This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah Department of Corrections investigators have found communication and processing flaws contributed to the Board of Pardons and Parole's decision to release a soon-to-be cop-killer to a low-security drug treatment program.
Cory Lee Henderson walked away from the facility on Dec. 18. On Jan. 17 — at that point a federal fugitive — he shot and killed Unified Police Department Officer Doug Barney. Another officer was wounded in the shootout that killed Henderson.
Findings made public Friday by Corrections Executive Director Rollin Cook blamed "communication errors and failure to process a federal detainer in a timely manner" for board members being unaware of pending federal firearms charges when they considered parole for Henderson.
Cook said there is no way to know what parole board members would have done had they known about the new charges, adding that he is simply taking responsibility for his agency's actions.
Several errors and missteps contributed to Henderson, described as a "high-risk offender," improperly being released to Salt Lake City's Fortitude Treatment Center rather than being returned to custody, according to investigators.
Their probe found:
• An on-duty supervisor with Adult Probation and Parole misidentified the law enforcement agency that arrested Henderson Oct. 3 on weapons and drug charges. In addition, the supervisor did not clearly communicate the arrest date to Henderson's parole officer.
That led the officer to use information from a 2013 arrest report instead of information from a 2015 report to amend an Adult Probation and Parole arrest warrant for Henderson.
• On Nov. 2, the parole officer notified a Utah Board of Pardons and Parole hearing officer he could not locate the new charges and asked that the old information be removed from the amended warrant. As a result, the board did not have correct information during a Nov. 4 parole violation hearing about Henderson's latest arrest.
• A federal detainer filed with the Department of Corrections on Nov. 25 was not electronically scanned into the agency's database — which triggers an automatic notification to the Board of Pardons and Parole — until Dec. 18.
As a result of its investigation, the DOC has "taken corrective action to improve communication and documentation of arrest information received from outside law enforcement agencies," agency spokeswoman Brooke Adams said.
Those measures include requiring Adult Probation and Parole supervisors to keep a "thorough, time-sensitive log of contacts from other law enforcement agencies," she stated. "Supervisors also will be required to enter information into the [Department of Corrections] electronic database upon receipt."
In addition, records specialists will immediately scan detainers into the department's electronic database.
Cook said the department is assessing what resources, such as more employees, will be needed to implement the new procedures. Even before the Barney shooting, the director said, he had asked the Utah Legislature for $1.75 million to add 15 probation and parole officers and two office specialists to the staff. That request is pending.
The probation and parole division now has 662 employees, which includes 300 parole officers and 56 supervisors.
Prison officials also have launched a review of policies and procedures at Fortitude Treatment Center aimed that enhancing "its safe, effective and successful operation and management of offenders as well as its response to fugitives," Adams added.
Prison officials still are considering what, if any disciplinary actions to take against the handful of staffers "directly involved" in the Henderson-related errors. Those employees "are already devastated" about what happened, Cook said.
The Fraternal Order of Police, a statewide law enforcement group, said in a statement Friday that it is pleased to see the corrections department "has acted in such a fair and transparent internal investigation. It takes strong leadership to look inside an organization and find ways to perform better, and we appreciate Director Cook's willingness to do so."
The FOP added that while a review of systemic issues "is of course necessary," Henderson is the only person responsible for Barney's death.
At the Board of Pardons and Parole legislative audit on Monday, Angela Micklos, the board chair, was asked whether reforms the Legislature made last year to reduce some sentences and encourage alternatives to incarceration had any effect on Henderson's release.
Micklos said no.
"It was simply a lack of information," Micklos said. "We don't know why we didn't have the information."
Still pending is a separate corrections investigation into a police shooting involving parolee Palm Samieul Lautaimi, who was wounded in a confrontation on Sunday with Salt Lake City officers near 1340 S. Main St. Lautaimi had been arrested two weeks prior for allegedly possessing a firearm and drugs — which could have put him back in prison almost immediately until a parole violation hearing was held.
However, no one from probation and parole picked up Lautaimi, who is on parole for weapons violations, because it was the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report. Adams has said that if the report is accurate, it "describes an unacceptable response from our agency."
Reporter Jessica Miller contributed to this report.
Twitter: @remims @PamelaManson