Union shows video of jail officer’s beating, says city has failed to act on problems
A transition team appointed by Mayor Linda Gorton stressed repeatedly in a January 2019 report that staffing shortages and excessive overtime at the Fayette County Detention Center had to be addressed immediately and laid out a host of recommendations.
Yet, city officials did nothing until detention center employees voted “no confidence” in jail leadership in September, a lawyer who represents the Fayette County Detention Center employees’ union said Tuesday.
“There has not been much of an effort to address what was mentioned in the transition report,” said Nick Oleson, a lawyer for the Fraternal Order of Police Town Branch Lodge 83. The union received a copy of the transition team report but only after repeated requests to the city for a copy. The union provided a copy of the transition report to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The transition team report, which acts as a guide to incoming city administrations and points out critical issues, listed the detention center as a ‘high priority issue’.”
“Community Corrections faces critical challenges that, if unaddressed, may pose a threat to the health and safety of both inmates and staff,” the report said.
The report recommended the Gorton administration appoint a small team to examine issues at the jail. It also recommended other changes including “over hiring” or hiring more officers than allowed to address chronic staffing shortages.
When asked if the administration had read the transition team recommendations after it was released a year ago, Gorton said the city was addressing issues at the jail but did not answer questions about the transition report. Gorton said she has visited and spoken with corrections officers several times over the past year to determine how to come up with long-term solutions, not just short-term Band-Aids.
“Although there is still work to do, we have made progress in the size of the population, and in recruiting and hiring corrections officers,” Gorton said. “I am committed to keeping the lines of communication open and to keep making improvements. We must continue to do the hard work of digging in systematically, and finding real solutions that last.”
The city has upped its advertising budget to recruit more employees and has set aside money to hire a consultant to do an independent analysis of issues at the jail.
That’s not necessary, Oleson and detention center staff told the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council’s Planning and Public Safety Committee on Tuesday.
“We ask that you take steps that were identified in the transition report a year ago,” he said. “These are serious issues that continue to plague the detention center.”
That report also mentioned that Town Branch Lodge union leadership believed excessive disciplinary actions against staff were widespread and problematic.
A survey of detention center employees released in September showed 76 percent of the officers polled believed management issues excessive discipline and 80 percent said management is biased and unfairly disciplines employees.
If the union challenges a decision by the administration — including discipline —it goes to an arbitrator, a third party. The union has won the last eight arbitrations, said Steve Parker, vice president of the union.
Public Safety Commissioner Ken Armstrong, who oversees community corrections, told the council committee Tuesday the administration is working to decrease the number of inmates and increase staffing at the detention center. They have moved state inmates out of the jail. In November 2018, the inmate population was 1,500. It dropped to 1,379 in November 2019.
“Today our population is 1,270,” Armstrong said. Fayette County Detention Center has also moved inmates to other counties.
There are 278 authorized positions at the jail but there are 24 vacancies, Armstrong said. But 22 new recruits will start Feb. 7.
“This has a direct impact on (overtime) and our vacancy rates,” Armstrong said. There are have been multiple attempts to up recruiting efforts, he said.
But Parker said excessive overtime and lack of staff is only part of the reason why people are leaving and turnover rates are so high.
Oleson said the city has not addressed sexual harassment and racial discrimination. An online union survey conducted Sept. 19 to Sept. 24 answered by 151 jail employees showed widespread racial discrimination and sexual harassment.
A survey of jail employees released this fall showed 30 percent have experienced sexual harassment or discrimination and about 44 percent have witnessed sexual harassment or discrimination. But Oleson said Tuesday that many officers don’t report it because the administration doesn’t take the issue seriously.
From January to September 2019, there were 16 reports of sexual and racial discrimination reported by detention center employees. None of those reports were substantiated, Oleson said.
‘They do not feel like their complaints will be heard by the urban county government,” said Oleson. “They have no faith that something will be done about it.”
Also during Tuesday’s presentation, the union released a video of an assault of a corrections officer by an inmate this summer.
In June, James Summers, a corrections officer, was assaulted in one of the housing units by an inmate. He was the only officer in the unit. Other inmates came to Summers’ aide, but he suffered serious injuries, including hearing loss in both ears and memory loss, Summers told the Lexington Herald-Leader in September.
The housing unit was for low-level offenders.
“The vast majority of officers fear for their safety on a daily basis,” said Oleson.
The Herald-Leader requested a copy of the video of Summers through an Open Records Act request last fall. The city turned down the request. The city said it could not turn over the video because there was a criminal investigation involving the man who injured Summers.
The council committee members asked no questions during the meeting because they were told not to, said Councilwoman Jennifer Mossotti.
“We have been advised by the law department to just listen,” said Mossotti, chairwoman of the Planning and Public Safety Committee The union has filed several legal actions, including an unfair labor practices complaint with the state Labor Cabinet over many of the issues raised during Tuesday’s meeting. That complaint is still pending.
Neither Armstrong’s or the union’s presentations were made available prior to Tuesday’s meeting, which is customary with council committee meetings.
Michael Harris, president of the FOP Town Branch Lodge 83, said he hopes the council understands the problems at the jail extend beyond staffing and overtime.
“We are looking for a culture change,” Harris said. “I implore you to take this to heart.”
