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Let's Discuss---What if!
Read the following story from the Baltimore newspaper. 3 inmates jump and stab a correctional officer to death. Is there anything we as martial artist do and train for that could have helped this C/O?
3 prison inmates kill correctional officer
Jessup facility was on lockdown because of rumors of a planned assault
By Greg Garland
Sun Reporter
Originally published July 26, 2006, 4:16 PM EDT
A 41-year-old correctional officer was stabbed to death at a maximum security prison in Jessup last night after three inmates who jammed the locks to their cell doors got out and attacked him, Maryland prison officials said today.
Division of Correction Commissioner Frank C. Sizer Jr. said the prison had been on lockdown since the weekend -- meaning prisoners were confined mostly to their cells -- because administrators had heard rumors that inmates were planning to assault and try to kill an officer.
"We had received information that inmates might be up to something against officers," Sizer said.
The slain prison guard, David McGuinn, had been working for the prison system for the past two years, according to Sizer. He is the second correctional officer to be killed in the line of duty in Maryland this year.
McGuinn was stabbed in the neck and back about 10 p.m. and died a little over an hour later at Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Sizer said.
The officer's stabbing at the Maryland House of Correction follows a rash of violence at the prison, which houses 1,100 inmates. Two officers were stabbed and seriously injured in March, and three inmates have been killed since May -- including a popular Sunni Muslim inmate leader stabbed to death two weeks ago.
Authorities say they have no information that the recent rash of violence is connected or whether it is gang-related.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said McGuinn's death "reminds you of how dangerous that job is."
"We have people who could make far more money in less dangerous jobs. Our thought and prayers go to the family and our thanks go to the people who put on that uniform every day," Ehrlich said.
Union officials said the state's prison system is in crisis and called for Ehrlich's administration to take action.
"The dangerous and vicious environment in our prisons, particularly at the House, needs to be the governor's priority," said Robert Stephens, acting director of the Maryland Correctional Employees Association.
"No more empty talk. No more tragedies. We need action," Stephens said.
He said that correctional officers understand that their job holds risks "but we cannot send them to work with inmates just laying in wait to exploit an already volatile situation and attack."
Stephens repeated the MCEA's calls for Ehrlich to replace Sizer and Public Safety Department Secretary Mary Ann Saar.
Ron Bailey, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 92, said McGuinn's killing is a shocking indictment of how the prison system is being run.
He said he was stunned when Sizer related that administrators had advance knowledge of possible plans by inmates to attack an officer, and that three had managed to jam their cell locks and get out to attack him.
"I was floored," Bailey said. "I was speechless."
Sizer appointed a new warden, Wendell M. "Pete" France, on Monday and gave him broad authority to make whatever changes he feels are needed to tighten security.
After the fatal attack on McGuinn, officials temporarily transferred security teams from other institutions to assist.
However, the correctional officers' union said those measures may not be enough. They note that despite the violence, the House of Correction has 47 unfilled positions.
"Forty-seven is a lot of vacancies, especially when you have a facility that's antiquated," said Bailey.
Maryland's prisons are understaffed, morale is low and the entire system is in crisis, Bailey said.
"We're saddened and furious by the death of Officer McGuinn," Bailey said. "We're furious because this is another of these situations where we say, 'I told you so.'"
Maj. Priscilla Doggett, a corrections division spokeswoman, said the prison system is moving to fill vacant positions as quickly as possible.
France ran the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center in Baltimore, where inmates entering the system are processed and assigned to a prison. He has had a long career in law enforcement, including serving as a commander and chief of detectives for the Baltimore Police Department in the late 1990s.
3 prison inmates kill correctional officer
Jessup facility was on lockdown because of rumors of a planned assault
By Greg Garland
Sun Reporter
Originally published July 26, 2006, 4:16 PM EDT
A 41-year-old correctional officer was stabbed to death at a maximum security prison in Jessup last night after three inmates who jammed the locks to their cell doors got out and attacked him, Maryland prison officials said today.
Division of Correction Commissioner Frank C. Sizer Jr. said the prison had been on lockdown since the weekend -- meaning prisoners were confined mostly to their cells -- because administrators had heard rumors that inmates were planning to assault and try to kill an officer.
"We had received information that inmates might be up to something against officers," Sizer said.
The slain prison guard, David McGuinn, had been working for the prison system for the past two years, according to Sizer. He is the second correctional officer to be killed in the line of duty in Maryland this year.
McGuinn was stabbed in the neck and back about 10 p.m. and died a little over an hour later at Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Sizer said.
The officer's stabbing at the Maryland House of Correction follows a rash of violence at the prison, which houses 1,100 inmates. Two officers were stabbed and seriously injured in March, and three inmates have been killed since May -- including a popular Sunni Muslim inmate leader stabbed to death two weeks ago.
Authorities say they have no information that the recent rash of violence is connected or whether it is gang-related.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said McGuinn's death "reminds you of how dangerous that job is."
"We have people who could make far more money in less dangerous jobs. Our thought and prayers go to the family and our thanks go to the people who put on that uniform every day," Ehrlich said.
Union officials said the state's prison system is in crisis and called for Ehrlich's administration to take action.
"The dangerous and vicious environment in our prisons, particularly at the House, needs to be the governor's priority," said Robert Stephens, acting director of the Maryland Correctional Employees Association.
"No more empty talk. No more tragedies. We need action," Stephens said.
He said that correctional officers understand that their job holds risks "but we cannot send them to work with inmates just laying in wait to exploit an already volatile situation and attack."
Stephens repeated the MCEA's calls for Ehrlich to replace Sizer and Public Safety Department Secretary Mary Ann Saar.
Ron Bailey, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 92, said McGuinn's killing is a shocking indictment of how the prison system is being run.
He said he was stunned when Sizer related that administrators had advance knowledge of possible plans by inmates to attack an officer, and that three had managed to jam their cell locks and get out to attack him.
"I was floored," Bailey said. "I was speechless."
Sizer appointed a new warden, Wendell M. "Pete" France, on Monday and gave him broad authority to make whatever changes he feels are needed to tighten security.
After the fatal attack on McGuinn, officials temporarily transferred security teams from other institutions to assist.
However, the correctional officers' union said those measures may not be enough. They note that despite the violence, the House of Correction has 47 unfilled positions.
"Forty-seven is a lot of vacancies, especially when you have a facility that's antiquated," said Bailey.
Maryland's prisons are understaffed, morale is low and the entire system is in crisis, Bailey said.
"We're saddened and furious by the death of Officer McGuinn," Bailey said. "We're furious because this is another of these situations where we say, 'I told you so.'"
Maj. Priscilla Doggett, a corrections division spokeswoman, said the prison system is moving to fill vacant positions as quickly as possible.
France ran the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center in Baltimore, where inmates entering the system are processed and assigned to a prison. He has had a long career in law enforcement, including serving as a commander and chief of detectives for the Baltimore Police Department in the late 1990s.
Then again I'm a little more daring.
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