Arizona corrections union: No action from state to fix prison cell locks

PHOENIX — Arizona’s corrections union says it’s getting silence from Arizona Department of Corrections leaders and the governor after a sergeant exposed faulty cell locks.

Sgt. Gaby Contreras thinks she won’t move up within the department after she leaked videos from Lewis Prison in Buckeye, but “people’s lives are important,” she said.

“Law enforcement is about having integrity and good ethics.”

In a news conference at a hotel in central Phoenix, the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association says prisons leaders ignored the problem for years.

NOW, corrections Sgt Gabby Contreras tells #phx news media state has done nothing to fix broken locks at Lewis Prison. She claims lots of broken promises. She recorded, leaked videos of inmates escaping cells. ⁦@KTAR923⁩ pic.twitter.com/P7MUE3Rx6m

— Peter Samore (@ktarpetersamore) May 21, 2019

Grievance coordinator Carlos Garcia wants more leaked videos.

“We can’t afford to have any more inmates killed, or staff beaten down, because there’s no sense of urgency,” he said.

“I don’t think they could ever give me enough money to just allow people to get killed every day and just be quiet about it,” Contreras added.

The governor’s office hasn’t given an update on its investigation into the problem. The ACLU of Arizona wants Gov. Doug Ducey to fire Corrections Director Chuck Ryan.

At the news conference, Donna Hamm with the group Middle Ground Prison Reform claimed Ryan told her inmates fix their own cell locks.

Corrections has not commented on this claim.

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