Published: October 29, 2009 06:28 pm      

10-30 Editorial: other view

EDMOND — The Muskogee Phoenix on the DOC:

The state Department of Corrections says it believes three female inmates were sexually assaulted at the Governor’s Mansion and that’s cause to re-evaluate its work release program.

A DOC investigation released this month ended with the firing of the head chef and chief groundskeeper at the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City. A DOC spokesman said it believed the two workers employed by the Department of Central Services committed sexual battery, forcible sodomy and rape against the Hillside Community Corrections Center inmates in a building on the mansion’s grounds as early ago as March last year and as late as January of this year. The women did not make their accusations until this summer, after they were released.

The female inmates were part of an 11-woman team involved in the center’s horticulture program. They were not supervised by DOC guards, but by Central Services employees who received training from DOC.

DOC said as of now, there are no changes planned in the program.

We agree that rehabilitating inmates and reintegrating them into society is important, but it appears that DOC is not doing a very good job selecting its supervisors nor training them. That is cause for concern because if inmates are assaulted, state taxpayers are liable for the consequences. One inmate already has an attorney.

While DOC has been forthright about its investigation, it appears nonchalant about a program that apparently has flaws.

Oklahomans should still be upset, too, about an earlier incident at the Governor’s Mansion, in which three troopers falsified hours they worked.

In August, the Department of Public Safety lightly disciplined the troopers who made false claims about hours they worked at the mansion.

They should have been fired. If they had been working for a private firm, almost likely they would have been fired. Private employers do not appreciate being cheated, and taxpayers should not have to put up with it either.