UNION
CI: WANTON WASTE
NAMING COLONEL COLEMAN
unionci@mail.dc.state.fl.us
Colonel Coleman has made sweeping changes at Union CI in the past several years. He calls this "cleaning up the institution", reportedly accomplished by ordering used, serviceable equipment to be either destroyed or sent to recycling. The proceeds are then given to the Union CI's Employee's Club.
However, along with the used equipment, new parts have been included, because it apparently takes too much time for Coleman's guards to search all the boxes and areas the new parts are stored in. There has been literally hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of new and used material removed from Union CI.
In one instance, two hundred and eighty (280) porcelain toilets were ordered broken up and hauled to the land fill. They cost about ninety ($90) dollars apiece. There were an additional one hundred and seventy (170) stainless steel toilets with sinks taken for recycling, at a cost of a little over two hundred and twenty ($220) dollars apiece.
During the first 2 weeks in December, Colonel Coleman ordered the Maintenance Officer Frank McCullough to clean out all the shops. McCullough did just that by throwing away new and used electrical meters, plumbing parts, refrigeration equipment, and kitchen equipment; stainless steel fryers, ovens, mixers, food processors, and stainless steel serving lines and tables.
Quite a few of the new parts have to be reordered because they are needed to keep the institution running. For instance, right after the toilets were broken up, the Plumbing shop had to order eight (8) new ones to replace the ones the guards broke while searching cells in the S.W. U. Housing.
On December 31, 2001, Colonel Coleman contacted Dave Stevens, Plumbing Supervisor at Union CI and asked him about the destruction of the two hundred and eighty porcelain toilets and the recycling of the one hundred seventy stainless steel toilets.
Stevens agreed that the toilets were disposed of. Colonel Coleman then instructed Stevens to make sure the "paper work" was destroyed, so that concerns about the items "don't bit me on the ass".
Coleman said nothing to Correctional Officer McCullough, who had given the order under Coleman's direction to dispose of the toilets in the first place.
About a week later, C.O. McCullough ordered the prisoners that work in the Electric Shop to throw away eighty-five (85) new electronic dead bolt locks, along with assorted electrical wire and cable. The electronic dead bolt locks cost the DOC (re: The Public) about five hundred seventy ($570) dollars each. Yes, that's right: In less than 30 minutes, they threw away over $45,000.
Colonel Coleman then ordered his "security" staff to search the New Construction area, where "The Rock" used to stand (where they were building two new lock-down buildings). The "security" officers not only searched the area, they totally destroyed about half the hot water heaters, air conditioning units, exhaust blower assemblies and other new equipment that was still in boxes and not even installed yet.
The foreman of New Construction, Mr. Ford, told Union CI Warden about the "search" and filed an Incident Report. Ford told the warden that he had to account for why he has to order new material to replace what was destroyed by the "security" officers and he would like the findings and responses to the Incident Report to help him explain why "security" felt the need to destroy the equipment. The warden assured Mr. Ford that it would not happen again.
Four days after Ford talked with the warden, Colonel Coleman sent "security" officers back to new construction to search the area again. During this search, the remaining equipment that had not been destroyed the first time around was destroyed this time.
At the same time, two of Mr. Ford's prison staff were locked up by "security" officers allegedly for disrespect. The two prisoners were told to tell Mr. Ford to "back off" or he may find that his vehicle may have drugs taped to the underside of it one day.
The December disposal of the toilets may directly be responsible for Plumbing Shop Supervisor Dave Stevens being arrested for marijuana allegedly found in his vehicle on Friday, February 8, 2002.
There are several reasons why it could be possible that the threat to Mr. Ford (about drugs on his vehicle) may have happened to Dave Stevens.
First, the prisoner who originally wrote out the story about the waste sent it to Rep. Karen Thurman on December 15th 2001, asking for her discretion in use of the information (for fear of retaliation). Either Rep. Thurman or her Legislative Director John P.R. Washington II, obviously didn't understand the workings of the DOC and her office sent the letter straight to Michael Moore's office. Anyway, somehow someone leaked the implications to Colonel Coleman.
On Saturday, January 26, 2002, Colonel Coleman made an early morning raid accompanied by drug dogs , and concentrated on prisoners that work in or around the Plumbing Shop at Union CI.
Colonel Coleman had thirty-five (35) prisoners handcuffed behind their backs and shackled from approximately 7:30AM until 2:00PM.
The prisoners were subjected to urine tests while their cells were destroyed along with their personal property and legal documents.
No drugs were found, but three prisoners allegedly tested positive for marijuana and one of them was actually out of the plumbing shop: Steve 'Red' Brannon, DC#014335, 5'5", 135 lbs, 50+ years old, was locked up pending two Disciplinary Hearings.
On February 4, 2002, 'Red' was assaulted by Colonel Coleman and returned to his lockup cell bleeding from contusions on his arms and chest.
On February 8, 2002, Colonel Coleman lead the raid on Plumbing Shop Supervisor Dave Stevens, who resides in a DOC owned residence on prison property, where a small amount of marijuana was allegedly found in Steven's vehicle.
It is hard to believe that Florida Department of "Corrections" administrators are more concerned with a little 'dope' than they are about the murders their "security" officers commit.
During January and February 2002, the 'dope dogs' have been on the Union compound three times, over 150 prisoners were urine tested, while their cells were destroyed along with most of their personal property, and three people actually tested positive for marijuana. However, I've not even heard a good rumor as to what is taking place in regard to investigations into the prisoners' deaths named in the account on MTWT called UNION CI MURDERS AND ASSAULTS http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/prison/unionmurder.html
The only action that we have seen in regard to the December 2001 destruction of property report is that the paper receipts for the toilets have allegedly "been taken care of", Steve 'Red' Brannon has been assaulted by Colonel Coleman, 35 other prisoners have been punished, Dave Stevens was possibly set up on a drug charge, and outgoing and incoming legal and privileged mail is now searched outside of prisoners' view under the authority of a Dec. 15, 2001 memorandum.
From the foregoing events, it appears that Legislative Director John P.R. Washington II forwarded the December 2001 account to the appropriate office, including a copy to Michael Moore. However I seriously doubt that any review and response from the 'appropriate office' will disclose any of the events mentioned herein.
When is all this waste going to stop? How can Colonel Coleman order hundreds of thousands of dollars of state property to be destroyed and recycled without having to answer to anyone for his actions? When the public learns about the waste, then it will have to stop.
If you want to know why the public never hears about all the goings on in Florida prisons, it's because people like Rep. Karen Thurman doesn't understand what they are doing when they turn prisoners' names over to the very people who are directly responsible for murdering prisoners with impunity, subjecting prisoners to severe beatings, and planting 'dope' on anyone who is a threat to their position within the Florida Department of "Corrections".
What has taken place at Union and throughout the Florida DOC strongly reflects the fact that neither you nor I are up to the task of setting these matters straight, because this story is starting to read like a Carl Hiaasen novel. Therefore, I'm going to send this to every major newspaper I can find, in the hopes that together, even if we can't stop DOC from wasting taxpayer's money, at least maybe we can stop them from killing prisoners.