SNEA takes responsibility for fliers warning of prison dangers

The State of Nevada Employees Association has taken responsibility for the anonymous fliers distributed to about 1,000 residences near the Nevada State Prison on Fifth Street on June 2.

Dennis Mallory, of SNEA, said it was a planned action taking concerns of some officers who work at NSP to the public and that the employee association "takes full responsibility and stands by the details of the door hanger."

"There have been ongoing problems at NSP between staff and management since the beginning of the year," he said in a release explaining the purpose of the flier.

That flier charged NSP has become unsafe because of "a heavy-handed management approach that has created a rift between the management and the officers." It also said the prison has recently become home to a more dangerous class of prisoners and that a recent fight resulting in one inmate being hospitalized could be a sign of things to come.

Director of Corrections Glen Whorton denied those allegations, saying NSP houses the same class of inmates it has for 20 years and that one fight between inmates that wasn't even gang related hardly indicates a growing level of violence there. He was backed by Ed Flagg, head of SNEA's competing union the Correctional Officers Association, who said he doesn't understand how communication problems between the warden and staff endanger public safety outside NSP.

He said he and some of his members object to the suggestion they aren't properly protecting public safety.

But SNEA officials say a majority of correctional officers disagree that the prison is safe. They held a rally earlier this year and drew more than 100 state workers to protest outside the prison. Most, however, were not prison employees.

"We, correctional officers at Nevada State Prison, stand by the contents provided in the door hanger and reserve the right to continue to participate in First Amendment action," the SNEA letter stated.

• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.