CCA Leavenworth Employee Named Honorary Trooper

Kristen Monroe honored for valor, selflessness

by Connie Parish, secretary, Leavenworth Detention Center

Earlier this year, Leavenworth Detention Center correctional officer Kristen Monroe earned a new title: honorary trooper. She received an Honorary Trooper Award from the Kansas Highway Patrol on February 28, 2012. Monroe was one of several citizens who assisted in the "lifesaving efforts of a trooper," according to Col. Ernest E. Garcia, superintendent of the state agency. Read More

Serving Double-Duty with Heart: Darla Winney

by Seth Johnson

For Darla Winney, working a "double" is a bit more demanding than for most. When Winney isn't working as an education assistant at CCA’s Crossroads Correctional Facility in Montana, she is acting fast to save lives as an emergency medical technician (EMT). Read More

Being All They Can Be

CCA employees show skill, courage and compassion in assisting with auto accident

by Tony Troiano

Arizona State Highway 87 originates near Mesa, snaking its way north, going back and forth from four lanes to two lanes, ending just south of Eloy. Eloy is home to four CCA correctional facilities: Eloy Detention Center, La Palma Correctional Center, Red Rock Correctional Center and Saguaro Correctional Center. The two-lane stretch of 87 near Eloy could be deemed “CCA Highway,” as many of those facilities’ employees take that route going to and from work. On the sunny morning of October 3 last year, Red Rock correctional officer Aaron Casterline, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran, was traveling to work, heading south on 87. Read More

Right Place, Right Time, Right Reaction: CCA Facilities Come Together

by Tony Troiano

They’re highly motivated and skilled specialists dealing with emergency situations. Who are these people? They’re CCA’s Special Operations Response Team (SORT) members. Think SWAT without deadly munitions. These individuals represent a special class of CCA security employees – ones who go over and beyond the call of daily duty to take on additional training to face higher-stakes situations and respond expertly. Read More

Through the Storm

The Rescue of Yolanda Fernandez-Carr

by John Diffenderfer

On July 5, 2011, a brutal sandstorm tore through southern Arizona. The summer’s scorching heat, a severe drought and intense atmospheric pressure combined to produce disastrous effects throughout the region. With wind speeds in excess of 60 mph and visibility reduced to zero, this powerful storm wrecked havoc on the town of Eloy and the greater Phoenix community. In the midst of this chaos, two CCA employees summoned incredible courage and came to the rescue of a co-worker. Read More

Search and Rescue: Tony Cartwright, Triple-T and Jake

by Jenna Slocum

CCA heroes not only step in, just in time. They also sometimes rely on a sixth sense, an inner voice that tells them when something just isn't right. That's what one CCA employee turned hero at our Hardeman County Correctional Facility did recently - with life-saving results. Read More

Alert in Crisis: Jerome Klaras, Juan Perez, Larry Smith

Most work commutes are routine to a fault. For three correctional officers at Eden Detention Center, though, the commute to work one early morning this June was anything but routine. Read More

Nursing in the Nick of Time: John Browning

by DeAndra Mack

If you talk to Crossroads Correctional Center registered nurse John Browning about his profession, he'll likely tell you a nurse's work is never done. Both on and off the clock, Browning recently helped save the lives of two people who were in dire need of medical attention – and had it not been for his medical expertise, their emergencies could have been fatal. Read More

Good Samaritan: Ron Sturchio

On May 29, 2010 at approximately 0900 hours, I was on vacation with my family driving on I-17 through Arizona around mile marker 280. I witnessed a bunch of cars pulled over on the side of the interstate with traffic slowing to a stand still in the northbound lanes, with pedestrians looking down over an embankment. Being a local EMT for Toole County Ambulance I knew the scene didn’t look right and I knew someone needed help, so I pulled to the center of the median turned my four ways on and got out of my vehicle. Read More

Giving the Gift of Life: Frank Rodriguez

If you had the chance to help someone live just one more day, would you take it? For Frank Rodriguez, comissary clerk at Willacy County State Jail, the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ His life changed forever when disaster struck his family six years ago. Find out how Rodriguez's devastating loss led to a lifestyle of generosity. Read More

Superb Maintenance Supervisor: Tony Clark

When a plumbing problem arises or a heating unit overheats, employees at Lindsey State Jail know just who to call. But Tony Clark, the facility’s maintenance supervisor, does much more than simply fix broken equipment; with a wealth of expertise, a commitment to excellence and a team of quality professionals, Clark works diligently to keep the facility operating smoothly while taking time to help others. Read More