|
#1
●
01-31-2011, 12:45 AM
|
|
Correctional Officer in Washington State Prison is Found Dead
"This Happened about 30 minutes from my house last night. It's all over the news." Monroe, WA - A female correctional officer at a Washington state prison was fatally strangled and an inmate who told officers he had planned to escape is under investigation, authorities said Sunday. Jayme Biendl, 34, was discovered late Saturday night after workers at the Monroe Correctional Complex noticed her keys and radio were missing, according to a statement from the Washington State Department of Corrections. Staff at the prison immediately went to where she worked and found her unresponsive, it said. Emergency responders declared Biendl dead at the scene shortly before 11 p.m. PT, the department said. She had been strangled, according to Chad Lewis, a department spokesman. Also Saturday night, a prison inmate was reported missing during a routine count, the department said. He was later found in the chapel lobby and told officers he had planned to escape, but changed his mind. The inmate, who Lewis identified as Byron Scherf, has since been taken to a segregation unit. The entire complex was on lockdown Sunday as officers investigate the incident, the statement said. Police are interviewing Scherf as a suspect in the officer's death, Lewis said. Biendl had worked with the corrections department since 2002. |
|
#8
●
01-31-2011, 12:36 PM
|
|
Re: Correctional Officer in Washington State Prison is Found Dead
The recent budget cuts (put into place a couple weeks ago by Govenor Christine Gregoire) had her work alone unarmed and with out of date equipment in the chapel while the other COs were pre-occupied in looking for Scherf. |
|
#10
●
01-31-2011, 10:25 PM
|
|
Re: Correctional Officer in Washington State Prison is Found Dead
It likely wouldn't have made a difference the sex of a correctional officer is, it's simply a dangerous, high stress profession. But in truth the vast majority of attacks and murders of COs are against men. Bureau of Justice Statistics show the following: - 77.7% are male, 22.3% female - Correctional Officers (CO’s) have the second highest mortality rate of any occupation. - 33.5% of all assaults in prisons and jails are committed by inmates against staff. - A CO’s 58th birthday, on average, is their last. - A CO will be seriously assaulted at least twice in a 20 year career. - On average a CO will live only 18 months after retirement. Assaults: - 33,000 inmate on staff assaults per year - 90 assaults per day, 3.7 per hour - 2.7 staff assaults per 100 inmates – county - 1.4 staff assaults per 100 inmates – state - 0.9 staff assaults per 100 inmates – federal |