In Memory of Our Teamster Sister, Jayme Biendl

Washington State Gov. Chris Gregoire presented Jayme Biendl's family with the state flag at a moving ceremony in Everett Tuesday. The governor said the 34-year-old corrections officer embodied respect and faith, and her memory will never be forgotten. She was tragically murdered by a prisoner while she was alone in the facility's chapel.

KUOW News offered a moving tribute to Jayme Biendl. Patricia Murphy reported

Biendl was remembered by fellow corrections officers as a woman who could stand much taller than her 5–foot–3–inch frame.


Her supervisor Sergeant Jimmie Fletcher choked back tears as he recalled Biendl’s strength and professionalism on the job.

Fletcher: "I'm sure you've heard the phrase you can be changed by the people around you. But in Jayme's case I believe she had a tendency to change the people who surrounded her. She always said hello and goodbye with a smile on her face. She was committed to being a good officer, daughter, sister — not just to her siblings, but to her co–workers."

Department of Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail said Biendl was one of the best. He also called for a public discussion of prison safety. A conversation he says is long overdue.

Vail: "We ask so much of our staff yet they ask for so little in return. The men and women who keep us safe only want to return safely to their own homes after they finish their shift. We owe them at least that."

Well said.

VIDEO: Procession for Officer Jayme Biendl

Thousands of people on Tuesday came to pay their respects to our sister Jayme Biendl, a corrections officer at the Washington State Reformatory who was tragically killed by an inmate.

HeraldNet wrote a moving account of the procession and memorial service:

...at least 3,500 people attended her memorial at Comcast Arena. It was the largest public display of mourning in Everett in at least a decade.

Some streets downtown were closed. Two ladder fire trucks were parked along Hewitt Avenue near Comcast Arena, a gigantic U.S. flag draped between them.

The streets outside the arena were choked with women and men dressed in law enforcement uniforms.

They arrived on foot and in chartered buses. They filled restaurants along Hewitt. They stood in knots on the street.

Civilians gathered as well, many snapping photos of the flag that stirred over Hewitt Avenue.

An employee at Hat Trick Pizza on Hewitt pulled a step ladder outside, stood on it and pulled the flag next to the restaurant's doorway halfway down its pole — a gesture of respect.

HeraldNet also wrote a wise editorial about remembering Jayme Biendl:

Jayme Biendl served with distinction as a correctional officer at the Monroe Correctional Complex. She was a courageous, dedicated public servant who was killed in the line of duty. Her memory deserves the highest honors; her family and friends deserve time to grieve.

For now, that's what matters. Recriminations and the inevitable political debate over the circumstances of Biendl's death can wait until the initial shock has subsided and she has been laid to rest.

A benevolent fund has been established in her honor. Her obituary can be read here.

Contribute to the Jayme Biendl Memorial Fund

Teamster Local 117 promised they'd never forget their sister corrections officer who last week was tragically slain on the job.

The local has just set up a benevolent fund in memory of Jayme Biendl. Here's their message:

All of us at Teamsters Local 117 are stricken by the tragic death of Jayme Lee Biendl, the Correctional Officer who was brutally murdered in the chapel of the Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) on January 29, 2011.


Officer Biendl was an exceptional professional who died needlessly in the line of duty. Our heartfelt condolences go out to her family, friends and fellow Correctional Employees at MCC and across the State of Washington.

In honor of our fallen Sister, Teamsters Local 117 has established the Jayme Biendl Benevolent Fund.

Proceeds from the fund will offset funeral expenses and go to Officer Biendl’s family. You may donate at any Bank of America branch location. You may also send your donations in care of Teamsters Local 117 to:

Jayme Biendl Benevolent Fund
c/o Teamsters Local 117
14675 Interurban Ave. S. Suite 307
Tukwila, WA 98168

A memorial service will be held Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Corrections is changing some procedures in response to her death. The Olympian reports:

Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail said Friday that prisons immediately will begin counting staff members whenever an offender is missing; officers will begin regularly checking in on guards who serve at duty posts alone; and prisons will start conducting drills on the use of silent alarms on the hand-held radios that guards carry.

In addition, the department says it will no longer hold modified lockdowns once a month at the state's eight major prisons. The lockdowns coincided with furloughs of nonessential staff to save money. Spokesman Chad Lewis says that stopping the lockdowns will make the prisons safer because those nonessential staff members will be present.

Biendl had previously complained that she didn't feel safe working alone in the prison chapel.

Local 117's principal officer, Tracy Thompson, called the moves "important first steps."