ADC OFFICER MEMORIAL

Lord, when it's time to go inside, that place of steel

and stone. I pray that you will keep me safe, so I won't

walk alone.  Help me to do my duty, please watch me on

my rounds.  Amongst those perilous places and slamming

steel door sounds.  God, keep my fellow Officers well and free

from harm.  Let them know I'll be there, whenever there's

alarm.  Above all when I walk my beat, no matter where I roam,

Let me go back whence I came, to family and home.

 

                                                             ~ Unknown Correctional Officer

This page is dedicated to the Officers of the Arizona Department of Corrections,

whom have sacrificed their lives for the citizens of the of Arizona.

Their job was to Serve, Our job is to remember. They shall not be forgotten

On September 18, 1967, an inmate was scheduled for a court appointment at Pinal County courthouse. At 3:00 p.m. after the appearance, Correctional Sergeant James Steiner and the inmate started back to the state prison, but never arrived.  A search was begun after their failure to return was noticed.  At 4:00 p.m., the prison received a call from Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Parent, saying they had been accosted by someone driving a prison truck just outside Casa Grande.  The search was immediately centered around that area.  The inmate was able to to steal a pickup truck, but did not leave the Casa Grande area.  About 8:30 a.m., the stolen truck was located north of Casa Grande and prison dogs were able to pick up the inmates trail.  The inmate appeared at the home of Mrs. Tom Brewer, and brandishing a pistol, stole her car.  As the inmate drove off, Mrs Brewer called the Sheriff’s office and reported the theft.  When the authorities closed in, the inmate ran into the back yard of a nearby house and attempted to hide, but a short exchange of gunfire occurred between the inmate and Sheriff’s Deputies, convincing the inmate to surrender.  Then, before being taken back to prison, the inmate led officials to the body of Officer Steiner, just south of Coolidge.  He had been shot three times in the chest by the inmate.

 

Link: www.nleomf.org - Steiner

During the early months of 1973, the Arizona State Prison at Florence was the scene of sporadic violence caused by overcrowding and prison unrest.  On the evening shift of June 22, 1973, two Officers, Theodore Buckley and Dale Morey, were on duty in a cell block containing about two hundred inmates.  At 9:00 p.m., a small fire was started in one of the cells.  Officer Morey went to put the fire out while Officer Buckley stayed on duty in the control room.  As Morey unlocked the door to the cell containing the fire, he was struck with a mop handle, stabbed repeatedly, and his keys were taken and used to unlock the control room door.  The inmates entered, grabbed Buckley and dragged him into the cell block, where he was stabbed numerous times.  A little while later, when a third Officer came back to the cellblock after taking a break, he spotted the bodies of the two Officers and spread the alarm.  At 11:00 p.m., a contingent of Officers entered the cell block and found that most of the prisoners were already back in their cells.

 

Dale Morey was thirty-seven at the time of his murder and was a veteran of the United States Army. He began his law enforcement career serving with the Crestline, Ohio Police Department rising to the rank of Police Sergeant. Morey transferred to the Ontario, Ohio Police Department where he worked for four years. He then went to North Central Technical College where he taught finger printing for criminal justice classes.

 

Dale Morey was survived by his wife Patricia, his children Mark, Lue Anne, Julie, Robert, Stephen, and his stepson

Michael Tamburino.

 

Theodore Buckley was twenty-six and was survived by three young children. Buckley served in the Army for 8 years as a member of the Military Police. During his time in the military, he was stationed in Korea and Germany. His last duty station was at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona.

 

Ted Buckley joined the Department because of his desire to stay in the law enforcement field. He is survived by his wife, Sun Cha, his 3 children, Theodore Jr., William, Ann, and his brother William, who is a Deputy District

Attorney in Denver, Colorado. All 3 children worked their way through college and graduated from the University of Colorado.

 

Link: www.nleomf.org - Morey

Link: www.nleomf.org - Buckley

On September 5, 1975, Correctional Officer Paul Rast went to Cottage “A” at the Adobe Mountain School for Juvenile Offenders, trying to determine why two inmates had not shown up at the kitchen.  As he entered Cottage “A”, he was confronted by three juveniles and a struggle ensued. One inmate put a choke hold around Rast’s neck while the other two beat him.  Rast was taken to the hospital, but the choke hold had damaged a major artery in his neck, and he died three days later  Offer Rast was survived by his wife, Sylvia and his two sons.

 

Link: www.nleomf.org - Rast

On November 15, 1993, Correctional Officer Robert Barchey and Dennis Grant were transporting prisoners from one prison complex to another.  At about 8:00 a.m., just after leaving the Florence Prison, Grant headed the Department of Corrections bus west bound on State Route 87.  Just outside of Florence, and east bound semi-truck lost control and skidded sideways into the bus.  Grant tried, but was not able to avoid hitting the truck.  On impact, Officer Barchey was thrown through the windshield and killed.  Grant was critically injured and would lose his leg.  Twenty of the twenty-two prisoners on board the bus were injured.  The driver of the truck, Gary Purnel also died at the scene.  None of the inmates attempted escape.

 

Link: www.nleomf.org - Barchey

During a search for contraband, on March 7, 1997, Correctional Officer Brent Lumley, accidentally knocked a photo belonging to the cell’s occupant to the floor.  The inmate, swore to kill Lumley for the show of disrespect.  Later, about 1:45 p.m., an inmate obtained a homemade knife, while another inmate opened the cell door.  As the inmate approached Officer Lumley in the control room, two other inmates distracted him.  The inmate stabbed Lumley twice in the neck, fatally wounding him.  This case forced the State to update its antiquated locking system.  The inmate was convicted in the murder and sentenced to death.  The other three inmates were sentenced to long prison terms for assisting the other inmate.  Officer Lumley was survived by his wife, Doreena, son, Blake, and a five year old daughter.

 

Link: www.nlwomf.org - Lumley

On June 2, 2005, Correctional Officer Gabriel Saucedo was killed when his 9mm Glock service pistol was accidentally discharged while he was on perimeter patrol at the Arizona State Prison Complex - Safford.

 

The officer was alone in a department vehicle when the incident occurred. One round passed through his hand and struck him in the leg, causing massive bleeding. He was flown to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

 

Officer Saucedo had served with the Arizona Department of Corrections for 13 months. He is survived by his wife and three children.

 

Link: www.nleomf.org - Saucedo

 

November 29, 2006 was a cold, snowy day in Northern Arizona.  Lt. David Ekstrand was heading for his job at the prison in Winslow, when be came upon a multi-car accident on I-40.  He stopped at the scene and began to assist motorists from their wrecked cars, when a semi-truck lost control and struck him.  He was taken to a Phoenix hospital in critical condition and died on December 14, 2006.  Lt. Ekastrand was survived by his wife, Cathy and four children, Tiffany, Cory, Joseph, and Rita.

Correctional Officer Darrel Kasson passed away on March 4, 2007, in Iraq, when an improvised explosive device went off near his vehicle.

 

Not long after Kasson joined the National Guard in 1987, he took his job with the Department of Corrections and was assigned to ASPC-Florence. Kasson worked at CB-6 which has been renamed CB-Kasson.

 

Kasson was deployed with the Alpha Battery, 2-180th Field Artillery Battalion. The unit was mobilized in August and was sent to Camp Shelby in Mississippi and Kasson was then sent to Iraq in November.

 

Officer Kasson, age 43, had been an employee of ADC for 18 years. He was married and the father of three.

 

Correctional Officer Charles Browning passed away on June 1, 2007, in Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle.

 

Officer Browning joined the Department on January 12, 2004 and served at ASPC- Eyman throughout his career. Prior to leaving for Afghanistan, he worked at SMU II and also was honored as a veteran on the ADC Veterans Day float as he had served in Iraq from October 2004 through January 2006. SMU II has been renamed Browning Unit.

 

Officer Browning was deployed with the Arizona Army National Guards Gilbert-based (Bravo) Company, 1-158th Infantry Battalion. The 1-158th Infantry Battalion was mobilized in January 2007 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. They deployed to Fort Bragg, N.C. for training and then deployed to Afghanistan in March.

 

Officer Browning, age 31, is survived by his wife, Lisa, and step-daughters, Jessica and Briana.

On October 1, 2008, Officer Douglas Falconer suffered a fatal heart attack while overseeing an inmate firefighting crew near Lake Havasu City.

 

The crew had been fighting a wildfire in the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge when Officer Falconer suddenly collapsed.

 

Despite lifesaving efforts performed by members of the crew, Officer Falconer passed away.

 

Officer Falconer had served with the Arizona Department of Corrections for 4 years. He is survived by his wife.

 

Link: www.nleomf.org - Falconer

Link: www.usfa.fema.gov - Falconer

 

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