Siege in Lucasville -- Rooftop Publishing

Siege in Lucasville

by Gary Williams

Format: 6 x 9 softcover
Page Count: 270

ISBN: 1-60008-005-7
Price: $18.95
Publication Date: September, 2006

Available Now:

Book Description

The 11-day prison riot in Lucasville, OH, from April 11-April 21, 1993, was the longest and third deadliest prison riot in American history. Nine inmates and one prison guard were killed during the standoff. Nearly $40 million worth of damage was done to the prison.

As told to Gary Williams, Siege in Lucasville is the gripping story of Larry Dotson, a prison guard held hostage during the riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville. With a meticulous day-by-day account of the standoff, Siege offers a first-hand account of the torture and terror that Dotson experienced in the midst of rival prison gangs struggling to negotiate with authorities and co-exist with each other. Dotson’s beatings resulted in two weeks of hospitalization, months of physical therapy, and years of emotional healing. Like several of his fellow hostages, Dotson has continued to bear the effects of Lucasville, as he has endured 17 post-riot trials, two strokes, and a layoff.

Siege also features a special section with post-riot investigation reports and a critical analysis, conducted by Williams, of the administrative failure of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

While legislative changes were implemented in the aftermath of the Lucasville riot, the Ohio prison system has sunk back to pre-Lucasville conditions. On December 6, 2005, at the same Lucasville prison, correction officer Marda Abrams was beaten with her own side-handled baton so severely that she has not returned to work. This incident capped off a year where assaults against prison staff increased 162% at Lucasville.

To all those who advocate budget cutbacks, staff reductions, and a moderation of security for the Ohio prison system, Siege is a haunting reminder that those legislators and administrators who are accountable are never required to pay the real consequences for their decisions.

Excerpt

SOCF was a "loosely run and operated organization lacking in the necessary attention to detail one would expect from a maximum security facility--as a result SOCF is not operating as a maximum security facility..."

April 11, 2003 marked the ten-year anniversary of the riot at the maximum-security prison known as the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio. It was ten years ago that inmates returned from recreation on Easter Sunday, 1993, assaulted the entry officer, took his keys, and thus began the longest and third most deadly prison riot in United States history.

The aftermath of the 11-day siege was busy with the physical restoration of the prison, investigations, trials of the inmates involved, re-vamping long-standing policy and procedure, hiring and training of new staff, and the inevitable rounds of finger pointing. During the course of the riot, eight inmates were murdered at the hands of other inmates, the L-corridor of the prison was totally destroyed by rioting inmates, and $41 million dollars was spent bringing the prison and the department to a "new normal" method of operation.

There was the usual post-incident internal and external "political" posturing, media attention, and creation of media celebrities. As a result, Columbus television reporter Bob Orr was whisked away to Washington to take a position with a national network. In fact, Lucasville and its aftermath created opportunities for several individuals. Some Department of Rehabilitation and Correction administrators subsequently left the department and now are serving as highly paid consultants to federal and state agencies. Others have been frequent speakers on the lecture circuit, some have used their prominent positions in DRC to become office-holders in national correctional organizations, and still others have had their careers enhanced through promotional opportunities as a result of the riot. With rare exceptions, this has not been true for the Lucasville hostages.

Much has been written about the inmate rioters, their respective trials and re-trials, the perceived causes and precipitating factors, as well as the numerous policy and procedure changes throughout the Department. Study after study, report after report, task force after task force detailed the riot and the cost to the Ohio taxpayer.

However, to better understand the Easter 1993 riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF), we must take a serious look at the facility itself. SOCF or Lucasville, as it is known within the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC), grew out of the creation of the department. Until 1972, the DRC was a part of the Ohio Department of Mental Hygiene.

However, when Ohio House Bill 494 was enacted, the DRC became an independent agency. Its first Director was Bennett Cooper, who essentially created the agency and laid the groundwork for the unprecedented growth the department has endured over the past thirty years.

One of the first of many “first things to do” was to complete the replacement of the ancient Ohio Penitentiary on Spring Street in Columbus, Ohio. Construction had begun on the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility on June 28, 1968, in the southern Ohio town of Lucasville, Ohio just off of State Route 782, known locally as Minford-Lucasville Road, in Scioto County at the southern most part of Ohio. Lucasville is located 110 miles east of Cincinnati and 11 miles north of Portsmouth. The construction of the state’s newest prison was a welcomed addition to the always-struggling rural economy. The architect for the facility was George S. Voinovich, brother of future Ohio Governor George V. Voinovich.

About the Author

Gary Williams is a training officer at the Warren Correctional Institution for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in Lebanon, OH, and is currently a member of the faculty at Sinclair Community College in Dayton. He began his corrections career in 1985 at the Marion Correctional Institution and later transferred to the Corrections Training Academy in Orient, OH, in 1995, where he served as a training officer until 2002. He developed the mid-level leadership program that received recognition in the American Correctional Association publication Best Practices. Williams holds a Bachelor of Science degree in human resource management and leadership from Franklin University and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Dayton. He lives in West Chester, Ohio.