After reading the article “Former jail officer sentenced,” published Wednesday, March 20, I was struck by the sentence he received or lack thereof. Former officer Abdul Shabazz Wiggins will only be serving one month in jail followed by unsupervised probation for two years. He also was sentenced to anger management classes and pay restitution. This is his only punishment for brutally attacking his victim, Gregory Lassiter, who was an inmate and under Wiggins’ supervision at the time.

The mission of Virginia Department of Corrections is to improve public safety, which they accomplish through the reintegration of the sentenced men and women in their custody. The officers accomplish this by offering a safe environment that fosters a positive change in the inmate. The Department of Corrections has values that they live by in their daily work to succeed in this mission of safety, ethics, commitment, support, respect and honesty.

Wiggins’ attack on an inmate shows his total disregard of what his job stood for. After the incident, the inmate needed surgery to repair a broken nose and had to have a chipped tooth removed. This does not include the mental abuse sustained by the inmate after the attack.

Wiggins testified that the reason he struck Lassiter was he started to walk through a door toward a nurse who was passing out medication without permission. I am struck by this excuse because of the values and mission that are supposed to be followed as well as learned by these officers in charge of the care of these inmates.

All things considered, it is a fact that our officers of the law are faced with distrust by the public on the streets and in the Departments of Correction where inmates are put into their care. In this case, I believe the judicial system has failed the victim. Perhaps the officer needed more time to walk in the shoes of an inmate to gain the importance of what the mission and values of a correctional officer stand for.

Brenda David

Ivor