HOUSTON -- Note: The following story is a verbatim transcript of an Investigators story that aired on Wednesday, May 7, 2008, on KPRC Local 2 at 6 p.m. A Houston-area prison is on lockdown tonight. Texas Department of Criminal Justice investigators are searching the entire CT Terrell prison unit in Brazoria County -- including searches of both inmates and corrections officers. The lockdown comes after Local 2 Investigates exposed serious charges of officers and inmates committing crimes together, and claims the prison leadership attempted to cover it up. Officers inside Terrell blew the whistle on it all. Wednesday, a new warden and top managers took over, as an intense investigation continues. Investigative reporter Stephen Dean has more on the fallout from his investigation. The gates are closed, showing signs of the prison lockdown that will last all week. However, corrections officers who work at the Terrell prison unit weren't the ones doing the search. Prison officers and inspector general teams from all over the state were in charge, and the local officers were among those being searched. Inmates are used to being rattled out of their cells for shakedown. Sky 2 showed the out-of-town search teams at work, including drug-sniffing dogs and a mobile command unit. However, the action in the parking lot proves this was no ordinary search. Corrections officers' cars were searched one-by-one as they arrived for work, with prison investigators looking for any clues of the corruption we've been reporting since last week. "You have a group of rogue officers that are there to basically bring things into the prison unit to supply illegal stuff for the offenders," said a corrections officer, on conditions of anonymity. The veteran corrections officer says he handed over evidence months ago, but only after Local 2 Investigates broke the story did this prison transform into one big criminal investigation scene. One corrections officer arrived for work to find this roadblock and he quickly turned around to avoid it like he had something to hide. Investigators chased him and searched his car. Another officer's home was searched. This lockdown caught many officers by surprise. Along with the employee pat downs, every prisoner was ordered out of his cell, spreading all his belongings out for a search. TDCJ says it did find cash and other banned items the inmates had somehow gotten from the outside world. Some inmates also had DNA samples taken to see if there's any proof of sex with corrupt prison guards -- just one of the many allegations to surface from inside this lockup. So far, there have been no arrests, but investigators say some corrections officers could be fired or disciplined based on some of the routine contraband found in their possession.
Author: rickyminton77
Keywords: tdcj texas department criminal justice prison corruption kprc local investigates
Added: May 16, 2008
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