Anthony Torres
TWO veteran Corrections officers will be suspended without pay for the escape incident involving a detainee who was receiving medical treatment at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation in January, Corrections Commissioner Anthony Torres said.
The detainee, Joey Maratita, was apprehended close to four hours after he escaped from the hospital.
In a statement on Tuesday, Torres said: “I called for an After-Action Review, which was conducted a few days after the incident with all partners involved to include the Department of Public Safety, the NMI Judiciary, Customs, and the United States Marshals Service. It was a productive meeting where we all shared important information and processed the incident.”
As for the Department of Corrections, Torres said, “We all came together to review and analyze the sequence of events leading up to the incident and the immediate actions taken to address it.”
He said his department identified weaknesses and made recommendations for improvement, which included updates to security protocols, additional training for staff and procedural changes.
“We have implemented revised procedures to protocols while on escort trips and enhanced training and preparedness for all staff to include a mandatory annual refresher training. We will also establish a system for ongoing monitoring and feedback to assess the effectiveness of the implemented changes,” he added.
“After a thorough internal affairs investigation was conducted, I proposed to suspend the two officers involved without pay,” Torres said.
He did not name the Corrections officers to be suspended and when their suspension will begin and end.
“I want the community to know that their safety and security is a top priority and that [Corrections] is committed to working diligently to ensure similar events like this don’t occur,” Torres said.
