Law Offices of Mark Peacock

 COUNCIL OF PRISON LOCALS TO DEMAND IMMEDIATE ACTION FROM BUREAU OF PRISONS Union for Federal Correctional Officers to Call for Full Staffing and Funding, Stab Resistant Vests throughout Bureau of Prisons WHO:               U.S. Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) (Invited)AFGE National President John GageSen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) (Invited)AFGE Council of Prison Locals President Bryan LowryU.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) (Invited)Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) (Invited)Mark Peacock – Rivera family attorney                       

WHAT:             The Council of Prison Locals is requesting full staffing and funding, stab resistant vests, and will honor the service and sacrifice of Jose Rivera, a federal correctional officer who was killed in the line of duty at the United States Penitentiary in Atwater, Calif. on June 20, 2008. 

WHEN:             Thursday, June 11; 10 a.m. Eastern Time 

WHERE:           National Press Club, Holman Lounge, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20045 

WASHINGTON—The union that represents federal correctional officers throughout the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) 115 facilities, including Supermax, will hold a press conference in response to new findings in the murder of Correctional Officer Jose Rivera. At that time, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the Council of Prison Locals (CPL) also will demand immediate action from the BOP to fully staff and fund the agency, and provide correctional officers with stab resistant vests and non-lethal weaponry such as batons, pepper spray and TASER guns. An internal BOP investigation found gross inadequacies and unconscionable conditions in the management and security controls at the United States Penitentiary in Atwater, Calif., which clearly affected the murder of Rivera. “It has become painfully clear that BOP management is out of touch with its own prison system,” said CPL President Bryan Lowry. “We are tired of hearing about policy restrictions. We want our correctional officers to be protected on the job. Immediate action is the only acceptable outcome.” Added AFGE National President John Gage, “What happened to Jose Rivera in Atwater is typical of the entire BOP system. Prisoners are armed with homemade weapons, they access or create intoxicants, and then threaten the safety and security of the entire facility. Our correctional officers deserve protection – protection that will allow them to go home to their families at night – something Jose Rivera didn’t have.” Jose Rivera, 22, was killed on June 20, 2008 by two inmates with homemade weapons at the United States Penitentiary in Atwater, Calif. Rivera was employed as a correctional officer by the BOP for less than a year. He also was a Navy veteran and served two tours of duty in Iraq.  CPL and AFGE will detail the dangers of working in a federal prison. Federal correctional officers are unarmed and decreasing staffing levels put them at greater risk of an attack by an inmate.  Stab resistant vests and other protective equipment for correctional officers have become a top priority for CPL since the tragic death of Rivera. For years, AFGE and CPL have been advocates for additional staffing and funding throughout the BOP in an effort to safely maintain our nation’s prisons and surrounding communities. Continued lack of funding and inadequate staffing throughout the BOP have left federal correctional officers and the surrounding communities in grave danger. Staffing levels are decreasing while inmate population levels are increasing. The union says serious inmate overcrowding and correctional worker understaffing plague the BOP system nationwide, and create hazardous conditions for federal prison inmates, federal correctional workers, and the communities in which they work. ### The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 600,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.