Hit list inside Toledo prison? - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Is there a hit list against correctional officers at the Toledo Correctional Institution in North Toledo?  A complaint filed by an employee says "yes".

The complaint filed earlier this month was filed against the warden at TOCI.  It says there's a list that puts corrections officers in serious danger.

Six incidents of inmate on guard assaults have been reported since March.  Now this from a complaint made to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  It reads like this: 

"Warden is aware of a list that exists with names of staff that inmates plan to kill, rape, beat. Warden has not protected these staff members. (3) of them have been beaten by inmates thus far. The prison now houses maximum security inmates without having sufficient staffing levels.

Since it's a state facility, it's been turned over to the state's Public Employment Risk Reduction Program.  That's part of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. 

"We have received the referral. We are in the process of investigating it," a BWC spokeswoman told 13abc.

A TOCI spokesperson said neither she nor the warden would do an interview with 13abc, but here's what we were told on the phone .  That spokeswoman says no list exists.  She said a similar grievance was filed by the officers union and they've met with union reps in the last week to talk about safety issues.

No details of those discussions are being released but she did say they're always looking into appropriate safety measures. 

To the point of staffing issues, here's what prison officials say the staffing looks like:  The facility is allotted 245 corrections officers and as of June, 224 positions are filled, 8 more have been approved and are in the process of being hired.  3 more were approved as of Thursday.  It should be noted that of the 224 that does include officers that are on what's considered a light duty if they were injured on the job.

The spokeswoman from the BWC says there is not timetable for its investigation.  13abc placed several calls to the corrections officers union, but they were not returned.