INSIDE THE MOORPARK TEACHING ZOO WHAT DO BRIDGET JONES AND SHREK HAVE IN COMMON?

When corrections officer D.J. Vodicka reported misconduct among his colleagues at the California Department of Corrections, he learned that not all prison gangs are made of inmates.

Wall

Green

The

When Camarillo native DJ Vodicka

CODE OF
STORY AND PHOTOS BY STEPHEN JAMES

testified against his employersthe California Department of Correctionsabout the presence of a Code of Silence among rogue corrections officers, things began to get ugly. For one thing, he learned that not all prison gangs are composed of inmates.
10 November 18, 2004

Members of the state Senate Select Committees on Government Oversight and the California Correctional System grilled state employees and California Correctional Peace Officers Association officials earlier this year.

SILENCE

ONALD D.J. VODICKA WAS OVERWHELMED with an intense anxiety when he woke up each morningso much so that he decided to strap on his bulletproof vest and firearm before leaving his home. Like many witnesses in gang-related trials, Vodica knew too much about a group with a history of practicing intimidation. And as a result of the unrelenting stress created by this environment, his health has deteriorated, and he plans ultimately to leave California to protect himself and his son from the reprisals that he believes are coming. Vodicka fears that the gang in question, a group of California Correctional Officers, are not above violence in order to keep him quiet. The former Camarillo High School student is now a whistleblower living in feara dedicated state employee who followed the law and his own personal sense of duty to the public, and reported the misconduct of government workers at the California Department of Corrections (CDC). Unfortunately , the CDC may be the one state agency whose highest ranking administrators are the least likely to acknowledge that any of its employees are capable of wrong doing, and whose administrators also are willing to spend millions in taxpayer funds to prove themselves right in lengthy court battles. That historically inbred philosophy of protecting ones own, and a code of silence regarding problems inside the system, are perpetuated by some corrections employees, who have come to replicate the violent prison subculture of the inmates they manage each day . That dangerous combination has created serious problems for the handful of employees who have done the right thing and gone against rogue officers and their supervisors. Last January , Vodicka and a parade of other CDC employees testified under oath at two days of hearings of the Senate Select Committees on Government Oversight and the California Correctional System, co-convened by state Senators Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, and Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles. Also

testifying under oath were an A-list of CDC administrators and officials who admitted to the existence of may persistent problems, including the code of silence. They promised legislators and the public they would break the code, protect whistleblowers and enact other reforms. But, ten months later, seemingly simple policy changes which would have an immediate effect on loyal employees whose lives were upended by the department, and which would send a supportive message to other employeeshave not materialized. Vodicka was reluctant to cooperate with Speiers request that he tell his story to the legislature at a high-profile hearing because he knew that associates of the people he feared could be in attendance. The athletic, six-foot-six, 280-pound former Moorpark College athlete had never backed down from a confrontation during his 16-year career managing convicted felons, but this time he would be outside his element. Still, after what he had been through, he felt a strong sense of betrayal by the CDC and wanted to help with any process that might prevent the same thing from happening to someone else. So, he had to tell his story , and he made the five-hour drive from Southern California to Sacramento. When he arrived at the Statehouse, he left the firearm he always had strapped to his side in the car, but the additional bulk of his bulletproof vest was visible as he was sworn-in in a packed hearing room. Doug Pieper also would have wanted to cooperate with the Legislature and provide testimony about the employee misconduct at Folsom Prison, according to his widow, Evette. But Pieper had taken his own life a year earlier, in part because of the workplace retaliation he experienced. And the government formally admitted that Piepers death

Continued on Page 12

November 18, 2004

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Code of silence
Continued from Page 11
was indeed work-related. In her husbands place, Evette gave her emotional testimony in a hushed legislative hearing room, including the details of a suicide note her husband had left, linking his death to reprisals by the warden and other officials. Like Vodicka, Evette said she hoped her story would help others avoid a similar fate. I dont want any other family to ever go through this, and I dont want any other staff members to feel the stress, pressure and pain that my husband felt that ultimately drove him to do what he did. At the start of the hearings, Speier had foreshadowed the anticipated testimony . Much of the testimony we will hear will be startling and even unbelievable. Many whistleblowers who will speak under oath today fear for their jobs and their lives, she said. In addition to that of Vodicka and Evette, the unsettling testimony of other CDC employees from throughout the state confirmed that Speier was not exaggerating. Californias prison system teeters on the brink of being declared bankrupt, not only in its policy but in its morality , starting with the top prison brass, said Romero in her opening statement. Romero went on to review the findings contained in a recently released 85-page draft report by John Hagar, an investigator or special master appointed by a federal-court judge in San Francisco. The Hagar report stemmed from an investigation of employee misconduct at Pelican Bay State Prison, and detailed a litany of internal CDC problems at the highest levels of the department, including the code of silence. Under the code, employees tacitly agree not to report the misconduct of co-workers. Adherence to the code also encourages the making false statements to investigators to protect co-workers and the

most egregious form of the code, lying in federal court, according to Hagar. Employees who violate the code are isolated, ostracized and labeled as rats or snitches. But the ramifications go beyond name calling; getting such a label can mean that, in the event of a prison altercation or riot, backup assistance from co-workers might not be there. Without backup, the chance of a being subjected to a serious on-the-job injury increases exponentially . A minority of rogue officers can establish a code of silence, threaten the majority , damage cars, isolate uncooperative co-workers, and create an overall atmosphere of deceit and corruption, Hagar wrote. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the code of silence is always accompanied by corruptionit harms inmates and destroys the careers of correctional officers. Hagar also found a code of silence about the code of silence among high-ranking CDC administrators, including the former director, Edward Alameida. The special master recommended that the federal court consider initiating criminal contempt charges against Alameida for his role in the Pelican Bay cover-

Doug Pieper also would have wanted to cooperate with the Legislature and provide testimony about the employee misconduct at Folsom Prison, according to his widow, Evette. But Pieper had taken his own life a year earlier, in part because of the workplace retaliation he experienced.

up. The significance, and perhaps irony , of that particular Hagar recommendation did not escape emphasis by Speier. No two women are going to run my prisons, Alameida had told Speier and Romero at a similar hearing last year. Also testifying at the hearings were an assortment of CDC officials who pledged system-wide reforms were in the works. A central figure at the legislative hearings was the secretary of the California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency (YACA), Rod Hickman. YACA is the umbrella agency that oversees the CDC and virtually every other state agency responsible for corrections. Appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last November, Hickman is the highest ranking corrections official in the state. Hickman began his career ten years ahead of Vodicka and, like Vodicka, started out as an entry-level correctional officer. Through hard work and dedication, Hickman rose through the ranks to the top rung of the ladder. In an irony that haunts Vodicka to this day , Hickmans career path would cross Vodickas more than once. Today , Hickman holds the power to keep his promises to reform the system, and retroactively right the past wrongs committed against Vodicka and other whistleblowers still denied justice. Hickmans appointment as YACA secretary , however, required confirmation by the state Senate, and in January the secretary-inwaiting was especially congenial with the Senate members who held the power over whether he would get to keep his new job. Hickman promised the committee he would address the laundry list of problems identified by the legislators and the Hagar report. How we conduct ourselves on the job is a reflection of [our agencys] values and demon-

Continued on Page 15

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Code of silence
Continued from Page 12
strates our commitment to a strong organization that treats the public, staff and offenders fairly , he said. Less than a month after the January hearings, Hickman seemed to be making good on his promises when he issued a memo to all CDC employees, captioned ZERO TOLERANCE REGARDING THE CODE OF SILENCE. For maximum exposure, the memo was also posted to the agencys website. The memo acknowledged that the publics trust has been undermined by the operation of the Code of Silence within the CDC, and it went on to put the 49,247 employees of the department on notice that, effective immediately, the code of silence would not be tolerated. Hickman also had reassuring words for state correctional employees who observe misconduct but might be reluctant to report it out of fear of retaliation. The publics trust in this department is also violated by retaliating against, ostracizing, or in anyway undermining those employees who report wrongdoing and/or cooperate during an investigations.We also will not tolerate any form of reprisal against employees who report misconduct or unethical behavior, including their stigmatization or isolation, Hickman wrote. Although the memo did not establish any new policy , it put the troops on notice that existing department rules and state laws would be enforced. At his June confirmation hearing, Hickman reinforced the message, telling the legislature he would continue to speak out against the code of silence because abuse of power and failure to speak out against it is a cancer that is threatening this agency that I have sworn to protect. Vodicka would not deny that he has felt ostracized, stigmatized and isolated as a direct result of breaking the code of silence and reporting the misconduct of co-workers in the CDC. Because of the reprisals and retaliation he has endured, he was forced to file a whistleblower lawsuit against the department. The current status of the case calls into question the sincerity of Hickmans promises to the legislature and encouraging zero tolerance pronouncement of Feb. 17. Vodickas Camarillo-based attorney , Lanny Tron, said the CDC continues to obstinately fight the case and is dragging out the proceedings as long as possible in the hope of mentally and financially wearing down their opponents. Under the California Whistleblower Protection Act, whistleblowers are entitled to job reinstatement, back pay, restitution of lost service credits and other relief. The act says that state employees should be free to report waste, fraud, abuse of authority, violation of law, or threat to public health without fear of retribution. Other state laws also protect whistleblowers. The Reporter wanted to ask Hickman whether the new zero-tolerance policy would be applied to Vodickas case and other whistleblowers already in the pipeline. YACA spokesperson JP Tremblay said the director could not talk about personnel matters or any

Continued on Page 16

Hickman addressing a legislative committee at his confirmation hearing in June.

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pending litigation against the department. Tremblay did say Hickman might be able to talk about the new policy directives. In general terms, he might be able to address some of these issues, he said. But neither Tremblay nor Hickman ever called back. At Camarillo High School, Vodicka held a 3.0 grade point average and played forward on the basketball team. I was a jock, he concedes. On weekends, the thing to do was cruise Main Street in Ventura or hang out at Silver Stand Beach in Oxnard. A few of his friends were local sheriff s deputies and, after going on a ride-along with one of them, the high school senior decided he wanted to go into law enforcement. Since I was 18, that was what I wanted to do with my life, he said. After graduating high school, Vodicka went on to Moorpark College where he continued to play basketball and majored in law enforcement. At the time he graduated from Moorpark, most law enforcement agencies had hiring freezes and the prospects of a police career were slim. So Vodickas father, who was retired from the military, suggested he enlist in the service. He took the advice and signed on for a four-year stint in the army from 1983 through 1987, most of which he spent stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Vodicka held a high level security clearance while working as an administrative specialist in the special operations command, and earned several commendations for good conduct and achievement. Vodicka came home and was hired as a correctional officer by the state of California in 1988. His first stop was the CDC Basic Correctional Officer Academy in Galt. In an irony that haunts Vodicka today; at that time the head of the training academy was Rod Hickman. It was the first time he would cross paths with the future director, but it wouldnt be the last. Hickmans career path would eventually take him to the top of the ladder, while Vodickas would take him to a darker place. After graduating from the academy, Vodicka began work on the line at Corcoran State Prison, but he was eager to take on new responsibilities. Throughout the course of his 12-year career, he sought out advanced training, taking courses in homicide investigation, interrogation, conflict management, gangs and more than a dozen other subjects. In 1992, Vodicka transferred to Calipatria State Prison to help open the new facility in Imperial County . At Calipatria, Vodicka said, he was hand-

picked to work in the Investigative Services unit, a specialized team that was responsible for investigating inmate criminal activity and assisting the local district attorney with those prosecutions. Vodicka said he had a lot of respect for his supervisor, Rod Hickman, whose CDC career path had also brought him to Calipat. I enjoyed working for him, he treated everybody fair, explained Vodicka. He had an open door policy . If you had a problem you went to him and he tried to solve it. I have nothing bad to say about working for Rod, he said. Since Hickman was his squad captain, Vodicka had close contact with the boss five days a week, and occasionally while off-duty . Vodicka recalls that Hickman attended his wedding during that time period. But now he feels betrayed that the man he once held in high esteem has not returned the loyalty . Vodicka is at a loss to understand why Hickman is unwilling to back up his words and intervene to resolve the injustice he has endured. In 1994, Vodicka began a two-year stint at Pelican Bay . And in 1996, he received a Certificate of Meritorious Service from the Del Norte County District Attorneys Office for his professionalism in assisting with the

prosecution of numerous crimes committed by inmates in the prison. Throughout his career, Vodicka also received positive performance evaluations and peer reviews from the CDC. In 1996, he transferred to Salinas Valley State Prison, a Level 4, maximum-security institution. After five years of service at Salinas Valley , Vodicka received an assignment he was reluctant to take. He was ordered by his supervisor to investigate and prepare reports on a group of correctional officers who essentially had formed a gang known as the Green Wall. Vodicka was uncomfortable with the assignment, which was outside the normal scope of his job duties. He knew that investigating coworkers instead of inmates could cause serious problems. Let me make this clear: Investigative Services officers like myselfwe do not investigate officers. Were not allowed to investigate officers. We do strictly inmates and their families, that kind of stuff, he explained. A supervisor, however, was authorized to initiate officer investigations and could command other staff to assist. As he had throughout his career, Vodicka complied with the order from

Continued on Page 18

After five years of service at Salinas Valley, Vodicka received an assignment he was reluctant to take. He was ordered by his supervisor to investigate and prepare reports on a group of correctional officers who essentially had formed a gang known as the Green Wall.

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Code of silence
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his boss. Vodicka conducted the investigation and prepared a report confirming that the rogue group did exist. The report was supposed to be confidential, but was leaked and became known to members of the group. As a result, Vodicka was subjected to a string of subtle and not-so-subtle retaliatory acts, including being called a snitch in front of officers and inmates. The state Inspector General (IG) also verified the existence of the group in a report released last January . The IG investigation confirmed that a group of correctional officers had formed an alliance in 1999 called the Green Wall or 7/23, representing the seventh and 23rd letters of the alphabet, G and W . Number insignias are common in inmate prison gangs; 18 is a common insignia among white-supremacist groups, because it represents the fist and eighth letters of the alphabet, A and H, an abbreviation for Adolph Hitler. In his report on Pelican Bay misconduct, Hagar also found that some correctional officers acquire a prisoners mentality: they form gangs, align with gangs, and spread the code of silence. The IG report went on to say that numerous incidents involving the Green Wall group took place at Salinas Valley State Prison between 1999 and 2001, including the vandalizing of institution property with 7/23 and GW markings and the taping on a window of a paper containing the Green Wall logo and the satanic symbol 666. The report also found that the warden, Anthony Lamarque, was aware of the group and did not act on a lieutenants request that officers who might be involved in the gang be temporarily reassigned to other duties while investigations concerning excessive force and other allegations of misconduct were pending against them. The IG concluded that the wardens inaction fostered an atmosphere of distrust and prevented a timely investigation and resolution of allegations concerning employee misconduct. Earlier this year, Lamarque went out on disability leave. He returned to active duty in August, but after less than a week on the job, again went out on sick leave. After he prepared his Green Wall report, Vodicka said he was subjected to several months of retaliation in the form of hostility and verbal or physical threats from several correctional officers, and he was informed by a sergeant that a co-worker was broadcasting that Vodicka was a snitch. After Vodicka reported the problems to a deputy warden and other supervisors, he was transferred to Pleasant Valley State Prison. But within weeks of his arrival there, coworkers became aware of his history at Salinas Valley , and he began to experience similar abuse. At one point, Vodicka and other staff and inmates were gathered in an office at the prison, and officer yelled out to Vodicka, You big snitch, who are you ratting out now? Because inmates were present, the statement

Continued on Page 19

Landa testifying in Sacramento Superior Court.

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potentially could have relayed a message to prisoners that Vodicka was an outcast among his co-workers, in the same sense that an inmate informant would be ostracized. Vodicka said the stigmatization and isolation eventually took its toll on his mental state, and he went out on stress disability leave, filed a workers compensation claim and, later, filed a suit against the CDC, a coworker and a supervisor. Exacerbating his continuing stressand compelling him to carry a firearm and wear a

somed into black boots in the same manner as those worn by the prisons elite cell-extraction team; a militarized unit of officers responsible to forcibly remove uncooperative inmates from their cells. Landas attackers were never identified or apprehended. Vodicka believes that former co-workers from Salinas Valley may assault him or arrange to have him assaulted in a similar way . In part, because Salinas Valley has a cell-extraction team like the one implicated in the Landa stabbing and Vodicka

drugs for an inmate in exchange for the inmate getting an associate on the outside to pay back the favor by assaulting Vodicka. A recent event at Salinas Valley has further exacerbated this fear. In an unrelated incident last July , a former guard at Salinas Valley was charged with arranging and covering up the gang-related beating of an inmate. According to court documents, the former correctional officer set up the beating on behalf of a San Franciscobased gang. The acting warden, Ed Caden,

Vodicka is now on full disability, and seeks a settlement with the CDC for what he would have earned had he been able to complete his career, compensation for his trauma, and other damages, Tron says. Meanwhile, the CDC employees associated with the Green Wall or accused of misconduct in connection with the retaliation against Vodicka are still employed by the CDC.
bulletproof vestare his concerns stemming from an incident involving another correctional officer, Curtis Landa. Landa had cooperated with an investigation of officer misconduct at Ironwood State Prison in Riverside County and paid a heavy price. Two months into the investigation, Landa was attacked outside his home as he took out the garbage. His jacket was pulled over his head, and he was hit in the back with a club-like weapon. He was then stabbed twice, in the back and chest. Landa was able to see that his attackers wore black uniform pants tucked and blosbelieves that members of the team were also members of the Green Wall. He said he has seen pictures of Salinas Valley cell-extraction team members proudly flashing a hand signal used by Green Wall members. In June 2003, as he was leaving the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles Vodicka was confronted by a CDC employee who demanded that he back off, in reference to his lawsuit. And, based on his experience doing prison drug investigations, Vodicka believes that it would be possible for a prison staffer to arrange to smuggle in said he also found evidence that the officer was facilitating communication between gang members inside and outside the prison and may have even provided cell phones to inmate gang affiliates. Last year, in an attempt to salvage his career and continue working for the CDC, Vodicka offered to go back to work at any commensurate position anywhere in the department, as long as his personal safety was assured, according to his attorney, Lanny Tron. And they said, Theres no way we can do that, said Tron. Vodicka is

now on full disability, and seeks a settlement with the CDC for what he would have earned had he been able to complete his career, compensation for his trauma, and other damages, Tron says. Meanwhile, the CDC employees associated with the Green Wall or accused of misconduct in connection with the retaliation against Vodicka are still employed by the CDC. A graduate of Harvard University and the University of Southern California School of Law, Tron worked at several large law firms before hanging his shingle in Camarillo. A practicing California lawyer and member of the State Bar Association since 1988, Tron said he has never faced an opponent like the CDC. Tron said the CDC legal team has used an array of questionable tactics to delay the progress of Vodickas case, which has now been in court for almost two years. It seems clear that they take an approach more akin to intimidation than to resolution, he said. This is a great deal more protracted than any other litigation Ive ever been involved in. At depositions later this year, Tron and Vodicka look forward to grilling the CDC officials they believe are responsible for essentially ruining Vodickas promising career. Meanwhile, Vodicka still wants to believe that Hickman will intervene on his behalf and set things right. He related the story of a brief encounter in the hall during his January appearance at the Legislature. On his way to the restroom, Vodicka was spotted by his old squad captain. He said Hickman broke away from his entourage, walked up and shook his hand. Glad to see you, Hickman said. You and your son take care of yourself and dont let this get to you. Well get to the bottom of this. Noticing that they both sported the same non-hair style, Hickman added, I like your haircut. I

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