Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board votes to ban trainer C-SAU used at York County Prison

The Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board on Monday voted to ban a controversial contractor from training any corrections officers or employees amid questions about his tactics and qualifications at the conclusion of a 2 1/2-hour special meeting.

The vote was 4-3 with one abstention. In July, Allegheny County entered into an approximately $347,000 no-bid contract with CSAU-1 LLC, a “corrections special operations” organization based in Greenville, South Carolina, after voters passed a referendum prohibiting the use of chemical agents, leg shackles and restraint chairs.

The acronym stands for Corrections Special Applications Unit.

C-SAU “Senior Team Leader” Joseph Garcia committed to appearing at the meeting but did not show up. Instead, he sent a man who reported that he was the public information officer.

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In comments before the vote, President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark, chairperson of the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board, expressed concerns that Garcia neither attended the meeting nor provided a copy of his curriculum vitae.

“I mean, someone said to me this morning, ‘Even if you apply for a job at Wendy’s, you still have to have a resume,’” said Clark, who did not vote but was not considered an abstention. “And so what is it about his CV and his background that we can’t know? Why can’t we check the references?”

At the same time, Clark said, she appreciated that the warden has to comply with the referendum banning certain methods by Dec. 6 and “we don’t really have any good alternatives for him right now.”

She said she trusted him to “do the right thing.”

READ:York County Prison contractor used prisoners in provocative promo videos, email shows

The York County commissioners are weighing whether to approve a two-year contract extension with C-SAU, which received $122,850 to provide equipment such as Kel-Tec KSG tactical, pump-action shotguns and less lethal rounds as well as training for up to 18 corrections officers in 2020.

Two people who are incarcerated have told the York Daily Record/Sunday News that corrections officers took them out of their cells, handcuffed them and made them face the wall for several hours in the gym at York County Prison on March 31.

Next, the prisoners stated, a man they believed was a contractor instructed the corrections officers to ready and aim their weapons.

York County Prison Warden Adam Ogle has stated “there was absolutely no reason to believe any of that happened.” The training, he said, has led to a reduction in injuries and use of force as well as an increase in weapons seized. 

Garcia, though, posted two promotional videos that use clips of prisoners from that morning on his Facebook page.

MORE:York County Prison moves closer to 2-year contract with controversial jail contractor

In her two-minute statement before the vote, Allegheny County Councilperson At-Large Bethany Hallam called the contract with C-SAU a “disturbing step for the jail administration that’s already facing multiple lawsuits for excessive uses of force and solitary confinement, particularly on community members with serious mental illness.”

Hallam expressed concerns that the agreement opened up the county to additional liability.

Though Garcia claims to suddenly not be the same person who’s appeared on podcasts, spoken in videos and conducted interviews, she said, “this is nothing more than official gaslighting.”

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Beth A. Lazzara said she believed that everyone is worried about how the jail will be able to comply with the referendum.

“I am, however, incredibly concerned that the person who is supposed to be helping lead us forward has so completely refused to answer any questions or be available,” Lazzara said. “And I think that that’s something that has to be taken very seriously.”

Last, Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner noted that the board is tasked with protecting the health and safety of people incarcerated at the jail.

Wagner said that members are also accountable to the taxpayers.

“Mr. Garcia refused to appear here. He refused to provide information. And he blatantly lied to this board about his employment background — among other things,” said Wagner, who noted earlier that “some very good journalists” followed up.

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On Sept. 2, Garcia dodged questions about his military service and whether he had ever been incarcerated.

Garcia, then 21, a U.S. Air Force airman who formerly served as a gate guard at RAF Mildenhall, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in a British prison, Stars and Stripes, the military’s independent newspaper, reported on Nov. 6, 1989.

It’s  unclear how much time he served, and what effect the conviction had on his military service.

Garcia said he was “sticking professionally, with my professional resume,” which included 27 years of law enforcement experience. 

He said he worked for “four major sheriff’s departments:” the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, Arlington County Sheriff’s Office, Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office and Richmond City Sheriff’s Office. That’s in addition to being a contractor with his former company, U.S. Corrections Special Operations Group.

The York Daily Record later found that he had relationships with at least three of the law enforcement agencies ranging from volunteering as a deputy in the auxiliary to working as a contractor. He was not considered a part- or full-time employee at any of them.

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Earlier in the meeting, Allegheny County Jail Warden Orlando Harper warned that if the board voted to end the contract with C-SAU, “we have no choice but to send a five-man cell extraction team in to remove inmates from their cells.”

C-SAU, he said, was the only company that provided eight weeks of training to corrections officers that included instruction related to mental health and de-escalation. 

Harper emphasized that staff members engage in de-escalation a minimum of three times before using any force.

“I hope you base your vote on facts,” said Harper, who stated that York and Berks counties served as references for C-SAU, “not fiction.”

Harper, though, became heated when pressed about what specific qualifications Garcia had related to dealing with individuals with mental health issues.

“His 30 years of correctional experience,” Harper said. “It’s just like me, being a correctional professional for 33 years.”

“We know how to deal with these mentally ill individuals,” he added. “And I think that what Mr. Garcia has started training my corrections officers will enable us to deal with this population better.”

More:C-SAU 'Senior Team Leader' Joseph Garcia repeatedly dodges questions about military service

The meeting shed no new insight into Garcia’s background.

Garcia did not provide his CV — though one member, M. Gayle Moss, reported that she was able to view it at a demonstration of the training.

Jerry Baldwin, public information officer for C-SAU, said Garcia has been a “respected, high-level corrections special operations trainer” for many years who’s “established a reputation of simply being the best at what he does.”

At various times, Baldwin referred to Garcia’s CV as “confidential.”

Garcia, he said, was employed as a deputy at the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, though, Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office Capt. Linda Richie previously wrote in an email, “I have checked with our HR Department and according to our records he was not an employee of the Sheriff’s Office.”

On the advice of legal counsel, Garcia was told that “there was nothing that he could add to the conversation.”

“This is prime time for him to be doing business right now,” Baldwin said. “And it just wasn’t appropriate for him to be here to answer the same questions that others are here to answer.”

ALSO OF INTEREST:Here's what we know about C-SAU 'Senior Team Leader' Joseph Garcia's employment background

Contact Dylan Segelbaum at 717-771-2102.