BishopAccountability.org
	Prison Slay Video Remains Online: Union Says Exposure Poses Risk for Guards By Michele McPhee Boston Herald [Boston MA] July 7, 2007 http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=1010017 The prison security video purportedly posted on YouTube by convicted killer Joseph Druce remained on the Web last night, despite warnings from Department of Correction union officials that it was a public safety risk. "I would hope that YouTube officials would take that off the Web immediately," said Steve Kenneway, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union. "I would hope that the state's Executive Office of Public Safety would be doing everything in its power to get that off the Internet. It's an issue of safety for my officers." Diane Wiffin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction, said officials are exploring whether the agency can demand that YouTube pull down the video, which shows correction officers at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley ferociously trying to pry open Druce's cell door as he murdered pedophile priest John Geoghan inside in 2003. "That's part of the investigation, asking YouTube to take down the video," Wiffin said. Jaime Schopflin, YouTube spokesman, refused comment on Druce's video, but explained: "Our policy prohibits inappropriate content on YouTube. "Our community understands the rules and effectively polices the site for inappropriate material. The users can flag content that they feel is inappropriate and once it is flagged it is reviewed by our staff and removed from the system within minutes if it violates our Community Guidelines," Schopflin said. Wiffin said the DOC has "no idea how Druce could have gotten the tape," which was one of the internal videos handed over to his attorneys and played during his trial for the murder of Geoghan last year. "Inmates have no access to the Internet," she said. In 2005, the Herald obtained a security video of Druce coldly pantomiming Geoghan's murder, a tape that showed how he used a paperback book to jam the sliding cell doors before he used gym socks to strangle the priest and then stomped on his body. Yesterday, Druce's attorneys denied posting the video or handing it over to any of his relatives. By 8:30 last night, the video had been viewed nearly 9,000 times. The Herald was alerted to the posting with a letter signed by Druce and mailed from MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole, headlined,"The truth about officers allowing J.G. to die through their neglect." The note was signed "Joseph Lee Druce." At least 90 people who viewed the 10-minute video showing a gaggle of officers struggling to open the door as Druce murdered Geoghan posted comments including this one: "One less irredeemable monster on the planet. Good work Mister Druce!" Contact: Michele McPhee mmcphee@bostonherald.com
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