DOC officers placed on admin leave

The Department of Corrections has placed two of its officers on administrative leave while it investigates how inmate Joey Maratita escaped under their watch last week.

According to DOC Commissioner Anthony Torres, an Internal Affairs investigation has been launched into the escape of Maratita, who managed to elude his two DOC escorts while he was being treated at the Commonwealth Health Center last Wednesday, Jan. 24.

Maratita was captured the next day near the old Japanese jail and has since been charged for his escape.

“An Internal Affairs investigation has been initiated and the officers involved with escorting the inmate have been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation,” Torres said.

In addition, Torres reiterated that an after-action plan is forthcoming.

That typically involves a comprehensive review of the circumstances surrounding the event and aims to identify areas for improvement to prevent similar incidents in the future, he said.

Part of the after-action plan, said Torres, is review and analysis.

“Review and analysis [includes] gathering of all available information about the escape, security vulnerabilities, response procedure [and] analyzing the sequence of events leading up to the escape and the immediate actions taken to address it,” he said.

The plan may also identify weaknesses, the commissioner said.

“[The plan includes] determining the specific weaknesses in security protocols, physical infrastructure, staff procedures, or any other contributing factors that facilitated the escape,” he said.

Torres said the plan may also include recommendations for improvement: “specific recommendations or action items to address the identified weaknesses. This may include updates to security protocols, additional training for staff, or procedural changes,” he said.

Once the recommendations are established, the plan will assign responsibilities for implementing the proposed changes and establish a timeline for completion.

What may also be included in the plan, Torres said, is training and preparedness, and continuous monitoring.

“Conduct training sessions to ensure that staff members are familiar with any revised procedures and protocols. This may also involve conducting preparedness drills to test the effectiveness of new measures. [It may also] establish a system for ongoing monitoring and feedback to assess the effectiveness of the implemented changes. This may involve regular security audits, staff feedback mechanisms, and regular reviews of security procedures,” he said.

Ultimately, Torres said it’s essential to learn from past incidents and continuously improve security protocols to safeguard against similar events.