Racist Drawings Found Inside State Prison Security Office

Target 11’s Rick Earle began investigating after receiving pictures of racist drawings taken inside the security office at the State Correctional Institution in Green County.

At first the photos looked harmless. One showed a guard smiling at his desk in the security office at the state prison.

When Earle looked closely he could see a confederate flag and a drawing of a swastika on the wall behind the guard.

Earle showed the photos to Connie Craig, president of the Pennsylvania State NAACP.

She also worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.

Craig said, “I was shocked, very shocked that it took place in a state office. You have so many different types of cultures in the prison. You have gangs. That is only going to increase tension.”

Susan McNaughton, spokesperson for the department of corrections, Earle, “We did an investigation and it was determined that they were not put up to intimidate or discriminate against anyone.”

She says the drawings were confiscated from inmates and posted to alert security officers of potential problems.

After Target 11 brought attention to the pictures, the Department of Corrections ordered employees in all prisons to remove these items.

But there were other photos taken inside the prison. In one, a guard is seen playing a crude joke. In another, the guard is sitting at a desk with video surveillance monitors. Showing those monitors could be a breach of security.

The department of corrections officials said those pictures shouldn't have been taken in the first place and the employees are now facing disciplinary action.

McNaughton said, “It portrays the officer in the pictures in a bad light and I think what people need to realize is our officers and all of our staff are doing a very important job and they're not clowning around all day. They are there for an important reason, and public safety is our number one priority.”

There is no word yet on how many guards are facing disciplinary action or what the penalty might be.

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