Broken policy could be to blame for incident

By Lauren Maddox

When parents help pack up their child’s belongings and unload them for the first time at a university, one of their main concerns is generally safety. Parents want to make sure their new adult will make sound choices about drinking, drugs, and education, enabling them to live an overall protected life.

Yet, even as safety looms as a prominent concern, most of the time, the possibility of needing protection during a prison escape is not even registering on the parents’ radar screen. That is, unless you are attending Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Huntsville, Texas.

In this small prison town of over 35,000, prison breaks do seem be the exception more than the rule. Although rare, prison breaks do occur, and on the morning of September 24, 2007, the students of SHSU and the entire city of Huntsville experience this reality first hand.

Escaped Inmates: The Story Unravels

During the mid morning hours on that Monday, two inmates escaped from outside work duty at the Wynne Unit.

Jerry Martin and John Ray Falk, Jr. were both working in a field at the prison along Interstate 45 when they managed to overpower a female guard on duty. After taking her weapons, they stole a nearby Huntsville city vehicle and fled. When the incident occurred, a total of six guards were supervising 76 inmates.

The female guard, Susan Canfield, pursued the men on her horse; however, Martin and Falk hit Canfield and her horse with the truck. Canfield died on the scene, and her horse was later euthanized due to a discovered bullet wound.

Falk was caught within an hour, as authorities forced him from a second stolen vehicle. Martin, who escaped on foot, was finally cornered up a tree several hours later in a location less than two miles from the incident. After a total of about four hours, the two escapees had been returned to prison.

Although the attempted escape occurred across the Interstate from the university campus, students and faculty were alerted of the news via email almost immediately. The email, which was sent from Chief Dennis A. Culak, Director of the University Police Department, asked them to “proceed with caution” and “avoid the areas where the manhunt is being conducted”

Policy Revision Needed or Broken Policy to Blame?

News spread almost immediately after the attempted escape that The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) policy on working inmates should be revised in order to prevent incidences like this in the future.

According to old records discovered by KPRC Houston, Falk was a convicted killer, serving a life sentence. Martin was serving 50 years for two counts of capital murder. According to reports from KPRC Houston, “Both the inmates were placed in units with the highest levels of security, but both were classified as minimum-security prisoners.”

The same article reports that officials said neither of the two inmates had serious discipline problems for the past 10 years behind bars; therefore, they were listed as “minimum custody prisoners.”

Also, on the day of the incidents, a male guard allowed one of the escapees to approach him, which was a clear violation of TDCJ policy. Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for TDCJ told KHOU Houston “mounted guards are required to stay 30 feet away from the inmates.”

Although in this case, it seems that existing policy was broken, conflicting reports still linger as to whether or not TDCJ should revise their policy entirely regarding convicts working outside the prison walls.

SHSU Criminal Justice student, Olivia Emig, said she could think of nothing to improve the policy; however, she advocated for more guards on duty during outside work. “More guards should be overseeing the area where the prisoners are working,” said Emig. “Although with the limited man power that they have, I’m not how realistic that would be.”

Emig also said she does not feel threatened by being a student in a prison town. “There is a higher police presence, and since I am a Criminal Justice student, I am learning how to handle situations like that anyways.”

Professor Jerry Dowling, who instructs classes at the SHSU Criminal Justice Department, noted that, in this case, the prison escapees were not successful.

“The established procedures must be working well. The death of the correctional officer is certainly tragic, but in my view that does not necessarily mean existence of inadequate policies or a breach of existing policies,” said Dowling.

Dowling believes that since TDCJ handles over 150,000 inmates every day with very few escape efforts, the TDCJ policies must be working well. “Prison escapes are very rare,” Dowling said. “Anytime prisoners are taken outside the walls, a lesser degree of security is inevitable.”

However, those on the inside of the prison walls seem to have a different outlook.

The ex-cellmate of Falk told KPRC Houston right after the incident that “outside jobs” are not handled efficiently in the prison system. “There’s convicted felons that have a lot of time that’s going out into the fields every day,” said the convict.

“The officers on the Wynne Unit are not prepared for something like this,” he said.

Lyons told KPRC Houston that all officers are “extensively trained.” However, she did say that, as in any other case where a problem arises, the policy would be reviewed to see what changes, if any, needed to occur.

“As we’ve had various problems in the past, we’ve made changes to different policies and then a new problem that was not foreseen arises,” Lyons said. “And that does prompt another look at policies.”

Slain Officer Remember as ‘Respectable’

Susan Canfield was 59 when an escaped convict took her life. She had been a correctional officer for seven years.

A memorial service for Canfield occurred in the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum at the university just a few days after the inmates escaped. Hundreds of uniformed officers filled the building to show their honor and support for an officer killed in the line of duty.

According to an article by KPRC Houston, the uniform that Canfield wore, along with her hat and boots, was displayed.

She is survived by her husband and two children. Her family, friends, coworkers, and others will remember her for dedicating her life to protecting others.

The ex-con who spoke with KPRC Houston said that he was sad that the escapee claimed the life of a corrections officer that he respected. “She was very, very respectable toward all inmates, you know, my heart goes out to her, her family, and her husband,” he said.

“It should have never happened to her,” said the ex-con.