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A police union representing supervisors and internal affairs investigators at the Essex County Department of Corrections has approved a vote of no confidence in the agency’s director and county administration.
The union’s statement on Monday outlined numerous complaints, alleging that the welfare of officers and inmates had been compromised by mismanagement.
The motion was approved by a secret ballot vote of 39 to 11 by voting members of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 106 on Aug. 7, with more than half of the organization expressing dissatisfaction with department director Ronald Charles, County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and his chief of staff Philip Alagia.
“We have a lot of dissatisfied members,” said Jim Troisi, the union’s vice president. “They feel like they’re not being listened to. They feel like we have an administration – not just at Director Charles’ level, but above him – that just doesn’t support the staff, and we believe the facility is not being operated safely.”
The union’s complaints include understaffing that overwhelms guards and forces inmates to spend most of their time in their cells, known as a “restricted access schedule.” The unnecessary confinement fuels violence between inmates and officers and between the inmates themselves, guards claim.
Captain Nathaniel Richardson, president of the union, said that if staff shortages lead to a longer curfew, it will have a domino effect: “They won’t come out. But if they do, they’ll have a certain attitude.”
Al-Tariq Witcher, co-founder of the Returning Citizens Support Group, which advocates for current and former prisoners, was appalled at the idea that prisoners should be locked up indefinitely to save money.
“This is wrong,” said Witcher. “It’s unconstitutional, it’s humanly wrong.”
The problem is further compounded by the fact that Charles reportedly spends only a few hours at the facility. He spends only a few hours a week on site and his whereabouts are unknown most of the time between visits, the union claims. In the event of a need, it can be difficult to reach him because his phone number is not listed with other emergency contacts, supervisors said.
One incident highlighted in the union’s letter alleges that Charles ordered all inmates to be released from their cells on Super Bowl Sunday after months of being denied access, leading to numerous alarms and an inmate being injured. The warden had been advised against this move beforehand and was unavailable when the trouble began, union officials said.
The bottlenecks have also led to a massive backlog of citations because the unit responsible for disciplinary hearings has been reduced to a single captain who must wade through the 200 to 700 alleged violations awaiting his review, Troisi claimed.
Officials allegedly flaunt the resulting lack of consequence, often saying: “File a complaint against me, we all know nothing will happen.”
However, if no supervisor witnesses an incident, it can be nearly impossible to report the problem discreetly.
Charles moved the internal affairs division to a building on the facility’s grounds, where cell service is disrupted and outside emails cannot be received, the union said. Anyone speaking with investigators must be escorted to and from the division’s office, passing through several gates manned by other officers who have a view of inmates’ windows.
“There’s no way to get to the internal affairs department without the whole prison seeing it,” Richardson said, adding the same is true for investigators who go to the main prison to interview an inmate. The risk of retaliation from inmates misled by informants or a corrupt official accused of wrongdoing is “about the same,” he said.
Authority over district corrections
The New Jersey Attorney General’s office declined to comment on the union’s allegations, saying the attorney general “has no authority over the (ECDOC) director,” spokeswoman Sharon Lauchaire said.
Several officials contacted about the matter declined to comment and avoided questions about which agency might have jurisdiction to investigate a county corrections department if it were warranted.
Thomas Fennelly, assistant district attorney for Essex County, said his office “plays no role in union activities.” The FBI can only investigate misconduct by correctional employees if their actions violate U.S. law, such as civil rights violations or misuse of federal funds, said FBI spokeswoman Amy Thoreson.
The county Board of Commissioners has the authority to launch an investigation and compel testimony from county officials. The board has a copy of the union’s letter and is “reviewing the complaints,” according to Adam Tucker, a spokesman for the board.
However, the sole decision to fire a department head rests with County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, who staunchly defended the DOC director after the union vote.
“We have complete confidence in Warden Ron Charles,” said DiVincenzo. “He has an impeccable record of leadership in Essex County and other correctional facilities.”
DiVincenzo pointed to the prison’s impeccable ratings from state inspectors, accreditation by the American Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, and the drug rehabilitation programs Charles implemented during his tenure.
Officials and lawyers call for reforms
Despite the administrative laurels, public protests, accusations by the federal government and media reports indicate that the ministry is in trouble.
In June, former inmates at the county’s juvenile detention center filed a joint lawsuit accusing officers of repeated sexual abuse. Since last year, current and former inmates have continued to face convictions for brutally beating a fellow inmate in 2019.
Surveillance video of the attack showed that no security guard came to the victim’s aid as the attack lasted more than two minutes.
Questions surrounding the incident sparked outrage among the public and civil rights activists. Now calls for reforms are being made on both sides, leading to strange constellations.
“Isn’t it a unique situation that both the prisoners’ families and the staff are demanding changes in the facility,” said Troisi, vice president of Lodge 106. “I can’t remember the last time everyone said we need real change here and we need it now.”
Speaking as an attorney and as someone who has served time in prison, Witcher said his group regularly engages the administration and its superiors in its work to broker a solution that benefits everyone involved.
“We know the trauma that people are going through inside, and we don’t want the officers to traumatize them or be traumatized,” Witcher said. Still, he and others in his group weren’t quick to blame anyone.
“This problem did not arise overnight. It has happened two or three administrations before,” said Edwin Ortiz of the Returning Citizens Support Group. “It is a systemic problem.”
The department underwent a review by the Ambrose Group in 2022 when Charles – a former prison warden – took over. The resulting report praised the prison’s reduced use of force, diverse staff, response to the COVID-19 pandemic and an improved security system.
Conversely, Ambrose advised the department to assign at least one lieutenant to each building per shift. The union said the department followed the recommendation but did so without augmenting staff with new hires, forcing lieutenants to work long shifts on short notice.
“Frankly, we’re done with the oversight committees,” Troisi said. “We want an investigation. If that means firing Charles, if that means firing (Chief of Staff Philip Alagia), so be it. And it pains me to say that, because I’ve known Charles for 30 years. I had high hopes when he was hired.”
