REALITY VS. WARDEN RICHARD SMITH
A Timeline of Disinformation, Disingenuousness & Disrespect on COVID-19 Response
(VINELAND, NJ) – In order to enlighten the media and awaken the public, PBA Local 231 today released a timeline of Cumberland County Jail Warden Richard “Superspreader” Smith’s disinformation campaign on the Covid-19 pandemic response.
“This timeline represents everything that Warden Smith is not: the truth,” said Stuart Alterman, legal counsel for PBA Local 231. “The only thing Covid compliant in the county jail are the words ‘Covid compliant’ in their press releases.”
REALITY: Gov. Murphy declares a state of emergency over coronavirus concerns
(Source: NJ.com, 3/9/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Silence
REALITY: Coronavirus fear cited by Cumberland jail officers in dispute with Warden
(Source: Vineland Daily Journal, 3/12/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Silence.
REALITY: PBA Local 231 purchases and donates KN95 masks for officers to wear at the jail, provides them to the county jail administration.
(Source: Internal emails dated 4/19/20, 5/14/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: We’re going to keep your masks; however, we are not going to use them because we didn’t receive them “via the source of sale.”
(Source: Internal email dated 5/14/20) “WE IN HERE TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE!?! NOT A GAME. PRACTICE!” - DISRESPECT
REALITY: More than a dozen county corrections officers have tested positive for Covid-19; Cumberland County freeholder calls for reforms to jail, hazard pay for officers
(Source: Press of AC, 4/30/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Silence.
REALITY: He got sick while working at NJ jail, he says. Then his family did, too.
Officer Donald Carter left work early, tested positive for Covid-19, and infected his 23-year old son. Carter: “I might have gotten some other people sick and it could have been avoided if we would have been proactive from the beginning.”
(Source: NJ.com, 5/1/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Warden Richard Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Source: NJ.com, 5/1/20)
REALITY: Cumberland freeholder criticizes jail handling of coronavirus
Freeholder Jack Surrency plans “to introduce a series of resolutions to address the mishandling of COVID-19 at the county Department of Corrections.”
(Source: Vineland Daily Journal, 5/3/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Silencio.
DISRESPECT
REALITY: More than a dozen county corrections officers have tested positive for Covid-19; Cumberland County freeholder calls for reforms to jail, hazard pay for officers
(Source: Press of AC, 4/30/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Silenzio.
DISRESPECT
REALITY: Cumberland freeholder criticizes jail handling of coronavirus
Freeholder Jack Surrency plans “to introduce a series of resolutions to address the mishandling of COVID-19 at the county Department of Corrections.”
(Source: Vineland Daily Journal, 5/3/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Shhhhhhhh.
DISRESPECT
REALITY: Cumberland County officials report 14 cases of Covid-19 in jail staff
(Source: Press of AC, 5/12/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: “We do not have 14 officers who are positive for COVID-19.”
(Source: Press of AC, 5/12/20) - DISINFORMATION
REALITY: Freeholder sponsors measures to deal with jail ‘ineptitude
Freeholder Jack Surrency described the handling of Covid-19 as “naked ineptitude at the county jail.”
(Source: Vineland Daily Journal, 5/14/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Hold my beer.
REALITY: Infighting between Cumberland County freeholders grows over COVID-19 jail reforms
(Source: Press of AC, 5/21/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: “We do not have 14 officers who are positive for COVID-19.”
(Source: Press of AC, 5/21/20) - DISINFORMATION
REALITY: ‘They’re not testing anybody in there’: Cumberland jail officials quiet on inmate testing; officers seek transparency
(Source: Press of AC, 6/5/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: “Smith spoke during a virtual town hall with the state attorney general Wednesday about transparency and accountability between law enforcement and the community. He declined to answer a question from a Press of Atlantic City reporter about why he hasn’t provided requested data about COVID-19 testing in the jail.”
(Source: Press of AC, 6/5/20) - DISINGENUOUSNESS
REALITY: Cumberland County jail inmate tests positive for COVID-19
(Source: Press of AC, 5/12/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Crickets.
(Source: Press of AC, 6/13/20) - DISRESPECT
REALITY: Cumberland County jail officials confirm 2nd case of COVID-19 in inmates, infighting continues with attorney for correctional officers’ union
PBA Attorney Alterman: “Warden Smith and the board of freeholders refused to adopt Freeholder Surrency’s jail resolutions to test, treat and track Covid-19 in the jail. The reason why inmates are quarantined and testing positive for Covid-19 is because there’s no game plan, no leadership and no clue.” (Source: Press of AC, 10/29/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Happy Halloween!!
- DISRESPECT
REALITY: Warden Smith poses for a picture at a campaign function mask-less with Angie Edwards, NAACP, and a private citizen.
(Source: Facebook, 9/3/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: The guards are out here living “recklessly.” “This last weekend, they had a Halloween party. Over 20 some-odd officers from this jail attended. No masks. No PPE.”
(Source: Vineland Daily Journal, 10/29/20) C’MON, BRO! - DISINGENUOUSNESS
REALITY: Covid-19 outbreak sickens 70 at county jail. Officials fight over who’s to blame.
(Source: NJ.com, 12/8/20)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Blame it on the rain (“guards”).
(Source: NJ.com, 12/8/20) - DISINFORMATION
CLOSING REALITY: Gov. Murphy announced a state of emergency due to Covid-19 on 3/9/20; Freeholder Jack Surrency called for jail-wide testing on 4/30/20.
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: Proposes jail-wide testing on 10/29/20 to begin on 11/2/20.
(Source: Internal Memo to CCDOC Personnel, 10/29/20)
FLASHBACK: January 25, 2017: New Warden wants to make Cumberland County Jail an example for NJ prisons.
(Source: NJ.com, 1/25/17)
WARDEN RICHARD SMITH: “I don’t want people in the county to look at the jail as a place of purgatory, but as a beacon of hope. Want a safe facility, a secure facility, a clean facility, a facility that is focused on rehabilitation and successful re-integration.”
REALITY: Warden Smith’s record: highest number of Covid cases in NJ, plus three suicides, 60 overdoses, one escape, and over 90 lost employees; and publicly supports closing his own jail.
####