Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR) Director Ryan Thornell is staunchly defending his actions in the wake of criticism over safety measures in state prisons, following a legislative hearing scrutinized by lawmakers and reform advocates where issues of violence and inmate welfare were thrust into the spotlight, as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix. Prison reform advocate Donna Leone Hamm expressed her discontent, saying, "What they're doing doesn't seem to be hitting the mark," underscoring a concern over a rise in inmate-on-inmate assaults during the ad hoc committee hearing, a sentiment echoed by the former ADCRR employee Travis Scott, who tagged Thornell's tenure as one of incompetence and poor decision-making.
Thornell, on the other hand, asserts having brought together the finest leadership team the agency has ever had, in a statement obtained by FOX 10 Phoenix, he is committed to fixing what he acknowledges are deeply rooted issues including a major revamp in response to the violent incident involving inmate Ricky Wassenaar, who is accused of taking the lives of three fellow inmates earlier this year, a situation which Hamm pointed to as indicative of broader systemic failures. In his defense, Thornell detailed several new implementations, such as count procedures, an operational clock, staffing ratio adjustments, and a new approach to close custody management, while conceding to the complexity of the issues at hand and signaling a readiness to work with legislators to delve deeper into the prison violence statistics.
Simultaneously, the ADCRR Director emphasized the steps taken to ramp up security measures, mentioning the deployment of 1,300 body-worn cameras as part of an initiative to bolster transparency and accountability among officers, as per KOLD; however, Hamm countered that the number is insufficient, insisting on the need for widespread adoption of the technology. Despite the changes, critics like Carlos Garcia, Executive Director of the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association, and Leone Hamm voiced concerns, with Garcia stressing the need to revisit the inmate classification system, and Leone Hamm underscoring the importance of separating danger-prone individuals from those working toward rehabilitation, these criticisms come at a time when the ADCRR has announced a series of safety initiatives aimed at reducing violence within the state's prisons.
As ADCRR gears up for a legislative hearing, Thornell stands by the measures being implemented and touts a collaborative effort to create a conducive environment for inmate reentry into society. "Working collaboratively with countless partners and supporters from around the state, ADCRR’s nearly 9,000 correctional officers and staff remain dedicated to their duties of public safety and rehabilitation," Thornell announced in the statement. Meanwhile, Leone Hamm remains cautiously optimistic, acknowledging the efforts while reserving judgment for future results: "As far as whether there’s going to be a long-term sustained reduction in violence – that will only come about when we see the statistics at a future time," she told KOLD, the public and legislature await the outcomes with a watchful eye on the upcoming hearing and forthcoming statistics that will reveal the true impact of these proclaimed reforms.
