Gov. Bill Walker has named Dean Williams the new head of the state’s prison system.
Williams was announced during a press conference at noon Thursday in the Alaska Capitol. Williams, along with former FBI agent Joe Hanlon, performed an in-depth investigation of the Department of Corrections last year after more than two dozen inmates ─ including some held in protective custody for drunkenness ─ died in prison.
The four-month investigation, which concluded in November, ended with the resignation of corrections commissioner Ronald Taylor and the appointment of Walt Monegan, Department of Public Safety commissioner under former Gov. Sarah Palin, as an interim chief.
Monegan was one of 14 people who applied to become the new permanent corrections commissioner. Walker instead went with Williams.
“I believe that he is by far the appropriate and best person to take this forward,” Walker said after naming Williams to the job.
Williams faces a tall task. The Alaska Legislature is considering a sweeping reform of Alaska’s criminal sentencing laws, and November’s Williams-Hanlon report recommended other changes to correctional officer training, procedures and oversight.
“I didn’t make those recommendations with lightness about them,” Williams said. “I’m serious about them.”
Before taking up the special investigation last year, Williams worked for 12 years as a juvenile justice officer, five years for the Department of Law and 14 years as superintendent of the Division of Juvenile Justice, overseeing various facilities throughout the state.
Speaking to the Empire after the announcement, Williams said his intention is to work from the top down, attacking the “bifurcated command structure” of the department, which has medical staff at Alaska prisons report to command staff of the Department of Corrections instead of the prison superintendent.
Also among his top priorities is the creation of an internal affairs unit to act as an inspector general to address problems within the prison system.
He said he expects that as he works, the public will become aware of problems, and it will seem as if things are getting worse before they get better.
“The whole system isn’t broken, but there are broken pieces in it that we’re crippled with,” he said.
Those broken pieces include the state’s policy on solitary confinement and its policies toward drunken Alaskans who are taken into protective custody for their own safety.
He said that taking drunks into custody is an “unnecessary risk” for both the incarcerated and the state’s prisons. Finding a fix will involve a long-term discussion, he said, and he’s already fielded calls from hospitals worried that they might be the alternative.
Above all else is the issue of deaths in Alaska’s prisons.
“I am not going to waver on things that are not acceptable to me. The death of Joseph Murphy at the Lemon Creek jail is unacceptable to me. The death of Larry Kobuk that occurred at the Anchorage jail … that death is unacceptable. The death of Kelsey Green, which just occurred a little over two weeks ago, that death is unacceptable. It just is. It doesn’t mean we get hysterical … but we have to start with the premise that those deaths are unacceptable to us,” Williams said.
He hopes that anyone who believes there are no problems and things are working well will find themselves on “a shrinking island.”
In an emailed statement, the chairwomen of the House and Senate judiciary committees said they support Williams’ appointment to the position.
“The culture within any large organization is top-down. I am confident that Mr. Williams’ service to our state, now as commissioner of Corrections, will help us create a safer and more positive culture for corrections officers and inmates,” wrote Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage.
“I’m very excited about Dean being appointed. I know him. I like him. I’ve worked with him. I think he is going to do what is necessary to improve the Department of Corrections,” said Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage.
Four months ago, Williams recommended a broad series of changes to improve the department. Now, he’ll be the one implementing them.
“I’m not looking at putting this on anybody else. It’s on me now,” he said.
A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Walt Monegan as a corrections commissioner under former Gov. Sarah Palin. He was commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.
