate indifference." Gonzalez, a 16-year veteran with the California Department of Corrections, was stabbed to death inside the prison Jan. 10. Gonzalez estate attorneys say prison administrators Hickman, California Department of Corrections Director Jeanne S.