Following the tragic incident on June 20, in which Jose Rivera, a 22-year old USP-Atwater correctional officer, was stabbed to death by two inmates during his shift at Cell House 5A, community members Dennis Anderson and Andy Krotik founded Friends & Family of Correctional Officers to support safer working conditions at USP-Atwater. Four-and-a-half months after the tragedy, Anderson’s update on the status of the situation shows that although some progress has been made with the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the correctional officers at USP-Atwater still do not have the stab-resistant vests or non-lethal equipment demanded. By way of background, following the murder, the inmates were put on lockdown. The city councils of Merced and Atwater promptly passed resolutions in support of safer working conditions for the correctional officers, and Friends & Family held a rally in August demanding stab-resistant vests, nonlethal equipment and two correctional officers for each side of the housing units, instead of one.

The BOP took the inmates off lockdown, and there was an outbreak of violence in which 12 inmates were stabbed, so they went back into lockdown and have continued since then. Meanwhile, according to Anderson, the BOP and the union began negotiating to provide stab-resistant vests to the correctional officers, but there were problems with this process. Withholding of stab-resistant vests from correctional officers As far as Anderson knows, to date, the stab-resistant vests purchased for the correctional officers at USP Atwater are being withheld by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). When interviewed, Anderson explained the problem and what is being done about it.

“The director of the BOP had agreed with the union that the vests would be a negotiable item,” he said. “According to the union, the union wanted a vest with a metal insert in it that would help prevent penetration of weapons through the vest, but the Bureau didn’t want any metal in the vest because they wanted it to be able to go through the metal detectors when the correctional officers entered the facility. So, according to the union, they were still in negotiations, but the BOP said they had decided to purchase the ones without the metal. This was happening three months ago.

“Then, the BOP continued the process where the officers were asked if they wanted a vest, and they were sized and fitted, and the BOP ordered the vests without the metal. Atwater was supposed to be the first facility to get the vests.” He explained, “On a Friday, we met with Director Lappin, the BOP person in charge of all the Federal facilities throughout the U.S. We met with him at the Atwater facility, and he talked about the vests being delivered to the officers within two weeks. But the following Sunday, the facility in Atwater got word that the vests were not going to be issued because the union had filed a grievance three months prior about the BOP not negotiating the style of the vests.

“I spoke with Bryan Lowery, the national president of the Union, and he told me that the union was not going to allow this to be an issue in terms of the officers not getting the vests issued — that they were going to do something to drop the grievance so the BOP would issue the vests and then re-file the grievance. They felt the BOP was holding this over the officers’ heads as leverage, and they were not going to be used as pawns to keep the officers from getting the vests. They asked that the vests be issued on a temporary basis and the issue could be re-negotiated. “As far as I know, the vests have not been issued.” Memorial fountain Amy Martinez, who took care of Jose Rivera from the age of 12, is asking for community support to build a fountain in his honor at a church in Le Grand.

“The reason we’re doing the water fountain is that as soon as Jose got out of the Navy, we went to church,” she said. “He wanted a fountain for the church. I said, ‘Let’s get some money together and put a fountain in Le Grand.’ But Jose said, ‘I don’t want you asking for money. I will give you the money when I get my tax refund.’ He was that kind of person - - he didn’t want me worrying about anything.” She announced,

“We’re going to have a candlelight vigil on Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes in Le Grand. That’s where Jose went to church. He and my other boys put the walkway in there. That’s where the fountain is going to be.” She said, “We’re asking people to purchase raffle tickets, and we will use the money for the fountain. The raffle items are a Play Station 3, a $50 gift card and a $25 gift card. You can buy raffle tickets on November 16th after mass at St. Patrick’s Parish in Merced, or at Carniceria Vallarta on 16th Street in Merced or Gunrunner Gun Shop on Yosemite Parkway in Merced. You can also buy tickets in Le Grand at Pizza Factory and El Vecino. If you want to donate money to an account, there is a memorial account at Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union, and the account number is 52260013.” For further information, those interested can contact Amy Martinez at (209) 631- 1173.