Several men incarcerated at the medium-security state prison in Chillicothe told The Marshall Project – Cleveland that correctional staff, joined by a tactical unit with no body cameras, have increased the use of force and pepper spray. Cell-by-cell searches are ending in altercations. Incarcerated men say they fear retaliation.
Administrators say there’s no basis for that concern. But the correctional officer’s union, the incarcerated population and inspectors all point to an increasingly violent environment.
Authorities say Rashawn Cannon, 27, fatally attacked correctional officer Andrew Lansing, 62, in a guard shack on Christmas. Cannon is the second incarcerated person accused of killing an Ohio corrections employee in nearly 30 years.
In the days following Lansing’s death, prison officials limited access to the dayroom, showers and yard, temporarily suspending prisoner movements and normal activities like in-person visitations. Phone calls and messaging continued.
The Correctional Institution Inspection Committee (CIIC), a bipartisan arm of the Ohio legislature, visited the prison on New Year’s Eve in response to allegations of abuse reported by people behind bars, their families and the media. Inspectors reported no visual signs of physical harm on the bodies of five incarcerated people. But no camera footage of the incidents was reviewed, the CIIC said.
Incarcerated men say they’ve watched even obedient people tackled, handcuffed and beaten. That’s not unusual in a facility with a particularly violent reputation, according to inspections.
Ross led the state’s medium security prisons in 2023 for people refusing to enter their cells out of fear of being assaulted by a cellmate. More than half of prisoners surveyed in recent years say staff have threatened or harassed them, while more than 20% report abuse. Prisoner complaints jumped 32% in 2022, the most recent year on record. At least six incarcerated men have died at Ross since 2021, including two found hanging in their cells and one beaten to death by a cellmate.
Violations for fighting have soared from over 700 in 2018 to over 1,000 in 2023. Fights occur more frequently at Ross than anywhere else, including Ohio’s three maximum security prisons. About 1,845 people are incarcerated at Ross.
And correctional officers at Ross have increasingly used force with about 100 incidents in 2010, 400 in 2015 and nearly 740 in 2023.
This article was first published by The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletters, and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and Facebook.
This article appears in Jan 16-29, 2025.