Back in late 2016 a video appeared on Fox 8 that showed at least two cell doors at the Cuyahoga County Jail that could be unlocked by inmates with something as simple as a plastic spoon. It’s been an ongoing problem dating back years now and despite the County’s assurances that they’ve been fixed officers say many locks remain suspect.
Charles Campbell, the officer who shot the video, has now been demoted from corporal to corrections officer for his efforts. County spokesperson Mary Louise Madigan told Fox 8 the demotion was due to “not reporting the problems through proper channels.”
Officers are calling bullshit on that explanation, for what it’s worth: Complaints about the doors have literally been ongoing through official (union grievances) and unofficial (just general chatter) for far longer than the County would like to admit. The idea that Campbell hustled the video out to the media before or instead of revealing his concerns to management is laughable.
This article appears in Apr 5-11, 2017.
Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989…….
The “management” philosophy from the Dimora crime syndicate is apparently still clicking along in county government.
He needs to get an attorney and sue. The doors at county were discontinued items when they were installed. I was the supervisor in the same area until I retired. The problem of inmates ‘popping’ the locks with spoons, as well as other items, has been going on for many years prior to Campbell was even made a supervisor. Administration is just using him as a scapegoat to pretend they never knew about the problem. Look up the multiple reports made years ago for this same problem. Inmates have been put in lockup for doing this which has generated a report each time it happened. Administration has never cared about fixing the problem because there is no cheap fix. All of the doors in Jail II are in dire need of being replaced…and replaced with something that is not cheap or a discontinued item.