They begged and pleaded. They went to court. They gave dire warnings.
After inmates fatally stabbed federal corrections officer Jose Rivera at the U.S. Penitentiary at Atwater, Calif., in June 2008, his colleagues and lawmakers urged the federal Bureau of Prisons to arm staff with pepper spray for protection.
But the prison system's top administrators stood firm on its policy of no weapons for officers.
It took four years of continued pressure, highly publicized inmate attacks and predictions of another tragedy for the bureau to budge, finally approving a limited pilot program in June 2012 to allow guards at seven of the 117 federal prisons to carry pepper spray.
Then came the murder of another unarmed corrections officer.
Much like the Rivera murder, Eric Williams, 34, of Nanticoke, was blindsided by an inmate and fatally stabbed Feb. 25 at the U.S. Penitentiary at Canaan. The high-security facility in Wayne County was not included in the pilot program. Like Officer Rivera, Officer Williams was equipped only with keys, handcuffs and a radio when the inmate ambushed him with a crude, hand-made knife.
Three days after Officer Williams' slaying, the Bureau of Prisons expanded the pilot program to include all 20 of the nation's high-security prisons, including Canaan.
"It is too little, too late. It should have been a no-brainer. It was an unnecessary struggle to get pepper spray," Timothy M. DeBolt, who was western region vice president of the corrections officers' union when Officer Rivera was killed, said in a telephone interview. "I'm disappointed it has taken this long and am sickened that another officer has been murdered in federal prison."
Following Officer Rivera's murder, the union filed grievances against the Bureau of Prisons, seeking the ability to negotiate the use of protective equipment, including pepper spray. The bureau, Mr. DeBolt said, fought every step of the way in labor-relations courts, arguing management had the sole authority to determine security measures.
"They skirted the issue," Mr. DeBolt said.
The Bureau of Prisons framed its argument against arming staff with pepper spray or other weapons, like batons, around the idea that those items could be seized by inmates and used against staff.
A year after Officer Rivera's murder, then-Bureau of Prisons Director Harley Lappin explained the no-weapons rationale to a congressional panel, saying: "You've got to realize, anything we give to an employee, you must assume an inmate can have."
But a former federal prison warden said there was another, overriding reason.
"They are afraid of being sued. They are," the retired warden said. "During my time as warden, the bureau's executive staff feared the staff would use it inappropriately and it would lead to litigation. They are going to have to not worry about issues of litigation. They have to show they are more concerned about protecting staff."
The warden, who contacted The Citizens' Voice following Officer Williams' death, spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid any conflicts his opinions might create for his current employer.
He said he has long advocated the use of pepper spray as federal prisons become increasingly overcrowded and dangerous. He called the Bureau of Prisons the "best corrections agency in the world," but accused it of "dragging its feet" on an issue vital to staff safety.
The bureau's culture, the retired warden said, has always relied on verbal communication between staff and inmates to quell problems. He said he believed that is shortsighted with prisons packed with more violent, predatory inmates than ever before.
"You want your staff to relate well with inmates. I've always appreciated that," the warden said. "But the problem is, it doesn't work in a high-security environment. Some of these guys are animals. In my opinion, they understand two emotions: anger and fear. And you have to be able to meet their violence head on."
Contact the writers: bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, @cvbobkal on Twitter; msisak@citizensvoice.com, @cvmikesisak on Twitter