To the Editor:

I am writing about the abuse and bullying that some of the guards do at the Albany County Correctional Facility. This has been a problem for years and goes on in many of our jails and prison systems today. I have seen this firsthand at the Albany County Correctional Facility, and it goes on every day.

Please understand I am not saying all the guards are like this. I agree that a prison guard has a very hard job, and has to deal with inmates that just do not care who they hurt or the problems within the jail they may cause. The guard’s job is to have good judgement, maintaining the peace, safety, and security of the jail, staff, and inmates and leadership.

But this is not happening. Inmates are being called out by the guards on the crimes they committed that in some cases could bring harm, injury, or death to the inmates. My stepson has been in jail now for about three weeks, and he has been abused, bullied, and called out on his charges, which has now put him in protective custody because of the threats of injury from other inmates.

I am sorry but a guard has no right to tell other inmates what someone is charged with. This puts the inmate and guards in danger. If another inmate does not like what you are charged with and goes after the other inmate to harm or cause injury to him, how does that keep the peace or make the jail safe?

This causes unrest and could cause a riot within the jail. I have called the jail about this and was told someone would call me back, and no one has. My stepson’s lawyer has called the jail as well with no returned phone calls.

This is also happening with other inmates and not just my stepson. All these guys committed a crime, but they are still human, and have rights. These inmates including my stepson are set up to fail upon release from the correctional facility.

Why do I say that? Well, they do not offer them any kind of help when they get out of jail. Why can’t they help them with counseling, housing, or employment so they can stay out of jail?

We say that our jails are crowded, but do nothing to help stop it. Trust me, I have seen firsthand the problems that happen within our jails and it needs to stop. It’s not fair to the families of the inmates, because most of the time they will not do anything because they are afraid the guards will take it out on the family member that is in jail.

The only way to stop this is to let people know what goes on within the jail. Some of these guards are nothing but bullies and should not be working as guards...This is a problem that needs to be talked about.

Sean Quinlan

Albany

Editor’s note: See related editorial. Last week, The Enterprise ran a story about the arrest of Sean Quinlan’s stepson, Frederick Basile, for public lewdness and about his family’s worries about him in jail.