By Gus G. Sentementes and Greg Garland , Sun reporter|April 10, 2008
With 25 correctional officers facing termination or already fired, a probe that began last month into whether they beat inmates at two Western Maryland prisons has grown into one of the most extensive investigations in years for the state penal system.
Detectives are working with state police and local prosecutors investigating several encounters between inmates and officers in early March at the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown and the North Branch Correctional Institution in Cumberland. So far, 17 officers from RCI have been fired and eight officers from North Branch are on paid administrative leave, prison officials said.
Gary D. Maynard, the state secretary of public safety and correctional services, said in an interview yesterday that the discipline involves an "unusually high number of officers," but not all were involved in an assault. He said some were believed to have lied to investigators, covered up for colleagues or failed to intervene.
Of the 8,000 correctional officers guarding 23,000 inmates in Maryland, Maynard said, "99.9 percent of them are hard-working and dedicated, and follow policy and state law."
Labor unions representing the correctional officers say the state has moved too quickly to fire officers in a broad sweep and have vowed to appeal the terminations.
"We believe this investigation is being pursued in a reckless fashion, and as a result, morale has suffered," said Joe Lawrence, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which will represent the accused officers. Lawrence said that the prison system's internal investigation was marred by "slipshod tactics" and that investigators "railroaded" officers. Mark Vernarelli, a state prison spokesman, called the investigation "one of the biggest" in recent history and said the decisions to fire employees were reviewed at the highest levels. He said he had no new information to release about the investigation, which is focusing on whether the incidents at RCI and North Branch are connected.
Maynard said he views it "as two separate incidents" and that it "would be news to me if there is information tying the two together."
But a source close to the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said the incidents at the two institutions appear to be linked.
