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Inmate says he warned officials security was inadequate

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By CORY MATTESON / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Oct 12, 2007 - 12:01:42 am CDT

TECUMSEH — A Tecumseh inmate warned Gov. Dave Heineman about security concerns he had at the prison six days before an incident there resulted in another inmate’s death.

David Ditter, who is serving a life sentence at Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, said during an interview Tuesday that he believes fights are happening more frequently at the prison and that a more experienced staff would better control them.

State Department of Correctional Services Director Robert Houston said in a phone interview that Reko Mitchell’s death added no weight to Ditter’s letter, to which he responded last month.

Story Photo
David Ditter

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A death at the prison, he said, does reinforce an effort system-wide to operate as safely as possible.

“(Tecumseh has) got the longest-term, most serious inmates working around the least experienced corrections officers,” Houston said.

Tecumseh Warden Fred Britten said the prison has about 40 staff openings right now, but each shift is adequately staffed. Houston said efforts to recruit and retain employees will result in a fully staffed prison soon.  

On Sept. 11, Ditter wrote a letter to Heineman and other state officials in which he described two fights that took place in the prison yard in a three-day span.

He said a Sept. 7 fight was particularly violent and lasted about 10 minutes. He said a Sept. 9 fight was broken up sooner.

“Custody staff obviously can’t stop prisoners from fighting, but more can be done to limit the frequency of these assaults,” he wrote.

Six days after he composed the letter, Mitchell’s neck was broken during an incident in the gymnasium bathroom. Mitchell died Oct. 3 after his family elected to take him off life support.

A suspect has not been named in Mitchell’s death. Johnson County Attorney Julie Smith-Hogancamp said Thursday she has not received autopsy results yet, and may wait until after a grand jury convenes before deciding whether to file charges. State law requires  a grand jury be impaneled to investigate the death of any person in custody within 30 days of the death.

Ditter said he was in the library at the time of the Mitchell incident. He said he heard a prisoner was down over a staff member’s radio.

He didn’t talk specifically about Mitchell’s death, but he said it and other incidents before it show a security failure at Tecumseh.

Ditter, who frequently writes to state officials, has been in prison since 1979 for first-degree murder.

Houston responded to Ditter’s concerns on behalf of the governor in a Sept. 21 letter.

“Upon review of the reports and the investigation into the incident, it appears staff handled the situation appropriately,” he wrote about the Sept. 7 fight.

In the letter to Ditter, he did not address the Mitchell incident.

In an interview, Houston did not characterize Mitchell’s death as an inmate-on-inmate incident. He said the Nebraska State Patrol is investigating.

In the letter to Ditter, Houston said staffing levels are appropriate in the yard and on the watch tower. He described the Sept. 7 fight as an isolated incident.

Britten classified the three incidents that occurred in the span of 10 September days as isolated ones. He said they involved different inmates.

“There’s no trend here,” Britten said in an interview at the prison.

That’s a standard response, Ditter said. “That’s their explanation for all the fights in here, ‘It’s just an isolated incident.’

“Well, how many fights does it take before it’s not isolated anymore? As you see them add up, no, I’m not convinced they’re isolated.”

Britten said the incident that resulted in Mitchell’s death will be evaluated.

“That’s our job,” he said.

In regard to Ditter’s concerns about staffing, Britten said there are mandatory custody staff levels in place during each of the three daily shifts at Tecumseh. A minimum of 61 people work security during the first and second shifts; 27 work the third, which runs from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Until more people are hired, he said, staff will continue to work mandatory overtime.

Houston said that can create a cyclical problem. For various reasons, some custody staff can’t work the long hours, and they quit, creating more work hours to be filled with the remaining staff.

But he said Tecumseh, which has been open for six years, is developing a core custody staff that has grown over the years. The department is working to retain staff, he said, and to fill the vacancies.

Those efforts include advertising, panel discussions and a full-time recruiter at Tecumseh.

Houston said experienced custody staff members know how to talk with inmates about certain issues, and how to handle problems.

“They have experience they can carry into decisions,” Houston said.

Said Ditter: “I’ve been incarcerated for 28-plus years. Obviously, it’s more than just prison at this point. It’s probably where I’ll end up dying of old age eventually. And I think everybody would just like to have a safer environment.”

Reach Cory Matteson at (402) 473-2655 or cmatteson@journalstar.com.


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Micah wrote on October 12, 2007 1:09 am:
" Let me get this straight....one inmate kills another inmate in a maximum security prison. What exactly is the problem? Think how much money we just saved as taxpayers! Of course 100 years ago both of these miscreants would be in unmarked graves back behind the courtyard. Listen to some George Carlin for some elucidating missive on this subject. "

 MaybeSure wrote on October 12, 2007 1:44 am:
" "And I think everybody would just like to have a safer environment.” I am sure his wife would have appreciated being afforded that opportunity as well. "

 nitemare wrote on October 12, 2007 2:26 am:
" How brazen for an inmate to ask for a safer environment. Our environment is safer because he is in there! "

 Corrections Employee wrote on October 12, 2007 2:37 am:
" Hindsight is always 20/20. Mr Ditter is an intellegent man, but bitter about doing life in prision. Mr Ditter chooses to use his free time to complain and seek avenues to hold the entire system to an impossibly high utopian standard, in a misguided attempt to satisfiy his need for righteous indignation. TSCI houses the most violent & preditory offenders. Controling those types of people is never going pretty, and thing aren't ever going to be perfect. TSCI Staff do a good job. Nebraska Prisions are considered some of the safest in the world, for both staff and inmates. I suggest Mr Ditter's letter writing campaign has more to do with his desire to be housed in Lincoln, than any real problems TSCI may have. "

 Frustrated wrote on October 12, 2007 3:24 am:
" General procedure for inmates involved in fights has always been to send them to Solitary Confinement (the hole) for what could be a long time. In many cases inmates not fighting, buddies & gang leaders, would also go to the hole for their part in the conflict leading up to the fight. This encouraged the inmate population & gang leaders to "self police." But since TSCI opened, with its 200 bed segregation unit, the State Omsbudsmans Office & Key Senators have put pressure on NDCS to back off this policy. Now inmates who fight spend less time in the hole, and their associates may not go to the hole at all, even though they are often responsible for the fight in the first place. In an attempt to respect the inmates rights we now allow them to get into repeated fights before they are placed in the hole long term. Mr Ditter seeks to lay the blame for these fights, at the feet of staff, who don't set policy. Elected officals want to dictate how a prision provides security but aren't held responsible when their ideas make things worse. "

 Hmmmmmmmmmm wrote on October 12, 2007 4:10 am:
" Go figure. Fights in a prison. What a shock!!!!! It's too bad that someone...ANYONE...dies due to a fight in a prison. But, let's face it folks, CHILD MOLESTERS and CHILD RAPISTS are at the EXTREME bottom of the food chain in prison. Things like this happen each and everyday all over the country. YES, I agree that they may need better security. And they may need better medical care. But one has to remember WHO COMMITED THE CRIME HERE. These guys put THEMSELVES there. They knew what the possibility was when the crime was commited. And to sit and complain about it now is, quite simply, Ludicrous. ESPECIALLY from a "LIFER". "

 CO wrote on October 12, 2007 5:01 am:
" What they aren't telling you is the staff they want to hire are 18 year old kids out of high school. Not exactly the kind of people that handle themselves well around experienced criminals. They too end up quitting and again creating vacancies. It is just a bandaid fix. Better pay will get better quality officers. Better training and a better screening process won't hurt either. "

 who cares wrote on October 12, 2007 5:17 am:
" let them fight and kill each other. saves us taxpayers money. if they had any brains or pride or parental upbringing, they wouldn't have done anything to get there. why waste more taxpayers money with a grand jury. just say sucks to be you. "

 Maybe wrote on October 12, 2007 7:50 am:
" Maybe if the state paid better wages, it could hire better people and retain them. Just a thought. However, it won't happen because it would require spending, although that same group who generally frowns upon spending want tougher sentencing which, not coincidentially, means morer inmates serving longer stretches which, in turn, creates a need for more correction officers. Interesting little circle eh? "

 dave fett wrote on October 12, 2007 8:02 am:
" who gives a hoot about these scumbags' safety. they didnt care about ours. "

 Nina wrote on October 12, 2007 9:10 am:
" The administration may be doing all they can. No matter how strong their recruitment efforts, they may not be able to fill those 40 openings. Just as in nurse aide work in nursing homes, but with even more intensity in a prison, it's hard to get people to work in conditions where they are physically threatened (and in nursing homes, sometimes attacked), have spit and feces tossed at them, must clean up intentional gross messes, all while enduring verbal abuse. Too often the employees they do get are there because they don't qualify for any other job (I suspect the main qualification is that they're breathing!) So anytime they get a quality employee, they must really rejoice. Dismal situation with no easy answers. "

 Superhumans wrote on October 12, 2007 9:36 am:
" God I love the paragraph. I think he said it best "And I think everybody would just like to have a safer environment." Yes we would and thats why your in there, getting three meals a day, earn degrees, exercise, and so forth all on our DOLLAR!! Even after you kill someone you still come out ahead. You want prison violence down?? Lets take away weights and other strength building activities!! You go in a creep and lots come out as monsters. Of course your to much for officers to handle when they go in benching maybe there own weight and come out huge and super strong. "

 Big Chief wrote on October 12, 2007 10:03 am:
" Working in a corrections facility is a very difficult and stressful job. Studies I have read suggest that the rates of suicide, divorce, alcoholism and mental breakdowns in the Corrections profession are at the top of all professions. The situation at Tecumseh is exacerbated by the facts that the most violent inmates in the system are housed there and the staff assigned there are at the bottom end of the seniority scale for the most part. Physically fit officers are important but even more important is an officer who has a solid psychological base and communications skills unique to the environment. Inmates have a way of zeroing in on the staff that can be manipulated. Another thing inmates know are the areas in an institution where they can do things without being observed. More video and audio monitoring could solve a lot of these problems. However the initial costs of these sytems might be expensive. An even bigger expense would probably be the litigation expenses by defending against inmate lawsuits over privacy issues. When a Judge rules that inmates have NO RIGHTS to privacy maybe a lot of these violent incidents can be prevented. I wonder what inmate Ditter thinks about that. "

 former employee wrote on October 12, 2007 10:47 am:
" I find it terrible Mr. Britten would say TSCI will soon have a full staff. You have not had a full staff since the facility opened. Positions were cut when it was found the staff could not be found to fill them. How can you say you will soon have a full staff with a straight face when you know that is not true? Working conditions in Tecumseh are terrible. Pay is terrible. There is no where to live and nothing to do in Tecumseh. No on wants to drive that far for so little money. Good political decision to put a prison in the middle of no where. "

 about to go to jail wrote on October 12, 2007 11:12 am:
" I'm about to go to jail and ask all inmates about their rights as INMATES. Do they have rights? Should they have rights? Where do their rights end or begin? "

 JJ wrote on October 12, 2007 11:23 am:
" Isn't this something? Ditter thinks all of the hard-core prisoners in Tecumseh "would just like to have a safer environment." I'm guessing the victim of HIS crime (a well as those of his fellow convicts) had the same expectations. And he laments that prison will be where he ends up dying of old age. Again, if only his victim had been afforded that opportunity. Do I have much concern for the safety of those inside the correctional facilty? Only for the innocent ones who work there. For the rest, I'd say it's 'just desserts'. "

 J wrote on October 12, 2007 11:52 am:
" Seriously dude cry, if you can't be a mna in prison and deal with it, you probably shouln't have committed your crime. Especially one to get you a life sentence. "

 A safer environment wrote on October 12, 2007 12:48 pm:
" I am sure the person that Mr. Ditter murdered would have liked a safer environment as well... one in which they would still be alive. It just amazes me at how much prisoners are all of a sudden concerned, upstanding, moral citizens as soon as they get thrown into a society where everyone is just as violent as them if not more so. There are plenty of things that can be done to stop the fighting such as keeping prisoners in their cells 23 hours a day or severely limiting the inmate on inmate contact and free movement. Mr. Ditter probably should have used his vast knowledge and concern on figuring out a non-violent response to whatever occurred that caused him to kill another person... it is prison not day camp. Life sucks and then you die... "

 KEITH wrote on October 12, 2007 12:58 pm:
" problem at maximun, yes.we the public support these prison with our tax dollars.also when we send a person to the joint we are telling them and us its for the better of mankind. we will feed and cloths you with very little give you all the wrost health except what you get mexico prisons. but we will give you and us a safe enviroment. all we need is a fed judge involed then the tax dollars will pour in. "

 Pathetic wrote on October 12, 2007 2:09 pm:
" Wow, people are so hateful about all of this. What a shame. Inmates have rights as well as lose rights. However, safety, is not one they lose. I would say ask for a guidelines book when you get there "about to go to jail". As for the rest, hopefully each and everyone else posting such hateful comments are for sure they are 100% innocent in their lifetime, b/c at any time your past or future crimes can haunt you. "

 anon2 wrote on October 12, 2007 2:09 pm:
" Frustrated hits it dead center: "Elected officals want to dictate how a prison provides security but aren't held responsible when their ideas make things worse." Letting these inmates maim and kill each other while the rest of us go on about our lives is just plain wrong. They may be locked up but they are still human and in a way their misery and fear is our own. I hope that some elected and appointed officials will band together and drag the rest of us after them down the path a better solution. "

 full staff - ha wrote on October 12, 2007 2:40 pm:
" When you require your corrections officers to be at your beck and call even when their shift is over, it's kind of hard for them to have a life outside of your prison. Therefore, employees will always be trying to find a job that doesn't put such demand on them personally. Face it, people work to live, not live to work. I don't know a solution, but the way it works is not right. Officers, after working an 8 hour shift, are very frequently "mandatoried" to stay and work up to another 8 hours (even when they have to be back for their next regularly scheduled shift 8 hours after that). If they refuse, then it counts against them and they can be fired for refusing mandatory too many times. So, how can someone ever make any plans if they're constantly required to stay after their shift is over? They can't. Therefore, you will ALWAYS be understaffed because people cannot be expected to work like that. As far as the prisoners, why do inmates have rights exactly? "

 TSCI Corrections Officer wrote on October 12, 2007 2:53 pm:
" Adequately staffed??! Let's see, I just got off work being mandatoried with six other staff from a previous shift. We all pulled a 16-hour shift to ensure that TSCI is "adequately staffed". I would really hate to see what inadequately staffed is! In reality, we're already there, despite what the institution and state administrators would have you believe. "

 wife of a CO wrote on October 12, 2007 3:08 pm:
" While not a hug-a-thug, Ditter's comments are right on. Houston has NO CLUE what is really going on at Tecumseh. Admininstration officials stick their heads in the sand and hope the problems will just go away on their own. Or, like in this article, sugar coat the problems and make them seem less serious then they are. Understaffing and refusing to acknowledge deep and serious issues puts everyone, staff and inmates, at risk of serious injuries or even death. If my husband dies because administration refuses to see this, I will hold them entirely responsible for it. How many deaths will it take before things get better at Tecumseh? "

 CO wrote on October 12, 2007 4:15 pm:
" What Mr Houston does not say about the custody staff that can not work long hours and then they quit. Is that they are harassed to the point of quiting. "

 Former Co retired wrote on October 12, 2007 5:08 pm:
" The Department of Corrections should be investigated by our legislature...The response to media attention warrant just that. "

 State Wage Increase.... wrote on October 12, 2007 5:30 pm:
" I find it sad that Corrections is in this situation. The state should just have given in and given corrections the same pay raise that all of the other state employees got this time around, right now we are all feeling very unappreciated. Once again, corrections employees get overlooked and then things like this happen. Funny... 2+2=4 (bad pay + employee turnover = more assaults and less control of the prison environment). Lets increase the pay so we are at least CLOSE to other surrounding states and then maybe TSCI could have more staff and retain good staff to make it a safer environment. Governor - take a close look at what your refusal of pay raises is doing to the department of corrections. It is likely to become more frequent if the pay rates stay how they are. "

 What? wrote on October 12, 2007 6:07 pm:
" I am disappointed. Everything happening in Nebraska and this paper gives front page to a murderer. The only thing this inmate is a expert in is killing women. Can you interview an a person that makes general statements again, like there is going to be a burglary in Lincoln tonight. The only thing this paper did is give this murderer his 15 min. again. "

 John wrote on October 12, 2007 9:42 pm:
" What needs to be said is the selection of this rural farming community 50 miles of so from a population center was down-right stupid. Tecumseh town fathers wooed the state after their main employment closed down...chicken processing plant...and then it opened before the prison was up and running. Guess what...the prison was no longer welcome but the committment had been made. To top it off the property tax in Johnson County skyrocketed and that also caused anger. A cost total of $400,000 to remodel the Johnson County Courthouse to accommodate more courtrooms was spent. Guess who paid that bill...not the state. Johnson County got snookered. A very small number of employees live close to the prison and being manditoried shift after shift mean those employees are driving home dead-tired, irriatable and wondering where in the hell is another job. Why in the world this prison was not built somewhere between Omaha and Lincoln I just don't understand but it wasn't and we can't blame Britton for that? If the LJS is really interested in finding the facts of this prison they need to talk to the line employee. Questions they should ask...How long have you been employed...How many hours above your 80 hrs. work period did you average since your employment...Have you been threatened physically by inmate, have you been attacked physically by inmate..pushed, shoved, knocked down, feces or urine targeted. Have you been harrassed by supervisory staff..have you had recieved discipline for refusing mandatory overtime because of home problems you had no control over..do you feel that the upper administration cares less for your well being on the job. These are just a few questions you should ask. You can interview an inmate but better not get caught talking to a staff memeber. They do not have the rights to talk about their place of employment so just talk to some ex-employees of the Tecumseh prison and draw your own conclusions. "

 tc wrote on October 13, 2007 12:09 am:
" From the opening of TSCI, the Dept of Corrections should have pulled at least 30 experienced officer, corporals, seargents, and lieutenants to be the core staff - even if on a 2-year temporary assignment with extra pay for travel time. Otherwise, how do the new CO's gain their experience and wisdom? It's time to re-evaluate TSCI's safety and security; not only for the inmates, but for the staff as well. They have had numerous staff assaults and other violent offences on the inmates. "

 LCC employee wrote on October 13, 2007 12:45 am:
" You people think TSCI has issues, try looking into LCC. They have fights almost everyday, and the administration there is just as blind to what's going on as in other facilities. What is it going to take for the Nebraska Department of Corrections to admit they have no control over the inmates incarcerated. There has already been one inmate that has died, does a staff member have to be next? "

 time for a change wrote on October 13, 2007 1:02 am:
" This makes me laugh, almost everybody that responeded to this article was a corrections officer at one point in time. Lets think about this I work about 55 hrs a week get paid 14.12 hr. Because of the great senators of nebraska don't want to pay more, I could go to lancaster county or Douglos county and make about 15.00 hr or more so I'm told and almost no overtime. SO if people would stop complianing about taxes and the state take a good look at what where payed and what we put up with it would get better. Its funny the State and union both say nebrasaka corrections are compareable to other states pays. Yes the starting wages. People don't reliaze that other states pay you more the longer your there. Its sad to think someone with 5yrs expericae get payed the same as someone with one day expericance. I could go into great detail about the conditions about the prison but I won't. We as corrections officers are bond to silents about the working envirment and what realy goes on there. I will put money on it that MSNBC won't ever get to do a true show about nebraska prisons, if one at all. We do the best we can there for inmate safty with what we got. "

 Former Religious Coordinator wrote on October 13, 2007 1:16 am:
" It is obvious from the comments posted who has and has not been in corrections; let alone TSCI. I knew Reko Mitchell and worked with him extensively while a Religious Coordinator at TSCI. I am saddened by his death. Reko had an edge to him and he pushed his luck with some of the other inmates too far. I also knew David Ditter. Sometimes I had to agree with him, and sometimes I thought he was just being a trouble maker. Whatever Reko Mitchell did (and he did some very terrible things), he was a human being and his death should be given the dignity the death any human being deserves. On the other hand, I saw the politics first hand that goes on at TSCI, and saw the great gap between the management of the facility and those who had to deal with the inmates. Our Correctional officers work long and hard hours, frequently being required to do extra shifts and not being able to make important events in the lives of their families. The other staff, case workers, library, medical, and religious try very hard to help the inmates and often do not get the respect they deserve. It is a very stressful occupation just dealing with the inmates and the dangers of the job. On top of that you had to deal with staff reporting each other for stupid stuff. I watched the inmates, but I also watched other staff to make sure some idiot who wanted to throw his or her weight around had nothing they could prove against me. I treasure the friends I made at TSCI, the things we accomplished, but I am also glad to no longer have to deal with the politics at that place, too. "

 ja@southwest wrote on October 13, 2007 4:00 am:
" I disagree that officers should just let inmates kill each other to save the tax payers a few dollars. Yes, the inmates violated the law, but that isn't a reason to deny them of their rights. Though they have fewer rights than us, they still have the right to practice any religion freely, to have adequate food and clothing, to make complaints of assault or injury in the prison, and to have access to courts and legal materials. Although I do not approve of Mr. Ditter's crime, I think that we should allow him as well as other sources to voice their sides of the story. It's what makes America; allowing all sides to speak. From Mr. Matteson and Mr. Ditter's point of view, it sounds as though the jail needs a lot more staff. Correction Officer's cannot be asked to work 6-8 hours of mandatory overtime daily. If you think its fine the way it is because the protection of the inmates does not matter, stop and think about the safety of the officers and staff at the prison. A group of inmates could overtake a single officer. This is another reason more staff is needed. According to careercruising.com the average entry wage in Nebraska for a correctional officer is $11.95 per hour. The average experienced wage is $15.72 per hour. That is not a sufficient amount when you are doing a dangerous job for hours upon hours. The national average cost per inmate is $62/day according to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/spe01.txt. The government spends enough on the inmates; they might as well pay the officers more too. I would also like to know if the jail is paying compensation to Mitchell's family, and how much. The government tends to be cheap when it comes to compensation, in my opinion. I do think that Nebraska jails are trying hard to stay safe. However, I think that even the best can strive to be better. "

 Polidoros C. Pserros wrote on October 13, 2007 5:55 am:
" Corrections employees who have "commented" need to contact Sen. Pedersen's aide Barbara Brunkow (Brunkow, Barb [bbrunkow@leg.ne.gov]) and/or the Legislature's Judiciary Committee General Counsel Jeffrey Beatty [mailto:jbeaty@leg.ne.gov] regarding legislative resolution LR 112. Go to state legislature's website, "bills & laws." Then go to "Legislative Journal," day 75 (May 4), and then go to page 12 of 20. I am 58, have two stints in state corrections, 1973 - 1981, and from 1988 to now. I work at OCC, and have been trying to get "corrections personnel issues" on the public agenda for years. OCC is a different world than TSCI, but we are, it seems, losing terrific co-workers to Iowa corrections, other state jobs and private business every month. We have some geezers but second shift is getting younger and younger. (OCC staff sometimes get mandatoried but most shifts somebody wants to get the extra pay. I heard one day at TSCI 17 employees were mandatoried. Is that true?) You guys take care of yourselves. Bill "

 Dan wrote on October 13, 2007 8:36 am:
" I really don't have much sympathy for the inmates. So they are fighting in the prison. If they weren't in prison they would be fighting on the streets. I think it is better it is in a controlled environment where all the bad people can beat, pummel, rape, and kill each other. "

 Peggy wrote on October 13, 2007 8:40 am:
" There is one way to stop this violence in prison but it will never happen. You tell the inmates there is a new rule. Everytime a fight breaks out and the guards tell them to stop and they don't, shoot them. I guarantee you after 2 or 3 fights and a couple of them getting shot that crap will stop REAL QUICK!! It will never happen though. "

 Annoyed wrote on October 13, 2007 11:51 am:
" IF they would have created a SAFE environment for us, they would not be where they are. Hire more guards but PAY them more so they stay. This is not fair to the few remaining guards - fix it by doubling their wages and training them. Then, they might stay! "

 jim carter wrote on October 17, 2007 3:40 pm:
" I would like to clarify something about TSCI.I was there for 2 years for receiving stolen propety.To say that only the worst of the worst are there is wrong. My first problem there was with Reko he had an alligator mouth and nothing to back it up.There are several inmates there for driving offenses.When you have but a short time to get out and are around people who will never get out its a struggle to not fight back.They should double bunk the cells on the minumum yard to get more of the short timers off the yard! "

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