A sign advertising correctional officer jobs is pictured outside the Buena Vista Correctional Complex. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)
A Colorado Department of Corrections investigation found that claims of discrimination against Puerto Rican staff members at the Buena Vista Correctional Complex are unsubstantiated.
According to a report from the department’s Office of the Inspector General, obtained by Newsline through an open records request, an August 2023 investigation into claims of racial discrimination against workers from Puerto Rico attributed many of the claims to misinterpretation or differing corrections philosophies.
The inspector general investigation followed a Newsline story that recounted the difficulties some staff at the Buena Vista prison experience while living on site. A correctional officer who was recruited from Puerto Rico and who paid $200 a month to live at the prison said he and his colleagues living on site — a majority of whom are from Puerto Rico — felt they are treated like “offenders.” He also said he heard regular complaints about people from Puerto Rico speaking Spanish.