Arizona Department of Corrections' Morey Unit Hostage Situation

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The Arizona Department of Corrections' Morey Unit hostage situation represented the longest prison hostage situation in American history. It lasted for 15 days and exposed severe deficiencies within the Arizona DOCs protocol that assisted in the takeover by two inmates. The inmates, Ricky Wassenaar and Steven Coy, were both serving lengthy sentences, with Coy serving life. The hostage incident occurred at the Lewis Prison Complex in the Morey Unit, which held 840 inmates (40 over capacity) in a cellblock-style facility with diverse classifications of inmates. Classification of inmates relates to the dangerousness of the offender and this can vary from level 1-5. Housed within the Morey Unit were level 2, 3, and 4 inmates as well as protective custody (PC) inmates who are held in segregation away from the general population for either security reasons or safety reasons. Morey unit has the largest population of PC inmates as well as the largest population of inmates serving life sentences, with over 100 inmates (NICIC, 2004).

In the early morning hours of January 18, 2004 Wassenaar and Coy attempted to escape from prison with the escape attempt beginning in the kitchen area. The men were able to subdue two guards initially, one male and one female. After subduing these guards with homemade knives, better known in prison culture as shanks, the female guard was raped by Coy while the male guards' clothes were removed and Wassenaar put them on. They forced the guards to give them the keys to the necessary exits and Wassenaar then went to the watch tower. ...