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“We’ve got to change that culture,” Rustin said. “There won’t be a code of silence.”

The planned improvements come after a series of jail beatings, a bribery scandal, rape accusations and other misconduct. One inmate, Avery Hadley, was beaten into a coma, and three others received a $925,000 settlement after alleging they’d been raped by a jail sergeant.

The incidents largely occurred before the end of 2010, county officials say, although they still make headlines now as litigation and settlements are announced.

Rustin and County Manager Tom Zdunek say they have vigorously pursued improvements since taking over in January 2011.

Under one change, for example, the county no longer allows jail officers or other employees accused of a crime to remain on the job until they are convicted or cleared of charges. Instead, they face discipline or termination if they’ve run afoul of internal policies, regardless of how the criminal proceedings turn out.

“My attitude is, if you’ve violated the policy, you’re going to be dealt with now,” Zdunek said.

The jail changed its training procedures to emphasize communication and de-escalation skills for officers, Rustin said. Jail pods now have kiosks where inmates can anonymously report staff misconduct.

Within the next four months, new equipment is coming, too:

♦ The county intends to spend about $1.7 million to buy and install a digital camera system. It will reduce blind spots in the jail. The quality of the images is expected to improve, allowing the jail to zoom in on faces or marks on a person’s body.

♦ Two body scanners, like the ones used at the Albuquerque International Sunport, will allow the jail to limit drugs or contraband inside the lockup. Visitors and staff will pass through them.

♦ A second chemical sniffer will be deployed to test mail. Inmates’ families have been known to soak their letters in meth, Rustin said. Two other “sniffers” – the canine kind – are being trained to help.

At least some problems are unavoidable in large jails, Rustin said. Incidents are bound to happen, he said, when 3,000 people – 2,800 of them inmates – are crammed under one roof 24 hours a day.

Rustin said the vast majority of corrections officers are good people dealing with stressful situations.

The county jail system is chronically overcrowded. It’s been the subject of a civil rights lawsuit since 1995.

The MDC is one of the nation’s largest jails. It was designed for 2,236 inmates, but now holds about 2,800.

Many officers have had to pull double shifts repeatedly, a problem the county is addressing through a massive hiring effort. Psychological testing of applicants is being expanded.

Rustin estimates that the jail had 22 incidents of staff sexual misconduct, assaults, unnecessary use of force and other problems in 2009 and 2010. That figure is down to four over his 18 months in office, he said.

“It’s going to take years to change the culture and weed out bad officers,” Rustin said.

Rustin, a 30-year veteran of corrections, arrived in Bernalillo County last year after having served as warden of the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, Pa.

— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal