BARRICADING DOORS AND
GOING ON A RAMPAGE.
IT TAKES THE SWAT TEAM
HOURS TO REGAIN CONTROL.
EVEN THOUGH IT HAPPENED
JUST THREE MONTHS AGO,
THE STATE HAS KEPT IT
UNDER WRAPS.
BUT TONIGHT, THE SECRET
IS OUT.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
LARRY BARKER GIVES US A
FRONT ROW SEAT TO AN
"ANATOMY OF A RIOT."
Donatelli: "This is a
highly unusual and
situation Larry."
Tafoya Lucero: "My
primary concern here is
that there's there was
clearly a breakdown on
this day."
Donatelli: "Thirty five
prisoners took over an
entire unit for nearly
three hours. ... These
things don't
just happen."
DON'T BE DECEIVED BY THE
SEEMINGLY QUIET ACTIVITY
AT THE PRIVATE PRISON IN
HOBBS. EARLY NOVEMBER
LAST YEAR. DINNER TIME.
FAST FORWARD JUST
ONE HOUR AND YOU BECOME
AN EYEWITNESS TO CHAOS.
A FULL BLOWN INMATE
UPRISING. A RIOT.
Barker: "Officially, the
Corrections Department
has gone to great
lengths to keep the
Hobbs prison riot
under wraps. No public
statements, no press
conferences and no news
releases." PRISON
DIRECTOR GARY MACIEL
BIG DEAL.
Maciel: "This is not a
very serious incident.
It was something that
was able to be handled
relatively
quickly."
DOCUMENTS AND SECURITY
VIDEO OBTAINED BY NEWS
13 TELLS A DIFFERENT
STORY.
Donatelli: " It's an
issue of public safety,
SANTA FE ATTORNEY MARK
DONATELLI IS AN EXPERT
ON PRISON
OPERATIONS. HE LEAD THE
PUBLIC DEFENDER'S RIOT
DEFENSE TEAM
FOLLOWING THE 1980 STATE
PEN UPRISING. DONATELLI
REVIEWED THE
DOCUMENTATION RELATING
TO LAST NOVEMBER'S RIOT
AT
THE HOBBS PRISON.
Donatelli: "By
definition, prisons are
supposed to keep those
inside under control.
They lost control of
an entire unit with 35
intoxicated prisoners
for three hours. That's
not the way state
prisons are
operated."
THE LEA COUNTY
CORRECTIONAL FACILITY IS
A MEDIUM SECURITY
PRIVATE
PRISON OPERATED BY THE
FLORIDA BASED GEO GROUP.
IT WAS NOVEMBER 2ND
LATE AFTERNOON.
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS
TO THEIR CELLS FOR
A COUNT. TENSIONS RISE
AFTER PRISONERS REFUSE
REPEATED DIRECTIVES TO
LOCK DOWN. INMATES TRY
UNSUCESSFULLY TO
NEGOTIATE WITH
PRISON STAFF. ITS CLEAR
SOME ARE DRUNK FROM A
SUPPLY OF
HOMEMADE ALCOHOL. WITHIN
MINUTES PRISONERS
BARRICADE THE
DOORS AND TAKE CONTROL
OF THE CELLBLOCK.
Riot Nats
THE PRISON'S RIOT
RESPONSE TEAM GATHERS
OUTSIDE. TEAR GAS
CANISTERS ARE DROPPED
FROM ROOFTOP PORTS.
Tear Gas
INMATES NEUTRALIZE THE
TEAR GAS USING TRASH
CANS FILLED
WITH WATER AND BLANKETS.
GAS GRENADES ARE MOVED
TO THE
SHOWER AREA. ARMED WITH
HOMEMADE WEAPONS
PRISONERS START FIRES,
DESTROY SPRINKLER HEADS
AND FURNITURE.
Riot Nats
A SECOND ROUND OF TEAR
GAS ALSO PROVES
INEFFECTIVE.
SECURITY FORCES RESORT
TO PEPPERBALL AND
Riot Nats
THREE HOURS INTO THE
CONFRONTATION, PRISON
STAFF
REGAIN CONTROL OF THE
CELLBLOCK.
A FEW INJURIES WERE
REPORTED INCLUDING ONE
INMATE FOUND
UNCONSCIOUS IN HIS CELL.
THE CORRECTIONS
DEPARTMENT
LAUNCHED AN
INVESTIGATION WITH THE
FOCUS ON THE GEO GROUP'S
HANDLING OF THE RIOT.
Tafoya Lucero: "This
incident absolutely
could have been
prevented."
ALISHA TAFOYA LUCERO IS
THE DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS CABINET
SECRETARY.
Tafoya Lucero: "Q. When
it became clear that the
inmates were not going
to comply with direction
of the
Correctional Officers
and things started to
the point where things
started to go wrong
here? A. I think things
went wrong long before
that. ... This
particular group of
people were frustrated
and
they did not know what
s going on. And nobody
nt and took the time
st talk th them
d share with
them what was going on
Donatelli: "Use of force
should be a last resort.
After all, confrontation
avoidance means are
exhausted. That didn't
happen in this case.
Even the Corrections
Department's own
investigation determined
that they did not
adequately exhaust
confrontation avoidance
before using
force."
AND THERE WERE OTHER
FAILURES THAT NIGHT. FOR
EXAMPLE, WITH ONLY
THE CELLBLOCK MUCH OF
THE RIOT OCCURRED
IN BLIND SPOTS OUTSIDE
CAMERA RANGE. AND EVEN
THOUGH INMATES
MANAGED TO DESTROY THE
CAMERA, INVESTIGATORS
DISCOVERED IT HAD
MALFUNCTIONED.
Tafoya Lucero: "The
recording mechanism was
not functioning
properly. ... So the
camera was working, in
live view, but it wasn't
fully working on the
recording side. ... Q.
That's got to be
disconcerting from your
perspective. If you have
a a prison facility that
doesn't even have a
reliable security
camera. A. It's
definitely
disconcerting."
INVESTIGATORS ALSO
QUESTIONED THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF TEAR
GAS DROPPED FROM THE
ROOF TO QWELL THE RIOT.
SECRETARY TAFOYA LUCERO
CALLS IT A DESIGN FLAW
IN THE PRISON'S
CONSTRUCTION.
a situation where we are
not the proprietors of
the building. ... We can
make
those suggestions to our
contractor. But
ultimately we cannot
force it unless we add
language to our
contract that
specifically addresses
those security flaws."
RIOT AT A NEW MEXICO GEO
GROUP MANAGED PRISON.
TWO YEARS AGO, AT THE
PRIVATE FACILITY IN
CLAYTON, A GUARD WAS
OVERPOWERED AND TAKEN
TO THE CELLBLOCK
RIOTING INMATES ATTACKED
OTHER PRISONERS AND
DESTROYED
PROPERTY. THE STATE
LATER TOOK OVER
MANAGEMENT OF THE
CLAYTON LOCKUP.
Donatelli: "Q. Do these
things just happen in
prisons? I mean, every
once in a while,
prisoners get
upset and they take over
a cell block. Is this
just sort of the cost of
doing business? You're
opinion?
A. Not in well-run,
safely staffed prisons
it doesn't happen,
Larry." Tafoya Lucero:
"There's always lessons
to be learned from a
situation, and
particularly one where
this significant
communication breakdown
that night." LARRY
BARKER KRQE NEWS 13.
HOBBS PRISON WARDEN
DWAYNE SANTISTEVAN DID
NOT RETURN A
PHONE CALL FOR COMMENT.
IN SANTA FE, LAWMAKERS
ARE CONSIDERING A BILL
CANCEL THE CONTRACTS FOR
ALL PRIVATE PRISONS IN
NEW MEXICO.
FOLLOWING ROLLING
BLACKOUTS IN EASTERN NEW
MEXICO -- XCEL
ENERGY SAYS THEIR POWER
GRID REMAINS STRAINED..
THEY SAY THERE IS A