Siege in Lucasville Revised Edition
An Insider’s Account and Critical Review of Ohio’s Worst Prison Riot
by
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SOCF was a “loosely run and operated organization lacking in
the necessary attention to detail one would expect from a maximum security
facility--as a result SOCF is not operating as a maximum security facility. . .”
The aftermath of the 11-day siege was busy with the physical
restoration of the prison, investigations, trials of the inmates involved,
re-vamping long-standing policy and procedure, hiring and training of new
staff, and the inevitable rounds of finger pointing. During the course of the riot, eight inmates
were murdered at the hands of other inmates, the L-corridor of the prison was
totally destroyed by rioting inmates, and $41 million dollars was spent
bringing the prison and the department to a “new normal” method of operation.
There was the usual post-incident internal and external
“political” posturing, media attention, and creation of media celebrities. As a result,
Much has been written about the inmate rioters, their
respective trials and re-trials, the perceived causes and precipitating
factors, as well as the numerous policy and procedure changes throughout the
Department. Study after study, report
after report, task force after task force detailed the riot and the cost to the
However, to better understand the Easter 1993 riot at the
Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF), we must take a serious look at the
facility itself. SOCF or Lucasville, as
it is known within the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC),
grew out of the creation of the department. Until 1972, the DRC was a part of
the Ohio Department of Mental Hygiene.
However, when Ohio House Bill 494 was enacted, the DRC
became an independent agency. Its first
Director was Bennett Cooper, who essentially created the agency and laid the
groundwork for the unprecedented growth the department has endured over the
past thirty years.
One of the first of many “first things to do” was to
complete the replacement of the ancient Ohio Penitentiary on Spring Street in
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About the Book
This work has been ten years in the making. The physical and emotional trauma inflicted
during the time between April 11 and
After 11 days of brutal captivity, two weeks of
hospitalization, months of physical healing and therapy, seventeen post-riot
trials, two strokes, a lay-off, and transfer to another agency, Larry Dotson is
ready--ready to tell the story that has yet to be told, and ready to take the
next step in the healing process.
This book will not tell the complete story of the Lucasville
riot. No single book can, because every
hostage, staff member, inmate rioter, non-rioting inmate, their respective
families, and all those assigned to SOCF during the riot, has a story to
tell. No, this book will only tell the
story of one of the hostages...Larry Dotson.
Larry was working in an area in which he was not originally assigned,
but because of the large number of staff “call offs” he found himself in the
wrong place at the wrong time.
Following a severe beating while attempting to rescue a
fellow staff member, Larry was brutally beaten and held hostage by two violent
and rival gangs that put aside their differences and put forth a unified front
in defiance of the prison administration...the administration that Larry
represented.
In the pages that follow, are the details that until now
have been reserved for the administrators, investigators, lawyers, and juries.
It is a story that all those who find themselves in a
position of advocating budget cut backs, staff reductions, and a moderation of
security, need to read and absorb. In
1993,
Those who decry the return to pre-Lucasville conditions and
the dangers that lie ahead are dismissed as “union activists”, “alarmists”, and
no longer in tune with criminal justice realities.
However, those who work in the legislative and
administrative ivory towers are never required to pay the real price and
suffer the real consequences for their decisions. That is left to those who only have their
voices with which to fight. Here is the
“inside” story from one who lived it.
Lived with the court orders, public apathy, budgetary cutbacks,
legislative and executive shell games and the resulting cost...and one who paid
the real price and suffered the real consequences.
About the Author
Gary Williams is a Training Officer at the Warren Correctional Institution for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in
A professional member of the American Correctional Association, Williams is a paralegal and obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resource Management and Leadership with academic honors from
He is married with six children, and served as a member of the adjunct faculty of