Two prison officers who tested positive for amphetamines were given suspension and verbal warning, while another was issued a letter of reprimand for assaulting an inmate, engaging in mutual combat and arranging a fight between two inmates, Sen. Chris Barnett stated in a letter to Department of Corrections Director Fred Bordallo.
Barnett sent a letter to Bordallo on Tuesday after Barnett indicated DOC staff members shared their concerns with Barnett's office.
Barnett in his letter then went on to express concern over whether DOC is upholding standards as a drug-free workplace, considering the fact that officers know they are subject to random drug testing.
"When officers are hired, they acknowledge this. When they give urine samples, they acknowledge this. Law enforcement are exempt from 'safe harbor' and it is standard policy to terminate law enforcement personnel who fail to adhere to the drug-free workplace policy and don't appeal the findings of the drug tests. I am told neither of the officers who tested positive for drugs made any effort to appeal the positive results of their random drug tests," Barnett wrote, adding that "failure to send a strong message" is unfair to officers who uphold the standards expected of them.
"Failing to address the misconduct of officers is also unacceptable, and sends the message that the rules don't apply or are not important enough to be followed," Barnett stated.
In his letter, the senator continued to highlight DOC's "troubled past with misconduct and corruption" and asked Bordallo to "not help perpetuate this and commit to ensuring zero tolerance for drug use and misconduct by officers at DOC."
More recently, Barnett referred to the discovery of 100 grams of crystal methamphetamine at DOC.
"Given the recent events surrounding the discovery of 100 grams of crystal methamphetamine at the prison, it goes without saying that any officer involved in drug use or the smuggling of contraband must face the stiffest and most severest penalties that you can dole out as an agency director and our justice system can deliver. Several officers shared their concerns that the bad apples are going unpunished. The prison's leadership values must align with your staff's desire to see bad apples weeded out and punished accordingly," Barnett wrote.
According to Post files, Bordallo earlier this month revealed there was a "large discovery of contraband" found at the prison in recent months that currently is being looked into by the FBI.
Barnett, in conclusion, asked Bordallo to conduct more random drug testing and to hold officers accountable for failing their tests.
"Guam law states random drug testing of law enforcement personnel must be performed three times a year? Are you meeting this mandate?" asked Barnett in the letter. He also brought up incidents of assault.
"I ask that you also take more seriously any instances of corrections officers assaulting inmates. The employees in the department must see that leadership will not tolerate violations of law and standards of conduct. This goes without saying, but I just wanted to memorialize it," Barnett wrote.
Bordallo
The Guam Daily Post inquired with Bordallo on Wednesday regarding the letter.
Bordallo responded that he received the letter and acknowledged receipt of the letter to Barnett, but did not want to share any further comments.
However, the day before Barnett sent the letter to Bordallo, DOC leadership appeared before the Guam Legislature for a roundtable hearing. Bordallo, upon being questioned by Barnett, discussed ways DOC is preventing officer misconduct.
Bordallo said everyone at DOC is required to go through ethics training.
"Our policies are clear and specific, ... Each and every one of them go to the corrections academy. ... They know that the values and ethics that they've gone through, the code of conduct are expected. That's reinforced from the leadership all the way down," Bordallo said.
"That kind of sounds like all these things have been in place. Is that what you're saying?" Barnett responded.
"To a degree, because sometimes there have been some gaps where ... everything is sent to Internal Affairs. To me, when you just use Internal Affairs as the crutch, you're not getting down at a level that the supervisor-subordinate relationships (are). ... These things disciplinarywise can be handled between a supervisor and subordinate," Bordallo answered.
At the roundtable hearing, Sen. Joe San Agustin suggested drug tests should be conducted every month.
Later in the hearing, DOC Warden Alan Borja confirmed there had been "a facility sweep on all the employees" and "urinalysis testing several months ago."
