April 2012 PA Press Club: John Wetzel, PA Corrections Secretary

By on Apr 23, 2012 with Comments 6

PA Press Club: John Wetzel, PA Corrections Secretary, view here.

Gov. Tom Corbett nominated John E. Wetzel as secretary of the Department of Corrections on December 17, 2010, and he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on May 3, 2011.

Wetzel began his corrections career in 1989 as an officer at the Lebanon County Correctional Facility.  In 1992, he transferred to the Berks County Prison, where he rose through the ranks, serving as a correctional officer, a treatment counselor, supervisor of treatment services and training academy director.  In 2002, he was named warden of the Franklin County Jail.

He was appointed as the corrections expert to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons in June 2007, a position he held until May 3, 2011.  Since 2006, he has been a corrections consultant in the areas of operational and staffing analysis and vulnerability assessments.

During his 20 years in the field of corrections, Wetzel has presented state wide and nationally on several topics, including:

-inmate labor issues

-the mentally ill in corrections

-working with the family of inmates

-developing system-wide solutions to jail crowding

-jail staffing and conducting vulnerability assessments

He also has had several national articles published on inmate labor, jail management and jail staffing.

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  • Sara ruff

    you should not be in jail for a 200.00 drug set -up and your not violent.thats not the way it works the da gets what the da wants and if you want to bring up important issue yoour lawyer says your lloved one will get  more time,they ship them far away no matter the family problems or physical handicaps

  • Sick of system

    They need to come up with a better system for non-violent offenders, and parole violators.  I have said loud and clear to let these ones out on house arrest….monitor them….let them learn a trade…and PAY THE STATE FOR THE PRIVLEDGE OF BEING ON HOUSE ARREST instead of locking them up, having to go through parole board who really doesn’t even know the prisoner except what is written on some papers and they are the ones who make the judgement if they can be released or not….hmmmmm…..

  • jerry

    offender is an offender!break the law ,,do your time! they,being the offender wasnt thinking about there family when they were breaking the law.the parole board,they know who should be let out and who shouldnt….they can spot a bullshitter a mile away…this i know i done 3 years…i broke the law!!and i learned from it….however,i do agree with you on the statement.they should have a better system on pv.i was in prison.they were putting cots in break rooms …any where they could find some extra space…..bottom line its all about the money!!!its never about the inmates or their families.this will not change until the voters tell there reps. what they want.while i was in,i was assaulted by staff,lied in by staff,put in the hole as a result of these lies.WANNA MAKE A DIFFERANCE? GET INVOLVED!!!CONTACT  your local reps. graterfriends,make phone calls ,,send e-mails while things may never change within the doc.things can change and must change …within the parole process….ie parole violaters…

    • sick of system

      I have been involved….I am a strong advocate for prison reform.  I have contacted my senators, house legislators, etc…do you know what they have to say?  We cannot do anything about it, parole is its own entity.  They spend tax payers money making up senate bills, ie SB1161, which the parole board does not follow, if someone violates I have yet to hear of any of them going to a center for treatment, house arrest, etc….they all end up back in the state system with long hits.  Most need other types of help.  I also agree with sara ruff, some of these men were set up by a CI who because he is “cooperating” with the local police, state police, etc get no jail time and they have a sheet that is a mile long.  I have personally been in court where a child molester got less time than someone who was ratted out by a CI. I have seen first hand how someone who abuses a child gets a slap on the wrist.  Personally, if a parole violator gets a “hit” let them do the damn hit and not have to go in front of the parole board to get out again….ie a year hit means a year hit, after the year is up let them be released.

  • Sara ruff

    do you want a get out  of jail free card just work for the police and i hope and pray this gets out.i never knew this criminal conspiracy exisist within our police and drug task force .that is why the drugs are not comming off the street and the crime rate is sky rocketing.and innocent epople do go to jail because the judge says what can and can not be used.and the ci has a biigger criminal history than your loved one the ci has drug charges corruption of minors arson burglary and numerous other counts and he is not in jail he is out collecting his ssi and pills.the man he framed had two jobs earned 42,000 a year and is the sole provider  and care giver for his family including his 4 year old grandson that if you ask him his dads name he says pappy they need to take the power from the d.a  and judge and parole.were are there right to make phone calls and send and recieve mail  my husband got 2 of the 8 letters i sent which had nothing inappropreiate  in them

  • inmate population

    I feel the overpopulation is because, the so called D.O.C, does not want to let the inmates out of incarrceration on their minimum sentence, this needs to be done, and give these inmates parole, their is a certain jail here in Pa, that they want to make their inmates MAX out, they are not even given a chance on the outside.This needs to be done, their are way to mnay innocent inmates in our system.