Highlights
Nearly one-third of federal correctional officer jobs in the United States are vacant.
State correctional agencies are having problems with recruitment and retention.
The focus is currently on police officers but few realize that staffing is far more difficult in corrections.
Author
Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.
Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of directing award-winning public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of criminology and public affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Certificate of Advanced Study-Johns Hopkins University. Former police officer. Aspiring drummer.
Article
There are endless articles and media reports suggesting that cops are leaving the job. Police recruitment is down by 63 percent per the Police Executive Research Forum, Cops Leaving. No one knows for sure as to the exact numbers or percentages or precisely what it means for staffing.
Some cities (i.e., Minneapolis) have to bring in outside police officers and others have extended wait times for a police response. Violent crime is up considerably, US Crime Rates.
But what about correctional officers? Search “correctional officers quitting/leaving” and you will see articles from the Wall Street Journal and lots of additional publications.
What Correctional Officers Do
Most Americans don’t have a clue as to what cops do. The same applies to correctional officers.
When I was the director of public information for the Maryland Department of Public Safety, we had three separate correctional divisions along with two law enforcement agencies.
I spent time with correctional officers in facilities and, by and large, they were good. There was approximately one officer to twenty inmates. They lived by their whits. They were not armed. They had to deal with a mostly violent population with serious criminal histories. They treated inmates firmly but fairly.
Some readers may not know that inmates literally ran prisons. They did the maintenance, cooked the meals, ran libraries and just about everything else beyond security and medical.
Their rules were more important than ours. Misbehaving inmates could cause a lockdown or cancel visits and privileges. Either you could eat well or be locked in and eat sandwiches for a week.
But breaking our rules might get you solitary. Breaking their rules would get you hurt or worse.
Correctional officers lived in a world where fairness and firmness got you cooperation and respect. You never knew when the place would explode thus officers had to be judicious.
The job is far more complicated than most realize (i.e., running a 1,000-bed facility and being aware of the enemy’s list to keep the peace).
The loss of experienced correctional officers places facilities in jeopardy. It takes skill and extraordinary people skills to maintain safe facilities.
The Crime Report: Federal Correctional Officers Leaving (minor edits for readability)
Nearly one-third of federal correctional officer jobs in the United States are vacant, forcing prisons to use cooks, teachers, nurses and other workers to guard inmates, reports the Associated Press. The Justice Department budgeted for 20,446 full-time correctional officer positions in 2020, but the agency that runs federal prisons said it currently employs 13,762 officers.
The Bureau of Prisons insists that many of its facilities still have a full complement of officers who focus solely on maintaining order.
Overworked employees are burning out quickly and violent encounters are being reported on a near-daily basis. The expanded use of that practice, known as augmentation, is raising questions about whether the agency can carry out its required duties to ensure the safety of prisoners and staff members while also putting in place programs and classes such as those under the First Step Act, a criminal justice overhaul that received wide bipartisan support in Congress.
The bureau insists everyone working at its facilities is a trained, sworn correctional worker, regardless of position or job title. All 35,000 employees are told when they are hired that they should expect to perform law enforcement functions, the agency said, even if they are signing on as counselors or teachers.
The situation could become even more dire as federal prisons brace for an influx of inmates. Right now there are 152,376 prisoners in 122 facilities.
Lacking Corrections Officers, U.S. Prisons Use Staff Cooks, Nurses as Guards
Conclusions
There are reports that correctional officers are leaving the job. Fifty-eight percent of state male inmates are serving time for violent crimes. When you count criminal history, the percentage is much higher. Gangs make prisons odious.
COVID took a huge toll. Overtime is mandatory and is especially onerous considering that all posts must be covered. There are correctional officers routinely working sixteen-hour shifts.
Experienced officers are leaving and newbies take years of seasoning to obtain the tacit necessary to enforce the rules.
The focus is currently on recruiting and retaining police officers but few realize that staffing is more difficult in corrections.
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Most Dangerous Cities/States/Countries at Most Dangerous Cities.
US Crime Rates at Nationwide Crime Rates.
National Offender Recidivism Rates at Offender Recidivism.
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