"CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS" ESCAPE FROM PRISON

I know that everyone gets a good laugh when we read or watch the TV news about some stupidity on the part of a crook that got him caught. But those stupidities are the exception, not the case. When I started working dope cases, I quickly learned never to underestimate the cleverness of my opponents. They may have been school dropouts, but they more than made up for their lack of education with their street smarts.

The following story is an example of both cleverness and carelessness. A couple of convicts serving life terms for murder escaped from an Arkansas prison which makes uniforms for the prison system’s guards. During a shift change, the two convicts changed into some of those correctional officer uniforms and simply walked out of the prison gates. Now that was clever.

The fact that none of the staff recognized the escaping lifers constitutes a high degree of carelessness. It is hard to imagine how they could have just walked out of that prison without being caught before they got away. While the two escapees are certain to be apprehended, they have proved that crooks can be smarter than their opponents and in this case their opponents were just plain stupid.

Here is the Associated Press report on this caper:

MURDERERS ESCAPE ARKANSAS PRISON IN GUARDS’ UNIFORMS
The Associated Press
May 30, 2009

GRADY, Ark. - Two convicted murderers put on corrections-officer uniforms and walked out of an Arkansas prison during a shift change, officials said Saturday as they searched for the men.

Jeffrey Grinder, 32, and Calvin Adams, 39, escaped Friday evening from the Cummins Unit prison in Grady more than three hours before officials realized they were missing, corrections department spokeswoman Dina Tyler said.

Both men were serving life sentences without the possibility of parole at the prison about 60 miles southeast of Little Rock.

The guard uniforms the inmates put on are made in the prison. Video surveillance shows the men put them on in the prison library after the 6 p.m. headcount and walked out of the prison during a shift change less than 20 minutes later, Tyler said.

Prison officials are investigating whether all policies and procedures were followed.

"Someone should have laid eyes on them. That's one of the things we're looking at: How exactly did they get out without someone challenging them?" Tyler said.

Grinder and Adams drove away in a maroon or burgundy colored, 4-door sedan that had been left for them.

Officials realized the men were missing after coming up short during the 10 p.m. inmate headcount, Tyler said.

Grinder was convicted of capital murder in 2004, and Adams was convicted of capital murder in 1995. Both men have family in Arkansas and out of state.

"We think there's probably a pretty good chance that they are not in Arkansas," she said.

Corrections officials are trying to develop leads on where the men are and hoping someone will spot them. Anyone who sees the men should call the Arkansas state police or their local law enforcement, Tyler said.