Department of Corrections Chief Alvin Keller: a big disappointment

With experience as a military judge, and his imposing “no nonsense” persona, the newly appointed secretary to the North Carolina Department of Corrections seemed to bring promise to the position. However, not far into his tenure, those aspirations have been hopelessly dashed. Mr. Keller’s reaction and response to the crimes committed by his officers against a mentally ill inmate, Timothy Helms, only goes to verify that the deplorable situation in the correctional facilities in the Tar Heel state will continue.

There is a long litany of emotional and physical mistreatment and abuse of inmates in North Carolina prisons and jails. It is no secret that inmates are frequently subjected to inhumane treatment by correctional staff. They have gotten away with their criminal abusive activities in the past, and by judging the way Secretary Keller handled the case of Timothy Helms, they will continue to have free rein to inflict as much bodily damage to inmates without fear of any disciplinary action. The correctional officers have been given carte blanche to torture and inflict physical and mental injury on inmates based on the response to Mr. Helms’s beating by Secretary Alvin Keller, the purposefully inept investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, and the deafening silence coming from the Attorney General’s Office and office of Governor Bev Perdue.

To its credit, the media has mentioned occasional instances of abuse, otherwise I would not be able to document what I know is taking place in North Carolina’s prison system. But the media could and should do more to bring this serious moral and humanitarian blight on our state and society to the attention of its subscribers, the public. Calls for serious and significant changes in our state’s penal system are lacking.

What I would recommend would be for the state to take the following rudimentary, but important steps:
1. Change the mindset of the staff to understand that even though inmates may be caged like animals, they are, in fact, human beings. They should be treated, at the minimum, with respect.
2. Change the mindset of the staff to understand that they will be held accountable for their actions towards inmates, and that if they act outside of professional, legal, or moral bounds, they will be held liable.
3. Change the mindset of the staff to understand that inmates are not incarcerated for the purpose of being subjected to punishment. The purpose of their detention is to protect people and property outside the prison walls.
4. Allow inmates better access to family members will help assure that they are treated better by the staff. I’m not suggesting that supervision of visits or communications should be eliminated; the amount of supervision should be based on a case by case model.
5. Assure that prisoners are watched by staff of the same gender. Unclothed inmates subjected to observation and handling by staff members of the opposite sex is a situation that is not only humiliating and embarrassing, but can result in emotional and psychological damage. Specifically, inmate Bill Rayburn stated that while he was naked a female guard sprayed him in his genitals with pepper spray and laughed about it. This Abu Ghraib type of activity is deplorable and should not be allowed in North Carolina or this country.
6. Attempts should be made to identify those inmates with mental illness and see that they get appropriate treatment. Definitely actions should not be taken to exacerbate emotional problems, such as holding Mr. Helms in solitary confinement much longer than is recommended.
7. Finally, I would recommend that the Department of Corrections opens up its records, investigations, and other activities for public scrutiny in order to help assure that the inmate population is not mistreated.

Although most of the inmates in custody have been convicted of a crime, that does not necessarily mean that they are all guilty. Nor does it mean that they are necessarily bad, malicious, and evil people. Some may have made bad choices, or been especially hard hit by the downturn in the economy… and some may be innocent. Whatever the reason for their incarceration, the bottom line is that all inmates are human and deserve to be treated humanely. If the correctional officers treat the inmates better, I am certain that they will find that the inmates will reciprocate and be more cooperative with them.

Unfortunately I do not have much hope that any of the aforementioned recommendations will be adopted by the DOC, especially in light of recent action by its secretary, Alvin Keller with regards to Timothy Helms.