Behind the desk in his modest office at the Allegheny County Jail, Warden Ramon Rustin has hung a wooden placard: "This is a high-class place. Act respectable."
It reveals both his sense of humor and, to some degree, his management style.
"It's sort of like a MASH unit, working in a jail," Rustin says. "It can be extremely comical or extremely serious."
When he took the $92,700 job six months ago, Rustin knew the county lockup had a history of trouble, ranging from overcrowding to a sex-for-favors scandal that led to the arrests of 14 jail guards last year.
In his first job as a warden, he oversees Pennsylvania's second-largest county jail, with 477 employees and 2,300 inmates.
"I really like the challenge," said Rustin, 48, who had become bored with the routine of his job as deputy warden for security at Chester County Prison near Philadelphia. "I came here, and all of a sudden the juices started flowing again," he said. "Of course, they're boiling over."
Problems at the Uptown lockup have mounted this year. In January, a Chicago-area contract killer hanged himself in his cell a day after his conviction in federal court. The following week, an inmate was charged with threatening to kill an FBI agent during a tape-recorded phone call to his wife from the jail.
In February, an inmate walked away with a group of prisoners who were being released on bond. In March, two female inmates died after developing a drug-resistant staph infection in their lungs. A week later, four inmates contracted chicken pox.
Although serious, such problems are not uncommon in jails, Rustin said. Many can be addressed through proper staff training, he said. The county has approved his request to start training programs in June.
By year's end, when the next state inspection is due, Rustin wants to rewrite the jail's decade-old policies and procedures.
"They have to be updated," Rustin said. "That will change a lot of mistakes that officers are doing, mostly because they don't have any written guidelines."
Soon after his arrival, Rustin began making changes. He installed a lighted message board to give employees internal news, and established job evaluations to end arbitrary promotions. Inmates now get two sets of prison clothes, instead of one, upon their arrival. Rustin added healthier foods and ethnic hair care products to the commissary stock.
Unlike many wardens, Rustin wears a uniform to emphasize teamwork with other uniformed personnel. His workday begins at 7 a.m. and often is filled with meetings at the jail or the County Courthouse until evening hours.
Chester County's Acting Warden Ed McFadden, who came up through the ranks with Rustin, has no doubt the new warden will make a difference in Pittsburgh. At the West Chester jail, Rustin helped to bridge the traditional divide between those working in treatment programs and those in security, McFadden said.
"He is truly a born leader," McFadden said.
Dr. Bruce Dixon, director of the Allegheny County Health Department, which provides the jail's health services, said Rustin began communicating with his department while interviewing for the job. Dixon said he and Rustin are evaluating conditions together.
The county recently approved Rustin's request to buy new mattresses, more uniforms and different cleaning products to address inmates' complaints about unsanitary conditions at the jail.
"I have to tell you, I think this warden is unique," Dixon said. "He's much more involved in day-to-day operations. He circulates throughout the institution."
Listening to those under his watch is Rustin's hallmark. As he accepted promotions over the years, he promised himself not to forget his early days as a corrections officer running a cell block.
"I remember how tough it was," Rustin said. "The key to being successful as an officer is mutual respect. If the inmates know that you respect them, they'll treat you with respect."
Inmates who spoke with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said the atmosphere has changed under Rustin, and they don't fault him for problems he inherited. They described Rustin as approachable and responsive.
"You can write him and ask what's going on, and he'll write back. You're able to talk to him," said Thomas Drake, of Wilkinsburg, who has been jailed for 10 months.
Rustin was hired after a national search. County Chief Executive Dan Onorato fired former Warden Calvin Lightfoot after taking office and assembled a 17-member advisory panel to find a warden who could successfully run the institution. Onorato chose Rustin from three finalists the panel recommended.
"His selection was our selection. In our opinion, (Rustin) was the most qualified," said William "Jack" Simmons, who chaired the search committee.
"He's quite an engaging guy," Simmons said. "On his tour of the jail, he immediately picked up on some of the structural issues in the jail, and he seemed to develop a quick and great rapport with the corrections officers, which I think is critical."
Rustin last month told County Council that the jail -- which opened 10 years ago in May -- needs repairs to its elevators and to a leaky roof. The jail has a $42 million annual operating budget.
"He's had a level head about various issues that have come up. He hasn't been one to make snap decisions," said Dara Allen Ware, a member of the Jail Oversight Board. "He's very calm, and at the same time assertive."
Most wardens rise to the position from the treatment side of the business, not security, Rustin said. Lightfoot concentrated on programs to educate and rehabilitate inmates, and Rustin promised the county those programs would continue. He has asked the county controller to audit contractors providing alternative housing for inmates.
County Manager Jim Flynn said Onorato had "heard rumors" about administrative problems at the jail before taking office and wanted a warden with integrity and strong management experience.
"I haven't been surprised. I think Ramon is doing exactly what we thought he would do," Flynn said. "He has jumped right in."
Flynn said Rustin will begin negotiating soon with the Allegheny County Prison Employees Independent Union, whose contract expires in June.
"I don't think he's going to allow people to step on him," said John Edwards, a correctional officer for 16 years. He said Rustin already showed his take-charge personality when the union wanted to continue escorting prisoners to Municipal Court appearances, a job normally performed by Allegheny County sheriff's deputies.
"He put out a memo saying the union isn't going to decide who does what jobs," Edwards said.
Rustin comes from a family of leaders. His uncle was the late Bayard Rustin, a civil rights leader who is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington and a man who helped mold Martin Luther King Jr. into an international symbol of nonviolence.
Rustin's grandfather -- Bayard Rustin's half-brother -- was the town barber in West Chester. "That held a position of authority in a small town," Rustin said. "He was the man."
He credits his own parents, Earl and Rafaela Rustin, with teaching him the value of hard work, self-discipline and respect for others. His parents retired to Florida several years ago. His older sister, Maria, lives in Delaware; a younger brother, Saul, is deceased.
Reared in the Roman Catholic Church, Ramon served as an altar boy. From first grade on, he excelled as a student at a parochial school, Rafaela Rustin said.
"He was interested in going to school," his mother said. "He graduated with honors."
In 1983, after becoming a correctional officer, Rustin enrolled at West Chester University. Over seven years, he earned an associate's degree in liberal arts, bachelor's degree in criminal justice and master's degree in public administration. He also amassed computer skills in system design, software management, mainframe operations and local area networks.
Despite his driven personality, her son has a big heart, Rafaela Rustin said. He calls home often, and she keeps newspaper clippings about his career accomplishments in a scrapbook.
"I was sort of worried, because he's in a new place," she said. "But he's his own man now. He's a wonderful boy."
Additional Information:
Ramon C. Rustin
Residence: Mt. WashingtonAge: 48
Family: Sons, Chandler, 16, and Evan, 13; parents, Earl and Rafaela Rustin
Occupation: Warden, Allegheny County Jail
Education: Associate's degree in liberal arts, bachelor's degree in criminal justice and master's degree in public administration, West Chester University, West Chester, Pa.
Experience: Chester County Prison, West Chester, 1980-04; named deputy warden for security in 1996
