Saying “workers in the Department of Corrections are warning that the system has reached a breaking point”, the Oklahoma Public Employees Association called for pay raises for all state employees and additional funding to fill staffing shortages and address agency infrastructure needs.
“Members of OPEA, who work in the Department of Corrections are warning us the system has reached a breaking point,” said OPEA Executive Director Sterling Zearley. “The agency’s resources no longer meet the needs of the important mission ‘to protect the public, protect employees, and protect inmates’.”
Mike Rogers, an 18-year DOC veteran, who currently works as a unit manager at James Crabtree Correctional Center spoke for the Association’s DOC Council which has over 1,400 members.
“We have studied and audited the problem long enough,” said Rogers. “It is time for action. Oklahoma’s prison system is a ticking time-bomb. The safety of our communities and our lives hang in the balance.”
The Department of Corrections has over 600 vacant positions. Oklahoma State Penitentiary, which houses the state’s most dangerous inmates, has a 35 percent vacancy rate in security staff. The MGT audit reported that OSP needs a minimum of 342 officers to run the prison safely. According to OSP staff, last Friday only 268 officers were on the job.
“Correctional staff are being forced to work excessive overtime hours, as many as three double shifts per week,” reported Rogers. “Employees working double shifts are too often exhausted and in a job where alertness is a matter of life or death. That is a dangerous situation. Aggression among inmates is rising, with five stabbing incidents at OSP since the first of the year. Staff are being injured when they intervene to break up
disturbances. There is little or no back-up to call so injuries are more likely to be serious.
Case managers and other support staff, who are responsible for monitoring offender case files, parole eligibility and release dates are diverted to filling security positions and fall behind in their work. In addition, support staff who are required to fill in are sometimes not trained in security techniques and processes.”
Posted on Wednesday, April 9, 2008
by Bud Elder
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