PHOENIX (KNXV) — The attorney for the union representing Arizona's state prison workers has sent a letter to State Prison Director Ryan Thornell demanding he stop what it calls a "retaliatory criminal investigation" of staff whistleblowers and warning that the investigation may violate the law.
The letter, written by attorney Martin Bihn and sent on behalf of the union representing more than 1,700 of Thornell's prison workers, follows ABC15's reporting that exposed leaked videos of officer assaults inside state prisons and later revealed the state's investigation trying to figure out who leaked.
"We are writing to ask that ADCRR stop its retaliatory criminal investigation of staff whistleblowers... The leaks are happening to bring attention to the dramatic upswing in inmate attacks on officers and ADCRR's failure to take action to stem the assaults," Bihn wrote.
Violence in state prisons has risen sharply under Thornell, with total assaults more than doubling in recent years.
ABC15 first exposed the leaked video showing an officer, alone, in a high-risk pod, being beaten for three minutes with no response or backup. The release of that video led to more leaks, with ABC15 obtaining several other videos highlighting the violence inside state lockup.
"Left with no other option, staff is releasing videos of officer assaults including the video of the officer being attacked for three minutes. The video releases are made to draw this situation to the attention of the public and state leadership. And ADCRR's response to problems and video releases is telling," Bihn said.
According to the letter, the prison has brought in Department of Public Safety detectives who have "conducted upwards of 100 employee interviews."
Bihn alsosaid the way these investigations are being conducted may violate the law.
A state worker can be compelled to be interviewed for an internal investigation, but not for a criminal investigation, and the union says those lines are being blurred.
This digital article was produced with the assistance of AI and converted to this platform based on the broadcast story written and reported by ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing (Dave@abc15.com). Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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