Siege in Lucasville Revised Edition: an Insider's Account and Critical Review of Ohio's Worst Prison Riot

This work has been ten years in the making. The physical and emotional trauma inflictedduring the time between April 11 and April 21, 1993 has left many scars. While most of the physical scars have longsince faded, it is the emotional scars that have lingered. After 11 days of brutal captivity, two weeks of hospitalization, months of physical healing and therapy, seventeen post-riottrials, two strokes, a lay-off, and transfer to another agency, Larry Dotson isready-ready to tell the story that has yet to be told, and ready to take the next step in the healing process. This book will not tell the complete story of the Lucasvilleriot. No single book can, because everyhostage, staff member, inmate rioter, non-rioting inmate, their respective families, and all those assigned to SOCF during the riot, has a story to tell. No, this book will only tell the story of one of the hostages. . . Larry Dotson. Larry was working in an area in which he was not originally assigned, but because of the large number of staff "call offs" he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Following a severe beating while attempting to rescue afellow staff member, Larry was brutally beaten and held hostage by two violent and rival gangs that put aside their differences and put forth a unified front in defiance of the prison administration. . . the administration that Larry represented. In the pages that follow, are the details that until now have been reserved for the administrators, investigators, lawyers, and juries. It is a story that all those who find themselves in a position of advocating budget cut backs, staff reductions, and a moderation ofsecurity, need to read and absorb. In1993, Ohio ranked a pathetic last in inmate to correction officerratio. Liberal federal court ordersstrengthened inmate's rights while compromising the safety and security ofthose who were responsible for carrying out the decisions. Those court orders,