Mr. Ricky Dixon, Secretary
Florida Department of Corrections
501 S. Calhoun St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2500
Re: Francisco Fuster-Escalona, #821200
Everglades Correctional Institution
1599 SW 187th Avenue
Miami, FL 33194-2801
Respected Mr. Dixon:
In my assessment, the worse problem that has been consistently interfering with the legal duties and objective of the departments of correction nationwide: to turn bad people into good people, is their staff members. People that are themselves in need of psychological help, or people without proper academic education, cannot provide much meaningful help to the prisoners. For many decades the wrong people have been hired. Frequently, people without a (real) High School Diploma, therefore, with a poor low level of academic education, which is usually a mandatory requirement of the job. Frequently, people that are devoid of the ability to think logically and to properly perform their duties with some common sense. Very frequently, people that are receptive to illegal or dishonest conduct. In some cases, people with mental illness, even people with psychopathic personality. This is not my personal opinion. I have been witnessing it during my over 40 years in prison. It is an ongoing problem all over the nation that has been well documented by published books and magazines and newspaper articles: that many correctional officials nationwide are functioning under one or more distorted behavioral patterns and as a result, under corrupted prison policies. It is impossible for an uneducated brain, or for a brain that is functioning under the corrupted thoughts of its animalistic lower nature, to be able to provide the required psychological help and moral guidance that most prisoners need to purify their thoughts. Without a profound purification of the thought system, no external behavior modifications is possible.
ELIMINATING THE MASSIVE CONSTANT TURNOVER
Finding sane and educated minds that are willing to work in the prison setting is difficult and expensive. Keeping them employed is even more difficult. The main reason for the ongoing high and constant turnover is the rejection of corruption. This is an unrecognized and highly inconvenient fact. It is reasonable to expect that sane and educated minds do not approve much dishonesty and criminal conduct. Therefore, they quit very soon. To begin to address this very real and important problem, the elected law makers must legislate for some unwanted new laws that requires an independent board of directors made up of civilians to take charge of supervising the conduct of all the employees of the correctional agency and it’s contractors, as well as of all the appropriation of funds. Further, all the employees that cannot provide solid evidence of a High School Diploma from a verifiable accredited school as well as all those employees with a serious record of violations of their duties, should be replaced as soon as possible as provided by the applicable laws. Further, we need proper and strong new leadership at every level of the agency, to enforce the agency’s rules governing the conduct of all the staff members, uniformly and with undiluted honesty, specially in connection to the prisoner’s grievances against staff members. As a result of said required measures, in a matter of about two years, the agency will be able to provide a new working environment with real dignity and thus with a high employees morale that can attract the right type of employees.
LEADERS MUST HAVE HIGHER EDUCATION
To promote a security staff employee, with only a High School Diploma (12 years of academic education), to a job of leadership beyond the level of Captain, represents a serious violation of the Peter”s Principle. The education that is provided from a High School Diploma provides a limited level of general knowledge and higher consciousness, that in most cases can qualify a correctional officer to advance to the leadership positions of sergeant subsequently of lieutenant and subsequently of captain, taking into consideration the knowledge provided by the working experience provided by the job. However, the leadership positions of major of colonel, and of assistant warden, should require specific education of the criminal justice system provided by an accredited college’s Associates Degree. Every person in the leadership position of warden should have received the academic training in criminal justice provided by a Bachelor’s Degree. The usual current salaries and benefits that are being offered by each of those positions justify the requirement for a higher education. The current goal for properly educated correctional employees is imperative to accomplish the legal duties and objectives of each correctional agency nationwide.
NO TOLERANCE FOR THE COVER UP CODE
There are rules and laws that serve to punish the illegal conduct of the correctional officers that show no regards for the rules and the laws governing their conduct. However, they are, in most cases, disregarded and ignored. The corrupted officials that brake the rules and the laws usually get away with their bad conduct, because there is a cover up code between correctional employees. Any official that dares to protect the legal right of due process of law of an abused prisoner, most likely will have to face bad consequences. The inmates’ grievance process is devoid of integrity as a direct result of the perpetual cover up code. The cover up code between correctional employees is responsible for the massive turn over of employees.
I have drafted this in good faith and sincere love for the wellbeing of society in general.
Respectfully,
Francisco Fuster-Escalona