Page 4 - Volume 28 Number 2

The Police Officers Journal
4 • SPRING 2018
Memorial recognizes sacrifices mad
— By Jennifer Gomori, POJ Editor with excerpts from Lansing State Journal
Family members of three Michigan Corrections Officers killed in the line of duty were among some 300 guests who at- tended the unveiling of The Fallen Officers Memorial in Lan- sing last spring.
The memorial was completed just in time for National Corrections Officers Week — the week of May 6 — in 2017. For families of the fallen, the recognition of their loved ones’ sacrifices were long- awaited. Josephine McCallum and Jack Budd were killed by inmates in two separate incidents at a Jackson state prison in 1987. The Fallen Officers Memorial unveiling gave corrections staff, law en- forcement, legislators, and union supporters their first glimpse of the monument that honors Michigan Corrections Officers killed in the line of duty.
“It’s very moving,” said Sally Budd, sister of fallen corrections officer Jack Budd, in a Lansing State Journal article. “It’s beautiful because it’s so simple. It’s also a stark reminder of the danger of the job.”
“It’s been a long time, but I’m very happy for my son and me, es- pecially, to get some recognition for her,” said Josephine’s husband, William McCallum in a Lansing State Journal article. “She went through a lot and we went through a lot. But it seems like there’s a different group of people in now (who) are really starting to recognize the corrections people and the dangers they go through. I mean, they’re unarmed, standing in a group of 600 people. I don’t know if I’d want to be there.”
Michigan Corrrections Organization (MCO) Communications Direc- tor Anita Lloyd said it’s just too risky to have Officers carry guns in- side prison walls. “There’s a concern with being armed in a prison that an inmate could possibly take your weapon,” Lloyd said. “Some
Photo by Matthew Dae Smith
of them do carry tasers now and all of them carry pepper spray but, as far as carrying firearms ‘no’. That makes their jobs all the more dangerous. That’s why it is so vital in corrections that you are able to de-escalate a situation.”
Corrections Officers must command respect, Lloyd said, for their own safety and the safety of other staff and inmates. They work to keep emotions in check while witnessing and experiencing sexually indecent behaviors, and even having bodily fluids thrown on them. MCO worked with the Michigan State Police and the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan to raise awareness of these types of crimes and hold inmates accountable through the Officer Dignity Initiative.
“It was a vigil for those who have given their lives but also a celebration of those who still put their lives on the line every day,” said Heidi Washington, Michigan’s corrections director, in the State Journal article. “I think it is also important that we continue to highlight the stress we all face in the job and to recognize it and to offer solutions and support for the men and women who work in- side of our institutions.”
Thirteen Michigan prison employees have died in the line of duty in over a century of state-run prisons. George Haight was the first, poisoned with cyanide in 1893. Doris Taylor was the last in 1998 when an inmate, apparently upset by her pending retirement, killed her. “Through this memorial, we are sending a powerful message to the fallen officers’ families and to all officers: your union understands and appreciates the dangerous nature of your job. We won’t forget about you and we won’t stop fighting for you,” said Jeremy Tripp, MCO Director of Governmental and Political Affairs.
The Fallen Officers Memorial, located at MCO headquarters, 421 West Kalamazoo St. in Lansing, specifically honors the four Correc- tions Officers killed by inmates. They are Haight, Earl DeMarse, McCallum, and Budd. The black stone marker bears the officers’ names and images of a prison tower, handcuffs and prison keys and The Correctional Officer’s Prayer. “In 2015, our Executive Board at MCO was approached by a group of retirees and Corrections Officers,” Lloyd said. “It was really a grassroots effort.”
Individual corrections facilities memorialize fallen officers, but the Fallen Officers Memorial is the first public centrally located memo- rial. Previously, Josephine McCallum’s only corrections memorial was her initials on a building, William McCallum said. “All of us are hoping that this provides a place for family, friends and colleagues to honor
RECOGNiZiNG SERviCE
The Department of Corrections and MCO hold an annual Em- ployee Awards Banquet jointly around Corrections Officer Week. This year’s banquet will be held May 2 at the Lansing Center and will recognize officers for their service including the 2018 Correc- tions Officer of the Year, Elwanda Ray, a Flint Corrections Officer.