Mature adults? Ha! Pulling stupid and potentially dangerous pranks like this have no place in any workplace atmosphere, plain and simple. In the private sector they would have all been fired. This is nothing but absolute childish bull$#!+. If they pull this kind of crap with one another, there is no telling what they've done and got away with.
City
Jail officer fired for pranks
Nov 05, 2009 12:00 am
AUBURN — An Androscoggin County Jail supervisor was fired Wednesday for his involvement in on-the-job pranks that included duct-taping a worker to a chair and putting another worker in a choke hold.
Sheriff Guy Desjardins said Cpl. Patrick Gorham's so-called horseplay put at risk the security of workers and inmates and could have put the county in jeopardy had an emergency arisen at the time.
Commissioners mulled the sheriff's recommendation behind closed doors for about 45 minutes Wednesday night before voting 2-1 in favor of the firing.
Commissioner Elaine Makas voted against the action.
"I mean no disrespect to the sheriff, but I believe that the penalty of dismissal exceeds the severity of the errors," she said.
Another corrections officer, Robert Murphy, was suspended without pay for a week (four 12-hour days) and would be put on probation for three months for his part in the duct-taping incident, commissioners voted unanimously. He also would get a letter of reprimand.
Another supervisor, Sgt. Kevin Harmon, resigned after the duct-taping incident came to light.
Desjardins showed videos from jail security cameras of the two incidents to commissioners on the wall of a meeting room in the Androscoggin County building. He narrated the actions engaged in by Gorham and Murphy.
In the duct-tape incident, which occurred around 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 22, Corrections Officer John Morissette is duct-taped to a chair, his arms bound and his head wrapped with tape. The chair is wheeled into an elevator where he is sent to another floor.
"What I've seen here ... is something I've never experienced or seen in my law enforcement career," Desjardins told the commission. "It turned my stomach."
Sgt. Rielly Bryant of the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office represented Gorham for the union before the commission. He said Desjardins overreacted to the incident and criticized the county's top cop for inconsistent disciplinary actions.
He said Desjardins jumped the gun, decided on his punishment and took his case to the commissioners before the investigation was complete.
"This discipline is out of line," Bryant said.
Commissioners consulted with their lawyer, Bryan Dench, throughout the evening.
Desjardins showed a second video involving Gorham in an early-morning incident in August. In it, he can be seen putting Corrections Officer Eric Hesketh in a choke hold, then goes out of picture range. About half a minute later, the officer returns to his desk and lays his head on his desk top repeatedly. He later reported that he felt disoriented and nauseous. The incident affected him for about half an hour, he said, according to Desjardins.
Desjardins said Gorham's actions were "totally, totally unacceptable." He said such a move is considered deadly force. The Maine Criminal Justice Academy has stopped teaching it.
Hesketh said he volunteered for the choke hold after challenging Gorham that it wouldn't affect him.
Bryant said Gorham was in complete control during the incident and is a department self-defense instructor.
Bryant said Desjardins was on a witch hunt, compiling evidence to support his recommendation to fire Gorham as an example to other corrections workers.
Bryant said Gorham never denied his involvement and took full responsibility for his actions.
"He's been up front and forward about everything," Bryant said.
Desjardin said a department worker brought the incident to his attention and he had no choice but to investigate. He said Maine State Police were investigating whether any criminal violation occurred.
cwilliams@sunjournal.com
Comments
According to 'wow', "All the
Submitted by DR on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 18:53.
According to 'wow', "All the correction officers horseplay i dont see why gorham gets fired for something so stupid". I have a question too. Why are these officers acting like adolescents? Can it be that they aren't doing the job they were hired to do, since they have so much free time on their hands to behave like kindergarten kids? Maybe it's time to sweep the whole lot out and hire adults.
Immature adolescent minds
Submitted by DR on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 16:04.
Immature adolescent minds have no place in the correction system. Duct-taping somebody to chair, or putting a choke-hold on them is an asinine thing to do at any age, and unforgivable in a so-called adult. The Sheriff and commissioners who voted against to fire this employee did the right thing. Ms. Makas isn't fit to be in any decision-making capacity if she feels so sorry for someone who is guilty of this kind of behavior in the workplace.
The jail is no place for
Submitted by JohnBerry on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 13:42.
The jail is no place for this kind of horseplay. And the choke-hold should NEVER be fooled around with. What if Officer Hesketh had suffered a serious injury or had died? The same people who are now dismissing this as harmless "boys will be boys" behavior would be screaming that Sheriff Desjardins had allowed things to get out of control at the jail. I worked in a sensitive, high-security, job in the 1980's and would never have thought that this kind of behavior was acceptable. It jeopardizes the ability to respond to situations at a moments notice. Sheriff Desjardins did the right thing.
_______________
"The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor." ~ Hubert H. Humphrey
The punishment was
Submitted by inn0cent1387 on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 12:46.
The punishment was absolutely fair and just. If that had been an inmate, they would have been OC-sprayed for "playfully" putting someone in a choke hold. What if an inmate was being put in a choke hold at that very moment, or even making a suicide attempt, or some other kind of assault. Maybe they could have been locked in individual cells at the time, but that wouldn't have prevented a suicide attempt or an assault on a bunk-mate. I'm most certain that the officers were too preoccupied with their schemes to even be noticing what the inmates oare doing, and worse so once they did realize it the officer wouldn't have been able to get out of the chair quickly enough. Totally irresponsible. Work in that type of environment does not leave room for pranksters. If they want to be class clowns they need to pick a new job, one that doesn't endanger the safety of others. Obviously, by the way, it's not a first offense if there are two separate incidences, and these are the only ones we know about. People don't become pranksters over night. What an example to be setting. Especially at the supervisory level!
And that's the sound of a
Submitted by lisaj66 on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 10:39.
And that's the sound of a nail being hit directly on the head!!! Thank you Alien.
Does Harmon's resigning mean
Submitted by Nancy1 on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 10:10.
Does Harmon's resigning mean he's still eligible for Lifetime Healthcare Insurance Premiums (paid by taxpayers) for himself and his spouse? Or is that just for county employees who are retired?
That's jsut for employees of
Submitted by Old Bill on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 17:08.
That's jsut for employees of Andorscoggin County. FYI.
"The democracy will cease to exist when the government takes from those who would work and gives to those who would not." - Thomas Jefferson.
This story is just one
Submitted by lisaj66 on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 09:38.
This story is just one example of the unprofessional behavior in our jail. Having had friends and relatives employed there I know of so many more situations that were not given any attention by the administration. This group of law enforcement, sadly, employs too many immature and self-centered individuals who use the job to elevate their own self worth. They're taught ethics from the word go, but in my opinion, many rarely use it.
They ALL should be
Submitted by Genisek2004 on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 09:20.
They ALL should be fired...absolutely unprofessional behavior. And we're supposed to look up to these people and respect them?
Once someone resigns they
Submitted by JohnBerry on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 13:26.
Once someone resigns they can no longer be disciplined. They are gone. You can't fire someone who has quit. I am sure that this will be noted in his personnel file and be passed on to any future employers who ask about him.
_______________
"The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor." ~ Hubert H. Humphrey
There's no place for
Submitted by jayla on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 08:33.
There's no place for children in a jail.
Self defense instructor?
Submitted by Ginger1 on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 06:10.
Self defense instructor? Sounds like it's inmates and staff that need to be defended from him. Maybe commissioner Makas enjoys that kind of horseplay in her work environment,But thankfully Sheriff Desjardins understands that a choke-hold can be deadly,and is no joke;especially for an instructor. I wonder if commissioner Makas would be so dismissive of this incident if it involved a female. There is female staff and inmates at the jail,and these unprofessional,male joker,bullies provide a hostile work environment. The Sheriff is the only one that has acted professionally dealing with this incident. Deputy's that behave like that will be FIRED. I wonder how many inmates this Deputy has put in a choke-hold. Thank you to Sheriff Guy Desjardins . I applaud the Sheriff for his honesty about this incident.
Is this what we TAX payers
Submitted by to be or not on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 05:28.
Is this what we TAX payers pay them for to fool around.I wonder what we pay our Law Makers for.??????????????????????
And these are the people who
Submitted by Sperkle on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 05:17.
And these are the people who are supposed to protect the population? Shame Shame Shame. Mr. Desjardins did the correct thing. Who wants these bullies on their department?
Why didn't the SJ put the
Submitted by tron on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 00:57.
Why didn't the SJ put the video's on line ,and let us judge for ourselves? A video is worth an entire column.
tron, even by your past
Submitted by Robert61 on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 21:48.
tron, even by your past standards this is a new low. Onyl a truly perverted information would want to see any video such as this...
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skullbones Where was the
skullbones
Where was the jail Administrator? Hes surposed to be the superviser of the Jail. He should walk thru the Jail a few times a week and maybe this kind of stuff would'nt happen
. Also hiring of correction guards you get what you pay for bums off the streets.