Chino prison inmates complain of being incarcerated outdoors
AP Photo/Reed Saxon
Lavatory and dormitory facilities lay in ruins during a tour of the California Institution for Men in Chino, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. Blood-soaked mattresses, singed bedding and abandoned backboards and medical supplies littered the campus of the Chino prison, a testament to the violence of the riot that shut down part of the institution and injured nearly 200 inmates.
Jan. 11, 2010 | Steven Cuevas | KPCC
Rumors of violence swirled for days before the riot exploded inside the Chino prison’s Reception Center West.
Guards had taken to serving meals to small groups of inmates, rather than entire dorms.
“The tension, you can feel,” said former inmate Sterling Werner, who talked about the riot while he smoked hand-rolled cigarettes on the balcony of his Anaheim apartment recently. “And when officers are doing controlled feeding one building at a time two days prior to the riot, you know. Something is wrong."
Letters from Chino prison montage
Watch and listen to a montage of voices reading letters from inmates alleging mistreatment by Chino prison guards after the Aug. 8, 2009 riot.
"You know, total chaos. We’re talking about window panes coming off and being thrown. Pieces of glass being used like Ninja stars. Kicking, fighting, punching. So much blood. So many people just trying to get out of the way."
It took authorities until sunrise to contain the violence. More than 200 inmates at the California Institution for Men were injured. Two housing blocks were demolished, making the prison’s bad overcrowding problem even worse. Each dormitory was at double capacity. About 1,300 inmates were left without bunk space. Hundreds of prisoners were immediately moved to other institutions across the state.
In an interview in his office at the California Institution for Men, Acting Warden Aref Farkhoury defended his staff’s response to the riot.
"Both custodial and medically, response at CIM level was outstanding," he said. "If it wasn’t for the training that we have provided our staff and all the tools we have available to them, this would have taken longer and we would have had a lot more seriously hurt people, and possibly death."
'They housed 10 of us per cage'
But dozens more inmates claim they were handcuffed with plastic zip-ties, separated by race and marched into outdoor recreation cages. The inmates say they remained in these cages all day and night, for up to four full days. Werner says most inmates were stripped to underwear, socks and shoes.
"They housed 10 of us per cage," he said. "We tried to cooperate. OK, we know it’s probably going to be maybe a few hours. Well, it extended to days and nights. Freezing cold. The only warmth I was able to get was from leaning my body against another inmate. They are only supposed to be used about two hours at most while the ad-seg people have rec time. They’re animal cages."
Each enclosure is about 20-feet long and 10-feet wide, with a toilet and a sink. Werner says nobody fed the inmates for a day after the riot. They were given no soap, no blankets – and no complaint forms.
Guards non-commital about inmate treatment
When KPCC asked about the allegations over a month ago, a prison official denied them.
But on a visit to the prison, two guards in the Chino prison’s administration segregation unit said that inmates were held outdoors for hours after the riot.
"As far as what I remember being in here, we would bring them out here during the day so we can do our daily process to try and get some of these guys out and try and give them medical," said Lt. Eddie Hernandez. "And then at night, probably be around 9 at night when we would bring them inside."
Lt. Gerard de los Santos said that initially, the inmates might have been held outside for up to two days in order to "let the dust settle and find out where we were gonna house inmates."
"They were out here initially because we had no place else to put ‘em at," De Los Santos said. "But we gave them blankets and everything else, jumpsuits so they can stay warm. They were not here with just boxers on and nothing else."
Letters tell of post-riot treatment
After the riot, Chino’s daytime temperature soared into the upper 90s. The holding cages provided little shade. Some inmates were sunburned after hours in the outdoor rec cages.
Werner says the skin on his back blistered and peeled. The prison’s chief physician confirmed his staff treated sunburned inmates after the riot.
"They stripped us down to our boxers and had us there for about three days," said Charlie Padilla, reading a letter from a relative incarcerated at Chino at the time of the riot.
Sitting in her Los Angeles County home, Padilla reads the letter - one of dozens of letters sent to her by inmates at the Chino prison. Last month, she launched a Web site: www.intheriot.com. Padilla began corresponding with inmates after hearing her relative’s story.
"The sun burnt us during the day, at night it was real cold," Padilla read. "I remember watching that movie 'March of the Penguins.' We all stood real close together like the penguins did. We looked dumb. But it worked.
"I have no idea what they’re going to do with us but I don’t see freedom getting any closer."
Padilla said many prisoners talked about the riot as a "nightmare."
That’s all anybody talked about," she said. "He didn’t give me a lot of detail about blood and what he saw. I’ve gotten that from other people.
Five years ago, a group of Chino guards complained that some inmates were held in small holding tanks for days at a time. They called it “cruel and dangerous.”
Inmate complaints after the riot reflect a similar practice.
A forum for citizens to voice their concerns about the various prisons located in Chino California and to discuss ideas to modernize and relocate the prisons.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Audit after guard's murder to determine CIM future
Panel calls for prison overhaul
Second review calls for audit to determine CIM's future
By Mason Stockstill
Staff Writer
Link to Article (http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~2768942,00.html#)
Thursday, March 17, 2005 - CHINO - A second review of the circumstances surrounding the killing of a correctional officer at the California Institution for Men suggests that the prison may need to be renovated or abandoned.
The report, from a specially appointed panel of national experts, calls for a sweeping audit of CIM's design and security features to determine whether the prison's mission "can be safely accomplished within the existing physical plant."
Like a review released Wednesday by the state's Office of Inspector General, the latest report found numerous violations of policy and security standards surrounding the Jan. 10 stabbing death of Officer Manuel Gonzalez.
In response to the criticisms raised by the reports, Youth and Adult Correctional Agency Secretary Roderick Hickman said he planned a safety review of all of the state's 32 prisons and eight youth facilities.
"The two reports I have received on the homicide ... made it very clear to me that we as a state must do more -- better training and supervision -- to ensure our staff is safe," Hickman said.
The panel included officials from the New York Department of Correctional Services, the Los Angeles and San Diego county sheriffs' departments and the California Department of Corrections.
Its review did not specify options for dealing with physical problems at CIM, which was built in 1941 and -- like most California prisons -- regularly holds more than twice the number of prisoners it was designed to handle.
The inspector general's report, issued Wednesday, outlined several problems with the aging facility, saying poor maintenance had left many units there "in a serious state of disrepair."
Structural defects at the prison allow inmates to strip metal from walls to create weapons, then remove parts of the wall to hide their weapons inside, according to that report.
For its part, the independent panel noted "deplorable" conditions found in Sycamore Hall, where the killing took place.
"The panel observed heavy cobwebs, broken windows, fecal matter on the walls, accumulated filth and food on the floor, gang graffiti on cell walls, an enormous number of "fish lines,' and inmates blocking officers' view of their cells with "curtains,' " the report states.
Fish lines are pieces of string inmates use to pass items such as weapons or drugs from cell to cell.
The report also calls on state officials to evaluate how many inmates are processed at CIM every day, to determine whether that number should be reduced.
Both reports found that the inmate suspected in the killing, Jon Christopher Blaylock, was wrongly housed in general population despite his violent past. Blaylock has been charged with murder. They also found that protective vests should have been immediately distributed to officers after they were obtained in September. Gonzalez was not wearing a vest when he was stabbed.
Second review calls for audit to determine CIM's future
By Mason Stockstill
Staff Writer
Link to Article (http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~2768942,00.html#)
Thursday, March 17, 2005 - CHINO - A second review of the circumstances surrounding the killing of a correctional officer at the California Institution for Men suggests that the prison may need to be renovated or abandoned.
The report, from a specially appointed panel of national experts, calls for a sweeping audit of CIM's design and security features to determine whether the prison's mission "can be safely accomplished within the existing physical plant."
Like a review released Wednesday by the state's Office of Inspector General, the latest report found numerous violations of policy and security standards surrounding the Jan. 10 stabbing death of Officer Manuel Gonzalez.
In response to the criticisms raised by the reports, Youth and Adult Correctional Agency Secretary Roderick Hickman said he planned a safety review of all of the state's 32 prisons and eight youth facilities.
"The two reports I have received on the homicide ... made it very clear to me that we as a state must do more -- better training and supervision -- to ensure our staff is safe," Hickman said.
The panel included officials from the New York Department of Correctional Services, the Los Angeles and San Diego county sheriffs' departments and the California Department of Corrections.
Its review did not specify options for dealing with physical problems at CIM, which was built in 1941 and -- like most California prisons -- regularly holds more than twice the number of prisoners it was designed to handle.
The inspector general's report, issued Wednesday, outlined several problems with the aging facility, saying poor maintenance had left many units there "in a serious state of disrepair."
Structural defects at the prison allow inmates to strip metal from walls to create weapons, then remove parts of the wall to hide their weapons inside, according to that report.
For its part, the independent panel noted "deplorable" conditions found in Sycamore Hall, where the killing took place.
"The panel observed heavy cobwebs, broken windows, fecal matter on the walls, accumulated filth and food on the floor, gang graffiti on cell walls, an enormous number of "fish lines,' and inmates blocking officers' view of their cells with "curtains,' " the report states.
Fish lines are pieces of string inmates use to pass items such as weapons or drugs from cell to cell.
The report also calls on state officials to evaluate how many inmates are processed at CIM every day, to determine whether that number should be reduced.
Both reports found that the inmate suspected in the killing, Jon Christopher Blaylock, was wrongly housed in general population despite his violent past. Blaylock has been charged with murder. They also found that protective vests should have been immediately distributed to officers after they were obtained in September. Gonzalez was not wearing a vest when he was stabbed.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Wow - 3 Riots in 5 years. - When will the next one be?
Massive riot erupts at CIM (Chino Institute for Men)
Inland Daily Bulletin ^ | 12/31/2006 | Jannise Johnson
Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 4:16:26 AM by radar101
CHINO - Dozens of inmates were injured, one of them seriously, during a riot Saturday morning at California Institution for Men in Chino. Prison officers at about 9:25 a.m. confronted inmates involved in a melee at Reception Center-West, a medium security portion of the prison, according to a prison official.
The inmates in the massive fight were from four modules, which each house approximately 200 inmates.
The cause of the fight is still under investigation, but Lt. Mark Hargrove, a prison spokesman, said he believed "two inmates began fighting and it just flashed up from there."
Prison officers used pepper spray and non-lethal impact weapons, which included shooting tear gas cannisters and small wooden blocks, to get the inmates to disperse, Hargrove said
The fighting was quashed within two hours, Hargrove said.
"All the housing units are contained. We have full control, it never spilled out of the units," he said.
About 51 inmates were injured, including at least 24 that were treated at the prison's hospital and 27 that were sent to area hospitals.
Three inmates had to be airlifted to trauma centers for treatment.
The inmate that was most seriously injured suffered trauma to the head and puncture wounds to the back.
Conditions of the injured inmates were not immediately available.
No prison staff members were injured, but one officer was temporarily overcome by pepper spray, he said.
Officials at the prison were investigating the incident Saturday evening, specifically the number of inmates that were involved. Approximately 800 inmates are in the four housing units, but they may not have all been involved.
The damage to the prison itself was also being assessed.
"They broke out most of the windows in the housing units," said Hargrove, who added that doors were also damaged.
Ruben Guerrero, battalion chief of the Chino Valley Fire District, said 21 firefighters responded to the prison to treat and transport those injured to a local hospital.
Chino, Fontana, and Ontario police officers as well as Chino Hills and Rancho Cucamonga sheriff's deputies assisted with traffic control on the perimeter of the prison.
In September 2005, more than 200 inmates rioted in the prison's Reception Center-East. The fracas was contained by correctional staff, but not before two staff members had to be rescued from potentially dangerous situations, including one who was forced to barricade himself inside an office.
Inland Daily Bulletin ^ | 12/31/2006 | Jannise Johnson
Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 4:16:26 AM by radar101
CHINO - Dozens of inmates were injured, one of them seriously, during a riot Saturday morning at California Institution for Men in Chino. Prison officers at about 9:25 a.m. confronted inmates involved in a melee at Reception Center-West, a medium security portion of the prison, according to a prison official.
The inmates in the massive fight were from four modules, which each house approximately 200 inmates.
The cause of the fight is still under investigation, but Lt. Mark Hargrove, a prison spokesman, said he believed "two inmates began fighting and it just flashed up from there."
Prison officers used pepper spray and non-lethal impact weapons, which included shooting tear gas cannisters and small wooden blocks, to get the inmates to disperse, Hargrove said
The fighting was quashed within two hours, Hargrove said.
"All the housing units are contained. We have full control, it never spilled out of the units," he said.
About 51 inmates were injured, including at least 24 that were treated at the prison's hospital and 27 that were sent to area hospitals.
Three inmates had to be airlifted to trauma centers for treatment.
The inmate that was most seriously injured suffered trauma to the head and puncture wounds to the back.
Conditions of the injured inmates were not immediately available.
No prison staff members were injured, but one officer was temporarily overcome by pepper spray, he said.
Officials at the prison were investigating the incident Saturday evening, specifically the number of inmates that were involved. Approximately 800 inmates are in the four housing units, but they may not have all been involved.
The damage to the prison itself was also being assessed.
"They broke out most of the windows in the housing units," said Hargrove, who added that doors were also damaged.
Ruben Guerrero, battalion chief of the Chino Valley Fire District, said 21 firefighters responded to the prison to treat and transport those injured to a local hospital.
Chino, Fontana, and Ontario police officers as well as Chino Hills and Rancho Cucamonga sheriff's deputies assisted with traffic control on the perimeter of the prison.
In September 2005, more than 200 inmates rioted in the prison's Reception Center-East. The fracas was contained by correctional staff, but not before two staff members had to be rescued from potentially dangerous situations, including one who was forced to barricade himself inside an office.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Overcrowded - Racialized - Incubator of Pain
Great interview highlighting the problems with overcrowding at Chino and the general level of unrest in the prison:
Quoted from the story:
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/aug/19/no-easy-answers-fixing-states-overcrowded-prison-s/
MOBLEY: Well, Chino is known as a reception center within the California Department of Corrections, which means that it's a place where prisoners are sent following conviction in the courts where they are then assessed by corrections authorities for their security level and for their program needs and then they are sent on from Chino to a permanent designation. So tempers often run high, people's nerves are shot. They – If you can put yourself in the place of these people, most of whom are parole violators, by the way, they've recently been in communities, right, living in their own homes, they've run into some trouble, found themselves snatched up and run through a court system or a jail system and now find themselves back in prison. And around 70% are parole violators, so to say back in prison is appropriate, and their lives and their plans, their hopes and dreams are now shattered or, at a minimum, put on hold. And they're congregated there together in these very high numbers sort of in a warehouse situation, dormitories often three bunks high. In some cases, there are dormitories that have been made out of gymnasiums or reading rooms or other places that weren't really intended for housing, which means there aren't very many bathrooms to be shared. And you just add to this mix of people who are being segregated along racial lines and maybe they didn't come into prison with overly harsh racial attitudes but while – when in prison, they are met at the gate with this asking for a declaration from them of what race do you belong to? And then they're introduced to racial leaders from that particular group and their housing and their associations are then channeled along the particular race that they happen to claim.
CAVANAUGH: Alan, let me ask you, is it true that Chino is housing now twice as many prisoners as it was built for?
MOBLEY: Yes, and that's generally true throughout the state system.
CAVANAUGH: And, Scott, I want to ask you, at Second Chance, you work with a lot of men who are coming out of prison and trying to rebuild their lives. And I wonder, what are they telling you about prison life? What stories do you hear?
SILVERMAN: Well, similar to what Alan outlined, and that is the overcrowding but, you know, nowadays they – they're lucky they get to take a shower once a week and they get about 16 seconds to have a meal. And, you know, they're dealing with not only overcrowding and the issues around the race issues but also the correctional staff is short right now because of the budget issues, so you've got these ratios of correctional officers to inmates, you've got the frustration they have of being in the system, and most of the folks that are in Chino, from what I understand, are coming out of the LA County Sheriffs Department so they're already coming out of an incubator of pain going into a system of more pain with less supervision and with the reduction of resources and programs because all of those things are gone because now they're triple bunking, as Alan said, and the overcrowding just combines the issues and the frustration that they have that, you know, even though it's a reception yard, they know they're only going to be there a short period of time but still they're acting out because they've got to put their colors out to let people know who they are so they can survive.
Quoted from the story:
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/aug/19/no-easy-answers-fixing-states-overcrowded-prison-s/
MOBLEY: Well, Chino is known as a reception center within the California Department of Corrections, which means that it's a place where prisoners are sent following conviction in the courts where they are then assessed by corrections authorities for their security level and for their program needs and then they are sent on from Chino to a permanent designation. So tempers often run high, people's nerves are shot. They – If you can put yourself in the place of these people, most of whom are parole violators, by the way, they've recently been in communities, right, living in their own homes, they've run into some trouble, found themselves snatched up and run through a court system or a jail system and now find themselves back in prison. And around 70% are parole violators, so to say back in prison is appropriate, and their lives and their plans, their hopes and dreams are now shattered or, at a minimum, put on hold. And they're congregated there together in these very high numbers sort of in a warehouse situation, dormitories often three bunks high. In some cases, there are dormitories that have been made out of gymnasiums or reading rooms or other places that weren't really intended for housing, which means there aren't very many bathrooms to be shared. And you just add to this mix of people who are being segregated along racial lines and maybe they didn't come into prison with overly harsh racial attitudes but while – when in prison, they are met at the gate with this asking for a declaration from them of what race do you belong to? And then they're introduced to racial leaders from that particular group and their housing and their associations are then channeled along the particular race that they happen to claim.
CAVANAUGH: Alan, let me ask you, is it true that Chino is housing now twice as many prisoners as it was built for?
MOBLEY: Yes, and that's generally true throughout the state system.
CAVANAUGH: And, Scott, I want to ask you, at Second Chance, you work with a lot of men who are coming out of prison and trying to rebuild their lives. And I wonder, what are they telling you about prison life? What stories do you hear?
SILVERMAN: Well, similar to what Alan outlined, and that is the overcrowding but, you know, nowadays they – they're lucky they get to take a shower once a week and they get about 16 seconds to have a meal. And, you know, they're dealing with not only overcrowding and the issues around the race issues but also the correctional staff is short right now because of the budget issues, so you've got these ratios of correctional officers to inmates, you've got the frustration they have of being in the system, and most of the folks that are in Chino, from what I understand, are coming out of the LA County Sheriffs Department so they're already coming out of an incubator of pain going into a system of more pain with less supervision and with the reduction of resources and programs because all of those things are gone because now they're triple bunking, as Alan said, and the overcrowding just combines the issues and the frustration that they have that, you know, even though it's a reception yard, they know they're only going to be there a short period of time but still they're acting out because they've got to put their colors out to let people know who they are so they can survive.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Kevin Cooper Escapes - Breaks into Chino Hills Home, Murders 4, Seriously Injures 1
1983 Jun 4
In Chino Hills, Ca., Douglas and Peggy Ryen and their 10-year old daughter, Jessica, were killed in the master bedroom of their home. Christopher Hughes (11), a neighbor, was also killed. Joshua Ryen (8) survived despite serious wounds. Kevin Cooper, who escaped from Chino prison on June 2, was arrested 47 days later and was convicted for the murders in 1985 and faced execution. Cooper claimed he was innocent and called for DNA testing of the evidence in 2000. In 2003 an execution date of Feb 10, 2004, was set for Cooper. Cooper won a last minute reprieve on Feb 9 pending a re-examination of the case. In 2005 a federal judge upheld his death penalty.
Links: USA, California, Murder
Timelines of History DB - Source website.
(CBS) Kevin Cooper, a convicted killer on California's death row, won a stay of execution Monday, just hours before he was to be executed.
Cooper, whose bid for clemency was denied by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, was scheduled to be executed at San Quentin prison just after midnight, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004, for the violent murders of four people more than 20 years ago.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request for an 11-judge panel to rehear Cooper's case.
48 Hours Mystery (CBS) Website - Feb 4,2010 - Source
In Chino Hills, Ca., Douglas and Peggy Ryen and their 10-year old daughter, Jessica, were killed in the master bedroom of their home. Christopher Hughes (11), a neighbor, was also killed. Joshua Ryen (8) survived despite serious wounds. Kevin Cooper, who escaped from Chino prison on June 2, was arrested 47 days later and was convicted for the murders in 1985 and faced execution. Cooper claimed he was innocent and called for DNA testing of the evidence in 2000. In 2003 an execution date of Feb 10, 2004, was set for Cooper. Cooper won a last minute reprieve on Feb 9 pending a re-examination of the case. In 2005 a federal judge upheld his death penalty.
Links: USA, California, Murder
Timelines of History DB - Source website.
(CBS) Kevin Cooper, a convicted killer on California's death row, won a stay of execution Monday, just hours before he was to be executed.
Cooper, whose bid for clemency was denied by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, was scheduled to be executed at San Quentin prison just after midnight, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004, for the violent murders of four people more than 20 years ago.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request for an 11-judge panel to rehear Cooper's case.
48 Hours Mystery (CBS) Website - Feb 4,2010 - Source
Monday, August 30, 2010
One Year Ago
As reported in the Daily Mail of the United Kingdom:
"
Mattresses are soaked with blood. Entire dormitories are blackened by fire. Facilities are destroyed and abandoned medical supplies are littered about.
These are the scenes of devastation after a riot at a Southern California prison over the weekend that shut down part of the institution and injured about 175 inmates, some critically.
The images chart the mayhem and violence at the California Institution for Men in Chino.
Welcome to "MOVE CHINO PRISONS"
If you are a resident of Chino, California or just someone directly impacted by the prisons, we want to hear from you! Those of us living in the Chino area know that it is a great place, with good schools, a diverse population and a developing business climate.
The community has taken great strides with new housing developments, commercial centers and an influx of new residents. One helpful impetus for this has been the movement of the many dairy farms from Chino to more rural areas of California.
While the state prisons in Chino have been an important part of our local economy, it seems time to help build new facilities to replace them. Because of the increased value of land and the opportunity cost that we face by using thousands of acres of land for prisons rather than an urban center, commercial or residential space it seems the right time to plan to find a more appropriate place for the prisons.
The community has taken great strides with new housing developments, commercial centers and an influx of new residents. One helpful impetus for this has been the movement of the many dairy farms from Chino to more rural areas of California.
While the state prisons in Chino have been an important part of our local economy, it seems time to help build new facilities to replace them. Because of the increased value of land and the opportunity cost that we face by using thousands of acres of land for prisons rather than an urban center, commercial or residential space it seems the right time to plan to find a more appropriate place for the prisons.
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