We live on the other side of the prison bar. One of us spent 22 years in prison for a non-violent drug crime. The other provided career services for over 20 years in maximum and moderate security prisons.
We both landed in prison in a way, trying to escape the broken home and poverty.
Our situation is completely different, but correction staff and those who are incarcerated have more in common than people think. They eat food from the same prison. Sweat with the same airless block. We are both exposed to infections such as MRSA and Covid-19. We often see each other more than we see our own family.
We have seen too much violence and death for everyone to endure. Correction staff has 16 years of life expectancy short It’s higher than the average American Fee Post-war veterans and Higher suicide rates More than any other law enforcement expert.
Similarly, prison prisoners lose The average life expectancy for two years each year was spent behind the bar. Almost everything has Experienced Serious trauma before arriving at prison. This is exacerbated by violence and poor conditions within many correctional facilities.
Today, twoI’ll work togetherFrom mutual passions to enhance public safety and improve the conditions of those who live and work in prisons. We are both surprised at the growing crisis of so much ignoring. There is a shortage of staff and overcrowding in prisons.
A shortage of staff hurts everyone who lives and works in prisons. Partly due to the growing prison population, the shortages have reached unsustainable levels and seem to be endless. recently,New York corrections officer engaged in wildcat strikeThis is because of the serious impact of staff shortages on employee health and well-being.
The numbers are shocking. Ours data The number of amendment officers working in state prisons has fallen 20% since 2017. At least 13 states have lost more than a quarter of the amendment officer since 2017. At the same time, the state’s prison population is growing, with 10 of the 13 states facing the highest loss of executives having jail time of higher than the national average.
This has forced many states to take dramatic steps. Over the past five years, including Florida, West Virginia, Ohio, South Carolina, Indiana, Idaho, MontanaAnd recently, I used it in New York The National Guard fills the gap in prison staffing. 2023, Texas I spent time Nearly $14 million in travel and hotels to close around workers to maintain prison lighting. At the federal level, the Prison Bureau is also suffering from a shortage of staff, but that’s just Eliminate employee retention bonusesCreated in 2021 Leave the prison open.
This crisis is now a self-intensive monster. Low staffing levels result in mandatory overtime, stressful conditions, burnout, and, of course, high turnover.
The impact of staffing shortages is severe for those who have been imprisoned and their families. Maintaining family ties is one of the biggest thingsPredictorsAmong successful rehabilitation, visits and calls were first cut when prisons fell short.
Dangerous prisons also create dangerous communities. Teachers, social workers, counselors who usually provide important programmingReduce recidivismeducation, vocational training, drug and mental health treatment are essential for effective prison activities, but the absence in the prison system is growing due to staffing and overcrowding crisis.
Without critical programming, the community can withstand higher crime and recidivism rates. In many facilities, staff hired by nurses, educators, or even food workers are forced to do untrained patrols and safety jobs.caseNegligence and unnecessary death.
There’s a need for a way out of this cycle. In his first term, President Trump helped with some important and clever enactmentchangeinto our criminal justice system. We encourage his administration to bring out their previous successes by consulting with corrections officers, incarcerated people and their families, and experts, and delay this vast issue.
As former imprisoned person and former corrections officer, we understand the “we vs. them” mentality that drives many conversations about the criminal justice system, but we have to come together to resolve this.
Our prisons cannot create public safety and can’t rehabilitate them if they are confused. Until we take bold action, we will continue to look at the devastating ripple effects on communities and families across America.
Andy Potter is the executive director and founder of One Voice United, a national organization dedicated to raising the voice of corrections officers and staff through national conversations about the revision and criminal justice system. Matthew Charles is the state legislative manager of FAMM, a national organisation that believes in the humanitarian treatment of incarcerated individuals, and is advocate for just and individual sentences and prison reform.
