Wynnie Testamark testifies during a hearing in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, Justice, Public Safety and Veterans' Affairs. Photo Credit: V.I. LEGISLATURE.
Last updated on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 at 1:47 p.m.
The President of the Law Enforcement Supervisors Union has questioned how personnel at the Bureau of Corrections are managed, particularly when it comes to the question of discipline.
“They don't respect the due process in the contract,” said Jamal Griffin, speaking to the Consortium. “It's almost as if BOC just creates the rules on a day-to-day basis.”
Mr. Griffin was speaking in response to queries from Consortium journalists about what appears to be a dichotomy in the way disciplinary procedures are applied to staff. Some time ago, the publication was alerted to an assault that occurred between two staff members. Months later, the alleged aggressor in the incident is reportedly still on the job, while the alleged victim has tried multiple times to return to work but has failed, reportedly due to anxiety and panic over the possibility of running into her attacker at work.
Meanwhile, another employee is currently battling against what the union frames as unjust termination for the second time in a row.
“The first time it was just a very weird situation,” said Mr. Griffin. Jonathan Santiago, president of the law Enforcement Supervisor Union, had reportedly injured his hand and submitted the requisite doctor's note indicating when he would be cleared to return. According to the union president, BOC officials apparently expected Santiago to bring an excuse not everyday. “BOC, at the time, tried to terminate him because he did not walk and give them a medical certificate – a doctor's letter – every single day,” the union leader claimed. “I couldn't believe it.”
Now, Mr. Santiago is facing termination again, ostensibly after the result of a sexual harassment investigation. However, he claims that the investigation was founded on lies, conducted in violation of BOC policy, and based on retaliation for his resistance to the autocratic way in which the director manages the Bureau.
“I'm often just completely baffled by how they operate,” Mr. Griffin said. He lays much of the blame for the dysfunction at the feet of BOC Director Wynnie Testamark. “I've had other issues with directors,” he said. “But after sitting down with those directors, they were able to negotiate more, or they were more amenable to seeing the light. In this case, with this particular director, that approach doesn't necessarily work.” The number of grievance lodged against the BOC with the Public Employees Relations Board tells the story, Mr. Griffin says.
Ms. Testamark's ability to effectively lead has been questioned by others as well. In 2022, Senator Franklin Johnson submitted a resolution calling for the removal of the BOC Director from her position. According to the lawmaker at the time, operations at the Bureau changed for the worse after Ms. Testamark's installation at the helm. His fellow senators, however, disagreed that the BOC's problems should be placed solely at the feet of its director, and therefore the measure was not passed. Senator Johnson did not respond to questions on whether he still has the same assessment of Testamark's capabilities today.
During that same timeframe, someone who served at the BOC very briefly wrote to the Legislature expressing serious concerns about Ms. Testamark's capacity for leadership. In the letter, dated August 8 2022, former warden Juan Pena said he only lasted five months before submitting a resignation letter since he was “not allowed to do much as a warden.” He was reportedly “not invited to security meetings” and told by correctional officers “that they do not report to me, that they report to Director Testamark and I cannot give them orders.” Mr. Pena also claimed that “some officers are punished while others that are "Wynnie Minies" are not punished at all.”
The seeming disparity with which disciplinary matters are being addressed, along with recent reporting about the failure to ensure that inmates are only supervised and transported by adequately trained and equipped law enforcement or correctional personnel, paints a concerning picture of operations at the Bureau. According to Mr. Pena, “the Director by herself is one of the biggest issues that the BOC will have to get out of the consent decree.” Mr. Griffin, meanwhile, believes that a challenge to ending the consent decree is inevitable because “there is no true structure in BOC…they operate more as a militia.”
Over the last few weeks, the Consortium has reached out more than once to Director Testamark and BOC leadership with questions about the claims and allegations made, however as of press time there has been no response from BOC officials.
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