Arizona prison guard union head says attack on video not ‘one-off’

• A video has surfaced showing an inmate assault in an Arizona prison, raising concerns about systemic issues within the facility.
• Critics of prison administration say the video highlights a lack of staff intervention and inadequate supervision.
• The Arizona Department of Corrections is investigating the incident, saying it was isolated despite acknowledging a recent increase in prison violence.

A video showing inmates using locks as weapons during an attack inside an Arizona prison is not the only of its kind, according to a prison reform advocate and a corrections union leader.

Both said the footage reflects deeper, systemic failures that prison officials have ignored.

The nearly three-minute cell phone video, posted online May 14, shows a bloodied inmate being chased and beaten by two others swinging padlocks tied to straps.

The attack moves from an interior dormitory space to an outdoor area at the Winchester Unit at Arizona State Prison Complex–Tucson. At no point do correctional staff appear on screen.

“This was not a ‘one-off,’” said Carlos Garcia, executive director of the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association.

The association has discovered multiple videos of “illegal conduct with little or no staff intervention,” Garcia said in a statement.

Administrators who work for Corrections Director Ryan Thornell “have relinquished control to the inmate population,” Garcia said.

Donna Hamm, founder and director of Middle Ground Prison Reform, which watchdogs Arizona’s prison system, echoed Garcia’s concerns in an email to The Arizona Republic. She said there is little supervision in the prisons.

“In many cases of inmate-on-inmate assault, no staff will intervene,” she said. “They simply don’t want to get hurt themselves, and the inmates usually far outnumber the staff.”

She also said that open dorms have poor visibility and limited camera coverage, and that an “override” classification system has allowed high-risk inmates to be placed in lower-security housing.

The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry released a statement on May 20 saying the attack occurred on May 14 and that the department became aware of the video a day after it was posted online.

The statement said the fight was under investigation and that people involved, including the one in possession of a cell phone, would “be held accountable.”

While the department described the attack as an “isolated incident,” the statement said there had been a “recent spike in violence among the inmate population.”

As the department “continues the challenging work of corrections statewide, we are increasing our calls for better support for our staff, including funding for higher pay and better retention, recognizing the critical public safety and high-risk work officers manage each day,” the statement said.

No inmates suffered serious injuries, the department’s statement said. The bloodied man was treated at a hospital and returned to the prison the same day, it said.

The department did not describe the nature of the man’s injuries or define what it considered “serious.”

The department’s Incident Command System, which is tasked with dealing with these kinds of incidents, was activated that same day, the statement said.

The department did not say when staff began responding to the assault. The video shows no signs of intervention.

The department warned that public speculation by “third-party persons” created “intentional obstructions” to safety and diverted resources from its mission.

Hamm argued the department was downplaying the incident.

She said Thornell needed to focus on security and safety, including staff recruitment and training.

“The public doesn’t seem to understand that prisoners far outnumber the guards and that guards actually use prisoners (and need them) for cooperation and even for safety-related issues,” she wrote.