Ms. Dora Schriro
Director Arizona Department of Corrections
Central Office
1600 W. Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Dear Ms. Schriro,
In our first letter to you, the Arizona Prison Wives Club acknowledged our understanding that you are trying to change a system that is not used to change. We know that you are going up against a lot of well entrenched government officials (i.e.: wardens, correctional officers) who want to keep the "good 'ole boys" policies in force by simply locking up offenders and largely throwing away the key. However, we also know, from experience, that the Arizona Department of Corrections also has a number of line officers and staff who do support your efforts and do try to make a difference in the lives of the men and women for whom prison is a bitter reality.Unlike your predecessors, you seem to be taking a more humanist approach to your vast staff, recognizing that most are underpaid correctional officers, trying to deal with the multiple conflicts of public vigilantism vs prison reform vs the “old boys club” vs the inmates themselves. You have been quoted as saying, "Empowering our workforce is our goal,” with a focus on the "3 R's": recruitment, retention and recognition. When the governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on the Lewis crisis cited a "lack of professionalism" on the part of DOC staff, you declared that it was not the fault of the officers, but rather the fault of management. In a climate of institutionalized finger pointing and blame, you recognized that change does not come from the top, but rather from the bottom. Since the Arizona DOC slogan is - "We Strive Toward Excellence;" starting this month, and continuing with each of our letters, we will be identifying a correctional officer or individual who serves in some capacity in an Arizona prison as our “CO of the Month,” and who demonstrates this motto in action. We will be naming the individual and the circumstance(s) which gave rise to their nomination. As the Director of the Arizona DOC, we feel you deserve to know that there are many COs and Arizona prison staff who not only try and do their jobs as written, but try to treat our loved ones with at least a modicum of respect and treat those of us on the outside with courtesy. With pleasure, the Arizona Prison Wives Club is pleased to recommend the following individual as our first “CO of the Month”:****Ms. Ann Reeder ADW for Barchey at the Lewis Complex******Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Misty
Arizona Prison Wives Club Member
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Dora Letter # 2
Dear Ms. Schriro,
Arizona Prison Wives Club will address many other concerns in the coming months, concerns that impact the safety and health of our loved ones. In addition to their physical well-being, we are concerned with their emotional well-being. This month the concern is regarding a recent policy change impacting the holiday visitation schedule. The Department of Corrections, under your leadership, has made efforts at providing incentives for appropriate behavior. We appreciate the incentives because it encourages our loved ones to make better decisions, hopefully leading to better lives for them and their families.According to Department Order 911.05, Paragraph 1.9, visitors may no longer visit on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mother’s Day is an added holiday visit and is always on a Sunday, so visits are obviously available. We want to express our past appreciation for Thanksgiving and Christmas visitation. We believe that these are the two most important holidays. Respectively, they are important for inmates and their families, as well as correctional officers and their families. Thanksgiving and Christmas provides valuable time for inmates with family connections. In many cases, because of visiting from out of town, there are family members who may only get to visit the inmate during these two holidays. We ask that you consider reinstating these two holidays. This incentive would improve the emotional well-being of our loved ones during a very emotionally-charged time of the year. Young children especially need to be able to spend Christmas day with their incarcerated mother or father. We know that our loved ones are very unhappy with this policy change and we, as family members, are as well. Some visitors, in speaking with correctional officers regarding holiday visits, have been told that visitation officers did not get to see their families because they had to work Thanksgiving and Christmas. We know that incentive pay is offered in most companies when employees work major holidays. We also understand that it might be more difficult to staff visitation with those who volunteer to work holidays because the visitation staff is already in place. It is most likely difficult to rotate correctional officers in and out of that support department. However, prison is an operation that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and correctional officers are scheduled to work every day, even holidays. With that, we ask, what the exception is for the visitation staff? We have two suggestions we would like for you to consider. Please note that our preference is the first suggestion.1) Reinstate Christmas and Thanksgiving visitation. 2) Post Thanksgiving visits for the Friday after Thanksgiving. And for Christmas, if it falls on a Wednesday through Saturday, give the holiday visit on the Friday of that week; and if it falls on the Sunday through Tuesday, give the holiday visit on the Monday of that week.We see this proposition as a win/win for both the Arizona Department of Corrections and the families and friends of inmates. Please thoughtfully consider these suggestions, as we do find it very important during that sentimental yet vulnerable time of the year to keep those we love in a festive spirit during the hardest time of their incarceration. Thanks again for your time in getting to know the Arizona Prison Wives Club.
Sincerely,
Misty
Arizona Prison Wives Club Member
Arizona Prison Wives Club will address many other concerns in the coming months, concerns that impact the safety and health of our loved ones. In addition to their physical well-being, we are concerned with their emotional well-being. This month the concern is regarding a recent policy change impacting the holiday visitation schedule. The Department of Corrections, under your leadership, has made efforts at providing incentives for appropriate behavior. We appreciate the incentives because it encourages our loved ones to make better decisions, hopefully leading to better lives for them and their families.According to Department Order 911.05, Paragraph 1.9, visitors may no longer visit on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mother’s Day is an added holiday visit and is always on a Sunday, so visits are obviously available. We want to express our past appreciation for Thanksgiving and Christmas visitation. We believe that these are the two most important holidays. Respectively, they are important for inmates and their families, as well as correctional officers and their families. Thanksgiving and Christmas provides valuable time for inmates with family connections. In many cases, because of visiting from out of town, there are family members who may only get to visit the inmate during these two holidays. We ask that you consider reinstating these two holidays. This incentive would improve the emotional well-being of our loved ones during a very emotionally-charged time of the year. Young children especially need to be able to spend Christmas day with their incarcerated mother or father. We know that our loved ones are very unhappy with this policy change and we, as family members, are as well. Some visitors, in speaking with correctional officers regarding holiday visits, have been told that visitation officers did not get to see their families because they had to work Thanksgiving and Christmas. We know that incentive pay is offered in most companies when employees work major holidays. We also understand that it might be more difficult to staff visitation with those who volunteer to work holidays because the visitation staff is already in place. It is most likely difficult to rotate correctional officers in and out of that support department. However, prison is an operation that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and correctional officers are scheduled to work every day, even holidays. With that, we ask, what the exception is for the visitation staff? We have two suggestions we would like for you to consider. Please note that our preference is the first suggestion.1) Reinstate Christmas and Thanksgiving visitation. 2) Post Thanksgiving visits for the Friday after Thanksgiving. And for Christmas, if it falls on a Wednesday through Saturday, give the holiday visit on the Friday of that week; and if it falls on the Sunday through Tuesday, give the holiday visit on the Monday of that week.We see this proposition as a win/win for both the Arizona Department of Corrections and the families and friends of inmates. Please thoughtfully consider these suggestions, as we do find it very important during that sentimental yet vulnerable time of the year to keep those we love in a festive spirit during the hardest time of their incarceration. Thanks again for your time in getting to know the Arizona Prison Wives Club.
Sincerely,
Misty
Arizona Prison Wives Club Member
Dora Letter #1
Dear Ms. Schriro,
We would like to introduce ourselves as the Arizona Prison Wives Club (AZPWC). We are a non-profit, letter writing campaign club made up of women whose husbands, boyfriends, sons and friends are incarcerated in the Arizona State Prison Complexes and private prisons contracted with the Arizona Department of Corrections. Our mission is to promote positive ideas and support efforts that help inmates, through their families, bridge the communication barrier with the Arizona Department of Corrections about concerns and issues that we face while going through this trial of imprisonment. AZPWC was established recently by a group of women that want to have their voices heard. We all, in one way or another, have ties to the prison system. We have experienced "the good, the bad and the ugly" of the Arizona Prison System. We have cried and complained to each other and to our loved ones in prison and realize this is a wasted energy. We have called and complained to correctional officers, Sergeants, Deputy Wardens, and Wardens in the facilities. At times, this has resulted in nothing but retaliation. We are now being pro-active and are focusing our attention directly to you, Ms. Schriro. As the director of The Arizona Department of Corrections you have the ability to implement changes. Who, but the wives, mothers and friends of these inmates, knows better than anyone what these men need? We believe that you truly have the best interests of both the inmates and the community in mind. We have researched your "Parallel Universe" plans from Missouri. We have read articles about your "V-8" moment with your grandfather. We want our men to use their time in prison for true reform, as we think you do. We understand that you are trying to change a system that is not used to change. We understand that you are going up against a lot of government officials (i.e.: Wardens, CO’s) that want to keep the "good 'ole boys" policies in force. We want to work with you, to help you see what is actually going on within your organization. We see the corruption and break down of your policies; the Correctional Officers that usurp their authority on both inmates and visitors, the Wardens that undermine your authority, the lack of follow through with reform, the price gouging with the inmate store, vending machines and collect phone calls, the lack of education, programming, medical attention and the underlying truth that the department doesn’t want the public to know about deaths in the prison, the way the correctional officers wrongfully play the inmates against each other, the lack of true security through visitation intake and the focus being more on petty issues. These are some of the issues we will be writing about monthly.We are here to hold the prison system accountable for the tax dollars used to support the prisons, the unfair treatment of these inmates, the basic warehousing of people that is creating a vicious cycle. We are asking for a genuine effort in prison reform, restoring these inmates to the best of their ability to enter back into our homes and society, and lowering Arizona’s high recidivism rate. We will be writing every month, about a different issue or topic that we feel needs your attention. We will be writing about suggestions that might be helpful in implementing some positive policy changes. We are adding members daily and each of us have our own voice. These letters will be personally signed by each member of the club and it is our hope that you read these letters and have a genuine interest in our concern for the agency you control. We are here for the long haul in helping you help us. We are here to have our voices heard once and for all. As long as you have inmates you will have the Arizona Prison Wives Club backing them up.Thank you for taking the time to get to know the Arizona Prison Wives Club. Our next letter is scheduled to go out June 1st 2008.
Thank You,
Misty
Arizona Prison Wives Club Member
We would like to introduce ourselves as the Arizona Prison Wives Club (AZPWC). We are a non-profit, letter writing campaign club made up of women whose husbands, boyfriends, sons and friends are incarcerated in the Arizona State Prison Complexes and private prisons contracted with the Arizona Department of Corrections. Our mission is to promote positive ideas and support efforts that help inmates, through their families, bridge the communication barrier with the Arizona Department of Corrections about concerns and issues that we face while going through this trial of imprisonment. AZPWC was established recently by a group of women that want to have their voices heard. We all, in one way or another, have ties to the prison system. We have experienced "the good, the bad and the ugly" of the Arizona Prison System. We have cried and complained to each other and to our loved ones in prison and realize this is a wasted energy. We have called and complained to correctional officers, Sergeants, Deputy Wardens, and Wardens in the facilities. At times, this has resulted in nothing but retaliation. We are now being pro-active and are focusing our attention directly to you, Ms. Schriro. As the director of The Arizona Department of Corrections you have the ability to implement changes. Who, but the wives, mothers and friends of these inmates, knows better than anyone what these men need? We believe that you truly have the best interests of both the inmates and the community in mind. We have researched your "Parallel Universe" plans from Missouri. We have read articles about your "V-8" moment with your grandfather. We want our men to use their time in prison for true reform, as we think you do. We understand that you are trying to change a system that is not used to change. We understand that you are going up against a lot of government officials (i.e.: Wardens, CO’s) that want to keep the "good 'ole boys" policies in force. We want to work with you, to help you see what is actually going on within your organization. We see the corruption and break down of your policies; the Correctional Officers that usurp their authority on both inmates and visitors, the Wardens that undermine your authority, the lack of follow through with reform, the price gouging with the inmate store, vending machines and collect phone calls, the lack of education, programming, medical attention and the underlying truth that the department doesn’t want the public to know about deaths in the prison, the way the correctional officers wrongfully play the inmates against each other, the lack of true security through visitation intake and the focus being more on petty issues. These are some of the issues we will be writing about monthly.We are here to hold the prison system accountable for the tax dollars used to support the prisons, the unfair treatment of these inmates, the basic warehousing of people that is creating a vicious cycle. We are asking for a genuine effort in prison reform, restoring these inmates to the best of their ability to enter back into our homes and society, and lowering Arizona’s high recidivism rate. We will be writing every month, about a different issue or topic that we feel needs your attention. We will be writing about suggestions that might be helpful in implementing some positive policy changes. We are adding members daily and each of us have our own voice. These letters will be personally signed by each member of the club and it is our hope that you read these letters and have a genuine interest in our concern for the agency you control. We are here for the long haul in helping you help us. We are here to have our voices heard once and for all. As long as you have inmates you will have the Arizona Prison Wives Club backing them up.Thank you for taking the time to get to know the Arizona Prison Wives Club. Our next letter is scheduled to go out June 1st 2008.
Thank You,
Misty
Arizona Prison Wives Club Member
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