I’m a former Louisville corrections officer. Are public servants lives being ruined?
Seeing recent news on issues at Louisville Metro Department of Corrections, I wasn’t surprised. However, I’m a former Louisville correctional officer, so I’m a little jaded.
I’ve seen how this city does things, both through police patrolman and in the courts. Frisked by police here weekly just for jogging on the Southern Parkway walk-and-run trail back in the 1990s, I left corrections in 1998 to return to active-duty military. After my last tour, I entered law enforcement in Louisiana, gaining the rank of lieutenant before coming back. Even so, I changed career paths to keep away from Louisville Metro Police Department and LMDC after returning home following my mother’s death.
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This city simply breeds distrust and paranoia.
Nonetheless, I was surprised at some things regarding the “Former corrections officer arrested for attempting to smuggle drugs into jail” Spectrum News' Chris Hughes, reported. After a year of investigation, everything against this woman – including the source of charges – is still “alleged,” and that screams a need for third-party review. Several questions came to mind after reading every article I could find online: How did this investigation start? (Pray it wasn’t from an inmate, because that “Games Inmates Play” [including manipulation and outright lies] was part of Corrections Officer basic training.)
Why has there been not one single quote from the police/ corrections union about this case? Why no interview of the accused or any of her coworkers by any of the multiple news agencies that have reported on the “alleged” conspiracy? Why, after over a year of investigation, is her only real infraction reported as being that she had her cellphone on her at work? (That sounds like an employee counseling issue if it’s a first occurrence. If not the first time, why haven’t we heard about all her other work rule violations?) And, from a safety perspective, was she placed in protective custody? (None of the articles state that she was, and I’ve personally seen former COs and police placed in general population.)
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Further, it’s very convenient that this arrest came after the release of reports by both the US Department of Justice and the FBI. Could this poor woman – one of the few women in a field dominated by men – simply be some sort of scapegoat or diversion, sadly being used by the LMDC and LMPD as a target of opportunity? That would be consistent with the reports of the officers working there.
My fear, having seen the inner workings of this city so long ago, is that a public servant’s life is being ruined over some petty political and bureaucratic misdirection. And, unfortunately, I don’t see anyone asking the needed questions.
John C. Johnson is a former Louisiana deputy and Louisville correctional officer, now a registered nurse and published nonfiction author now living in Harrodsburg KY.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: I’m a former Louisville corrections officer. Are lives being ruined?
