'Culture change' in works at prisons

UTAH STATE PRISON — Tom Patterson smiles and eagerly shakes the hands of the corrections officers he encounters.

He even says hello to the inmates he passes in the cell block.

"How are you doing?" he asks one.

"Pretty good," the inmate responds, a little wary of the man in the suit.

The new executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections is trying to win over just about everyone.

In an interview with the Deseret Morning News, Patterson outlined his plans to fix a department that has been blasted in a 2006 legislative audit as having a "good ol' boys club" rife with favoritism.

"What I've chosen to do is look at that as positive feedback as to what we can possibly do here to make this a better place for our employees to work," he said.

Deseret Morning News graphic   Corrections report(581 KB .pdf file)

The audit is driving a lot of the changes here at the Utah Department of Corrections. The 71-page report detailed an unpleasant work environment of preferential treatment, undertrained officers and abused state policies.

The report also noted the incredibly low morale at the Utah Department of Corrections. A 2003 employee survey showed 76 percent believed favoritism existed and 81 percent felt frustrated by their employment. From 1998 to 2005, the Department of Corrections beat out all other state departments in the number of employee grievances filed.

The audit troubled members of the Utah Legislature. It was dismissed by then-corrections chief Scott Carver, who said there was a perception problem and blamed a subset of staffers who "harbor a belief in favoritism."

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. made swift changes.

Patterson was plucked from his job as the director of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice in a reshuffling that booted Carver over to the Utah Sentencing Commission and brought in a retired judge to take over the CCJJ.

Patterson insists he was not pressured into taking the job but felt a great sense of loyalty to the governor and his vision for the state. Patterson said that at first, he did not see the "opportunity" that he was presented with.

"It was concerning to me. It was surprising at first. Then ... the task at hand seemed a little daunting," he said.