Uneasy Calm Returns to Pelican Bay as Officials Probe Violence

The soft whirring of push lawn mowers wafted across the recreation yard at Pelican Bay State Prison here Monday.

In the middle of the fenced yard, two uniformed officers wielding a metal detector and shovel carefully searched for paper clips, nails or rusty razor blades that could be turned into weapons by inmates.

“Corrections is 90% boredom and 10% sheer terror,” said an officer at the maximum-security facility lined with gun towers and electrified fences.

The relative tranquillity contrasted sharply with the tumult on the B exercise yard almost two weeks ago when African American inmates allegedly were rushed by scores of Latino prisoners. Sixteen inmates were shot by guards, one fatally.

Criminal investigators from the state continue to probe what happened and whether the incident--one of the most serious at a California prison in three decades--could have been prevented.

They also are asking if inmates, many of whom had been confined to their cells in gray concrete buildings since an Aug. 31 disturbance between black and white inmates, should have been allowed on the yard or if they should have remained on lock-down status.

State prison officials acknowledge that in the past two years its maximum-security prisons increasingly have been placed on lock-down status--meaning that inmates are kept in their cells around the clock and denied many privileges.

Lock-downs appear to have been used as an alternative to lethal force after a state panel two years ago determined that two dozen fatal and serious shootings of inmates at Corcoran State Prison were unjustified.

The disturbance at Pelican Bay on Feb. 23 has highlighted the challenge these lock-downs pose for authorities trying to decide when to allow rival inmates to attend classes or go outside to play ball or checkers.

Robert Presley, secretary of the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, described the challenge Monday after a quick tour of the prison.

“Eruptions are going to happen every once and a while. Gangs, racism . . . it’s a complicated thing to run a system like that,” Presley said. Presley offered high praise for the way officers used an escalating series of riot control weapons before firing high-powered rifles with lethal rounds.

Authorities, however, are not disclosing their investigative findings or releasing videotapes of the melee.

But for the first time Monday, some of the inmates who were attacked Feb. 23 were allowed to speak to a reporter touring a unit on the B yard in the presence of prison officials.

The inmates, mostly African American, said that although tensions were running high in the prison two weeks ago, they were caught off guard by the attack.

“The yard was running smoothly and all of a sudden, boom,” said inmate James Gaulden, 52, who had been playing basketball. Pulling up his shirt, he showed a reporter numerous stab marks.

“I’m not sure how many wounds were inflicted,” he said, adding “it was a blur.”

Stephen Green, a spokesman for the state Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, said the incident began when Latino inmates rushed an African American who regularly jogged around the perimeter of the yard.

That appeared to be a signal for other Latinos, many armed with makeshift weapons, to rush the blacks, Green said. The inmate who was killed was shot just below one of the gun towers.

Several Latino prisoners approached Monday declined to discuss the event.

After the melee, prison officials said, they found 89 homemade weapons--instruments like sharpened toothbrushes--across the yard although they regularly run metal detectors across the grassy area.

The inmates questioned how so many weapons could have gotten out on the yard--though prison officials say they could be fashioned overnight.

“The situation is very volatile,” said inmate Willie Goodman, 50, of Los Angeles. “They [the administration] know it’s going to explode,” Goodman said, explaining that all he and his cellmate have to do is watch TV. Goodman is serving a sentence of 50 years to life on his third strike.

Other inmates contended that blacks were singled out by the gunners, though prison officials said only four African Americans were shot. The others, including the slain inmate, were Latinos.

One inmate shouted from his cell that the officers “are playing Russian roulette with our lives.”

The inmates explained their dilemma this way: If prisoners refuse to exercise, members of their own racial group will question their allegiance to the group. But if they go to the exercise yard, they face the prospect of fighting a rival group or gang. “It’s a Catch-22,” several said.

Prison officials say that before the incident they were trying for months to gradually get all the inmates on the yard, but now they are back to ground zero.

They say they need the patience of Mideast peace negotiators in resolving conflicts at Pelican Bay, which is populated by a variety of prison and street gang members with their own codes of conduct.

The prison has about 3,300 inmates and is best known for its security housing unit, where prisoners, including many gang members, are in windowless cells 23 hours a day.

In the B yard, inmates typically are given canteen privileges, some education programs or work assignments. But for months, many of these have been denied or limited.

One mixed-race inmate, who would not give his name, lamented the situation as he peered out of his cell. “Basically, it’s a shame we can’t get along. Hopefully, the tension will subside.”