Your Opinion: Prison harassment

Dear Editor:

I would like to share my thoughts regarding the March 10, 2017, News Tribune (AP) article, "Lawmakers question response to Missouri prisons complaints." I'll come bluntly to the point, there is an old saying in the Missouri Department of Corrections, "It never happened unless it is put on paper."

I have to disagree with Director Dave Dormire's fruitcake explanation of the problem with prison harassment. Mr. Dormire blames "growth in prisons and training for supervisors is lacking and asked for patience" Mr. Dormire conveniently forgets this problem has been going on since the 1980s and all Corrections employees including the wardens have to attend yearly five-day mandatory classes in their birth month, relating to policy and procedures, sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and the grievance procedure.

Mark Twain once said, "There are lies, damn lies, and there is statistics."

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