Posts in Understaffing
Short-staffed and overcrowded. And for the state’s largest jail, that’s just the start

“Oahu Community Correctional Center is the state’s largest jail facility, with more than 1,000 detainees. And like the state’s other jails, it’s over-capacity. The jail, with its peaked-roof modules surrounded by barbed wire, is the latest version of facilities that have been on a Kalihi site since 1914. Detainees at OCCC are awaiting trial, serving short sentences, or are inmates in work furlough programs. Members of the media were allowed inside Wednesday to take a first-hand look. It was originally designed to hold 628 detainees. It has a current capacity of 954, but as of Wednesday, there were 1,071 held there.“

Hawaii News Now

November 20, 2019

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UnderstaffingPhillip ReevesHawaii News Now, HawaiiComment
Lockdown, longer shifts, hiring bonuses: State Penitentiary adjusts operations amid staff shortage

“Thursday morning, staff at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln were informed via memo that a “staffing emergency” was being declared at the prison because of a shortage of staff and unsafe conditions for prison workers. The emergency allows the prison to launch a temporary new work schedule involving 12-hour workdays for security staff as Corrections and the labor union work on “long-term solutions” to high turnover of new recruits and record-high overtime expenses for the remaining staff to fill vacant posts.“

Omaha World-Herald

October 24, 2019

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UnderstaffingPhillip ReevesOmaha World Herald, NebraskaComment
Florida Prisons Chief: Status Quo 'Unsustainable'

“The pair of proposals includes a $60 million retention-pay plan for correctional officers and a $29 million pilot program that would convert one third of the state prisons’ 12-hour shifts to 8-hour work days. Under the agency’s proposed retention-pay plan, correctional officers would get a $1,500 pay increase after 2 years of service and a $2,500 increase after 5 years of work. The hourly shift changes, which would be more costly and are expected to be a contentious part of union negotiations, are more complicated, Inch admitted.“

Sunshine State News

October 17, 2019

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Understaffing, Prison ViolencePhillip ReevesSunshine State News, FloridaComment
Beatings, murders and prisoners set on fire: inside the prison called 'gangland'

“The state has sharply cut spending on prisons over the last few years. Along the way, the number of guards at the three state-run prisons has plummeted, from 905 in July 2017 to 627 two years later, even as the number of inmates has remained the same. Vacancies abound, largely because the pay is so low.“

The Guardian

August 21, 2019

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UnderstaffingPhillip ReevesThe Guardian, MississippiComment
Caged: ‘Pure torture.’ Inmates suffer and die as Kentucky overcrowds its county jails.

“Terrible things happen when too many people are crammed into too small a space, a common practice in Kentucky’s local jails, which are packed far beyond their capacity with state inmates who should be serving their felony sentences in a prison. At the Boyd County Detention Center, which typically houses at least 50 percent more prisoners than it’s supposed to, an Ashland police officer left 40-year-old Michael “Boo” Moore last Nov. 27 to be booked for public intoxication, a minor offense. Moore’s battered corpse was carried out of the jail two days later.“

Lexington Herald Ledger

August 21, 2019

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Understaffing, Death in PrisonPhillip ReevesLexington Herald Leader, Kentucky, Boyd County, Boyd County Detention CenterComment
Double shifts, overtime common as Maine jails, prisons face staffing shortage

“The administrator of the Cumberland County Jail said overtime and double shifts are typically required of corrections officers twice a week as the jail faces a staffing shortage. The case of a corrections officer who police said had just come off a 16-hour shift at the jail before causing a crash in Gorham that killed a 9-year-old girl, is raising questions about the work load for officers. Police said Kenneth Morang, 61, admitted that he fell asleep before the July 21 crash on Route 25.“

ABC 8 Maine

July 30, 2019

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UnderstaffingPhillip ReevesABC 8 Maine, MaineComment
Need a job? Texas prisons have vacancies, pay raises pending

“After a 28% officer turnover rate and 14% vacancy figure raised red flags in late 2017, TDCJ officials implemented a 12% increase in starting pay and poured more than $9 million into $4,000- and $5,000-hiring bonuses at a couple dozen particularly understaffed units. Still, by the end of 2018, turnover soared past 29%, and by April vacancy rates hit nearly 15%.“

Longview News Journal

June 29, 2019

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UnderstaffingPhillip ReevesLongview News Journal, TexasComment
Texas prison guards to get a small raise, but some doubt it will help with chronic understaffing

“Prison guards start at about $36,000 and receive a maximum of about $43,000 after 7.5 years. As the agency struggles with a 15% vacancy rate of its guard jobs, officers have been required to work mandatory overtime for more than a year at some prisons and often rotate from one prison into more drastically understaffed units for short stints.“

Texas Tribune

June 18, 2019

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UnderstaffingPhillip ReevesTexas Tribune, TexasComment
Florida prisons are in terrible shape. Wardens themselves just said so.

“State prison wardens pleaded with Florida senators Wednesday to adequately fund the Department of Corrections and help alleviate a variety of dire conditions in their facilities, from maintenance deficits to gang violence epidemics. Low salaries, frequent overtime shifts and poor working conditions have created a statewide epidemic of correctional officer and prison staff turnover, wardens said.“

Florida Times Union

February 20, 2019

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Jail & Prison Conditions, UnderstaffingPhillip ReevesFlorida Times Union, FloridaComment