Being the Victim I have worked in corrections since 1992, it was not something that I set out to do, but was more or less led into it by my life's circumstances. I started at the age of 42, it was very much a challenge, but I was strong both physically and mentally and fear was never a factor in my life. At the age of 13 I started my first "real" job, working at the movie theater every weekend, and have always been employed at one thing or another. When I found myself working in the criminal justice system, I had lost everything in my life that I had worked for. So having no home, family, or real purpose left in life, I wanted to do something that had "meaning", not just to me but to the community I had returned to. For the first two years I was "on call" 24 hours a day 7 days a week, I guess because I was considered a "full-time, Part-time" person. It didn't make a lot of sense to me either, but it kept the county from having to pay me any overtime or holiday pay. In 1994 I buried my mother in February, and the man I was to marry in March. In July I was sent to the Corrections Academy at Seattle. That was a rough summer, but I graduated, and because no one from my county showed up for the ceremony, the Director personally presented me with my diploma. She also encouraged me to pursue a specialized line of work in criminal justice, and felt that I was more than qualified. I would have done just that had it not been for all the responsibilities of dealing with two deaths, the paperwork and property issues that had to be taken care of. In 1998, I applied for a possession in Stevens County as a corrections officer. It meant starting at the bottom, again, as they would not give me a lateral transfer. I was more than willing to take it, I love that area, the people I would be working with were the best, and it would give me a chance to have a life again. I worked my last day at Ferry County on March 14th,1999, and began working for Stevens County on March 15, 1999. I never for one minute regretted the move, and not only enjoyed my new job, but came to look at my fellow workers as family. We knew we worked in a dungeon, that no one on the outside cared or thought about us, that our facility was probably one of the most dangerous, antiquated, facilities in the country, but with a lot of humor and love for each other we had our own internal support. On September 7,2002, a young male officer, the same age as my son, and myself were involved in a critical incident with a male inmate. This is a 6 foot man who cut wood for a living, a man we had been trying to get a mental health evaluation on for three weeks. This is a man that Wa. St. mental health would not come and see because, and I quote, "we do not have enough evidence to justify an evaluations". The fact that my supervisor had contacted them numerous times, and I personally had been writing reports on him every shift, were not sufficient to convince them that this man just might have a problem. Just after lockdown,on 9/7/02, my partner and I had to move this inmate to PC, due to the fact he was disrupting the rest of the facility. In the process of moving him, he broke away from my partner, rushed me, hitting me in the face and knocking me to the floor. I had called for backup, just before he hit me, but because the officers had to get there from outside the jail facility , the response could not be immediate. The ensuing incident resulted in my partner receiving two large black eyes, and other contusions, while I didn't think that I had any serious injury except for the black eye, later I would discover that I had indeed been hurt. For the last year it has been a constant regime of therapy for the concussion to my head, the whiplash to my neck, and surgery for my lower spine. Mental Health finally did come down that night, and this man has been living at Washington State Mental Hospital in Medical Lake since. They have returned him to court at least twice to see if he can stand trial, but as of this date he is still at Eastern Mental Facility and may never return. I have worked had at getting myself back in shape, but will be limited for the rest of my life as to what I can lift and what I can do. My husband is a retired homicide detective for Kansas City, Mo. and understands what has happened and is very supportive, but it has changed our lives a great deal. On September 27th, of this year, I had a meeting with the sheriff, undersheriff, and my immediate supervisor. It was explained to me that the county is having financial difficulties, that there is no "light duty" job for me, the county cannot create a job, and therefore I have been terminated as of the end of this October. I have no idea what will happen with my Wa. St. retirement, how I will get medical insurance, etc. These are things that I am in the process of working on, and dealing with Labor and Industries at the same time. The point I guess that I'm trying to make is this. I was doing my job, trying to keep a dangerous inmate from escaping, trusting my training and all the people I worked for. Washington State has no concern for the fact that I just lost my career, and everything that goes along with it. They have only one concern, and that is to get me back to work, and it doesn't have to be anything over minimum wage or with any benefits or retirement. The message that is clearly being sent to me, is "oh well", you are all used up so we will just "wad" you up, throw you away, and get a new one. This is a throw away society as we all should know, but I'm thinking that it would have been much more economical to supply the jail officers with the equipment they need to protect themselves, and the public, than to throw away a faithful employee along with the years of training and experience that comes with her. Many of you on staff with WSJA, I have meet in person at different Jail conferences. I know the quality of the people that are reading this. You are all people who have worked hard, given more that 100%, and have concern for your fellow officers. This is an issue that all officers should be aware of, and I pray that it doesn't happen to any of you. Am I a quitter? Hardly!! Like I told Sheriff Thayer, "when something happens to move me along in life, God has always had something better for me to do". Fear is not a option! If you would like to respond to this in anyway, please feel free to call me, or e-mail. Sincerely, Corrections Officer, Linda (Hougland) Casebolt Return to WSJA Home Page