Inmates come to guard's aid in jail attack

[Caitlin.ann]

(CNN) -- Hillsborough County, Florida, Deputy Kenneth Moon was alone at his station at a county jail facility near Tampa when an inmate attacked him with no warning.
Moon, 64, was no match for Douglas Burden, 24, in custody on various drug charges. With Moon still in his chair, Burden put him in a choke hold and pulled tight.
And then, surveillance video of the Monday attack showed, other inmates jumped into the fray.
But the other inmates joined the fight on the guard's side, pulling Burden away from Moon and punching him in the head. One inmate grabbed Moon's radio and called for back-up. The inmates held Burden down until other guards arrived as one of them extended a hand to help Moon up, according to the video.
Col. James Previtera, commander of Hillsborough County's Department of Detention Services, told reporters he believed that the inmates "saved the deputy's life."
"The response of the inmates in this case, I think, speaks volumes as to the fact that we treat these men and women ... in our facilities with a lot of respect," Previtera said.

CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/04/florida.jail.attack/index.html)

Wow! Good on those inmates! I'm beyond words in amazement.

Video included!

[Raxeph]

Quite impressive of them! :)

[Æon Flux]

I think this speaks volumes about how people aren't either bad or good but can be both.

Good thing these four inmates were close by, that they did the right thing and that they managed to save Deputy Moon.

[Owd Scrat]

I love seeing stories like this! It shows that people aren't good OR bad....always a mix of both. So many like to demonize those that have made mistakes or chosen to do bad things at times in their lives.

[TygerTyger]

I love seeing stories like this! It shows that people aren't good OR bad....always a mix of both. So many like to demonize those that have made mistakes or chosen to do bad things at times in their lives.

My experience of working in prisons supports this view.

[TuathaSidhe]

my MIL will sometimes work the jail when they dont have enough people (someone out sick, vacation, etc) has told me that more times than not, if you treat whoever your arresting/is in jail with respect, they return the favor. Lot of the other cops have said that to.

Sometimes the cops know that the person has a problem or made a mistake, and the inmates know the cops are just doing their jobs and its not personal (usually)

[alwaysfallingup]

It's kind of refreshing to read this right on the heels of the gang rape story in the news. Sometimes, people act when needed and do the right thing.

[Lunacie]

from the article ...



"The response of the inmates in this case, I think, speaks volumes as to the fact that we treat these men and women ... in our facilities with a lot of respect," Previtera said.


I've always had a very strong belief in the trickle-down theory. If the people in charge of any place treat those who work for them with respect, those people will in turn treat the people with whom they deal with respect - and it generally gets passed back up the line as well. If the people at the top are control freaks with anger issues - that also gets passed down the chain and back up again. Looks like it's working very well in that jail facility. Yay!

It's actually a metaphysical law, what you put out there is what you will get back.

[HollyRuneWand]

Wow.... I wish there were more instances of this.