Guard Vests Were in Storage

The men’s state prison in Chino had more than 300 stab-proof vests sitting in storage when a guard was knifed to death allegedly by an inmate Monday, protection that one union official said might have saved the officer’s life.

Officials at the Chino Institution for Men had decided not to distribute most of the vests until they had enough to outfit all of the correctional officers, about 900 employees, in part because of the union’s concerns about providing unequal protection to the officers, a prison spokesman said.

On Thursday, the vests were distributed to correctional officers who patrol the maximum- and medium-security wings of the prison, three days after the slaying of Manuel A. Gonzalez, 43, a married father of six and a guard for 16 years. Under that criterion, Gonzalez would have received a vest, a prison official said.

“Certainly, Gonzalez might have been spared with a vest,” said Marty Aroian, a California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. chapter president. “I had to bargain for these vests [in contract talks].... Not only has the state cut staff, the prison left the vests in a warehouse. When the state cuts, that’s what kills people.”

Prison spokesman Capt. Kevin Peters said the delay in issuing the protective gear was made by Warden Lori DiCarlo, prison administrators and the union based on the officers’ possible concerns about having unequal levels of protection.

“Some of the decision was based on the [officers] thinking, ‘If you have a vest, and I don’t, what’s that mean?’ ” Peters said. “We knew that feeling would be there, and we wanted all of the staff to have a vest at the same time.”

The prison placed an order to the California Department of Corrections early last year for more than 900 stab-proof vests, enough for every guard, but the prison received only 362 vests in September, Peters said. The prison submitted a request for the remaining vests in December.

The prison did distribute a few vests to officers assigned to the transportation unit and high-security unit, which houses the most dangerous inmates, he said.

CDC spokesman Todd Slosek said he was uncertain why the Chino prison did not receive all the vests it requested but said budgetary constraints tied to an increased prison population and a slow-moving purchasing process were likely factors. The vests cost more than $500 apiece.

Aroian acknowledged that he had expressed concerns about which officers would receive the first batch of vests but said he just wanted assurances that the gear would be distributed in a fair and consistent fashion.

Aroian said he filed a grievance about six weeks ago complaining about the delay. Prison officials said they were not aware of any union grievance on the matter.

Prison officials suspect that Jon Christopher Blaylock, 35, a Los Angeles County felon serving a 75-year sentence for the attempted murder of a police officer, stabbed Gonzalez with a handmade weapon. Blaylock and two other inmates allegedly involved in the incident, Keith White and Henry Riley, have been transferred to other prisons.

“I believe Blaylock is the person who stabbed [Gonzalez], and a criminal complaint of murder will be issued against Blaylock in the coming weeks,” said San Bernardino County sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Bradford, who is leading the murder investigation.

Gonzalez was stabbed in the Chino prison’s reception center, which is often occupied by prisoners headed to maximum-security areas.

But the reception center is not considered a maximum- or medium-security facility in itself, Peters said.

Peters said it’s unclear whether a vest would have saved Gonzalez. The San Bernardino County coroner on Thursday determined that Gonzalez died of stab wounds to the chest and abdomen.

The prison will remain on lockdown through at least Tuesday, and psychiatric evaluations and parole hearings for prisoners will be suspended until Feb. 9 as part of the prison’s declared state of emergency, prison officials said.

Gonzalez’s funeral and burial are scheduled for Tuesday. Roderick Q. Hickman, chairman of the state Board of Corrections and secretary of the state Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, called on Thursday for an independent investigation by a panel headed by Glenn Goord, chief of the New York Department of Correctional Services.

“They’ll look at everything -- the vests, the protocols, everything,” said J.P. Tremblay, assistant secretary of the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency. “I don’t know what exactly happened with the vests, but we will after all these groups look at it. We will have some answers in short time.”

The California Department of Corrections and state Office of the Inspector General also are investigating the killing. No state prison guard has been killed by a prisoner since 1985.

“We are trying to outfit all 30,000 of our officers in the state with vests,” Tremblay said. “We’ve been trying to get the vests to the officers in the highest need as quickly as we can.”