The following article, which has been abridged, appeared in www.delmarvanow.com, posted 27 July, 2009 (without copyright notice). This appalling item is worth reading both for what it reports, and for what it does not.
A staff member at a state-run juvenile detention center “created mass chaos” when she opened a cottage door, allowing several angry teenage boys into a building where youths were fighting with staff, according to an internal report obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
As the violence escalated, more staff members were assaulted and 14 youths escaped from the Victor Cullen Center near Sabillasville, according the report by the Department of Juvenile Services’ inspector general’s office. Six staff members sought medical attention after the melee on the night of May 27.
The staffer who opened the cottage door, letting in excited youths from a neighboring cottage, later lied to investigators by saying a co-worker told her to open it, the report says. Actually, her supervisor had ordered her not to open it, investigators found.
The staffer, whose named was redacted from the report obtained by the AP through a Public Information Act request, received the harshest criticism among six workers who were recommended for discipline.
“Her actions created mass chaos and danger in an already unstable cottage environment, as well as placing the safety and security of the entire campus in a compromising and perilous position,” the investigators found.
Six Victor Cullen employees were disciplined for the incident, according to another report released last week by the Maryland Juvenile Justice Monitor, a division of the attorney general’s office. The workers’ union says one of them was fired.
The union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is appealing the disciplinary actions.
The inspector general’s report, dated June 22, faults a second staffer for allowing a youth more than his allotted 10 minutes on the telephone. The violence began when the boy punched the man when he tried to take back the phone, according to the report.
The report recommends that the campus supervisor be disciplined for failing to provide direction as youths struck staff members with fists and furniture, grabbed handcuffs and seized a two-way radio to broadcast taunting messages.
“Although not negligent, she was ineffective as a leader and participant in this incident,” the report states.
A fourth staffer was cited for leaving the cottage and abandoning his peers after a youth spit in his face several times.
“He should have been able to maintain control of his anger for the benefit of the team and recognize that his assistance was paramount,” the investigators wrote.
A fifth staffer was faulted for failing to notify others when she left the most troublesome cottage, called Rutledge, to check on a co-worker who had been assaulted by youth in the neighboring Raine cottage. As she opened the door to Raine, some of the boys ran out and into Rutledge, investigators found.
“She should have requested assistance to enter Raine for her own safety and the safety of others,” the report states.
The staffer who was assaulted in Raine was faulted for inattentiveness to the rising excitement among youth in his own cottage as he watched the fight in Rutledge through a window.
“He stood for nearly eight minutes prior to his assault, along with youth beside and behind him, watching the incident transpiring on Rutledge. Youth were able to take possession of his radio,” the report states.
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