Demonstrators with the CoreCivic Opposition Group of Leavenworth gather outside City Hall during the July 19, 2025, “pots and pans” march to protest CoreCivic and the for-profit detention of immigrants. (Natasha Torkzaban for Kansas Reflector)
LEAVENWORTH — When an inmate attacked former correctional officer Diana Polanco at CoreCivic’s Leavenworth prison, only one thought raced through her mind: “I need to survive this.”
In 2021, Polanco had been working alone with another female officer in a high-risk male unit when an agitated inmate suddenly turned violent, targeting her co-worker. Stepping in to protect her, Polanco tried to restrain the inmate on her own — and was brutally assaulted…