Overcrowding + Understaffing = Trouble
Early this year, when two inmates at the Arizona State Prison Complex- Lewis held two COs hostage for 15 days, James C. Beverly was not surprised. A veteran CO and president of Local 3204 (Council 97), Beverly saw it coming.
"Overcrowding and understaffing are the two greatest dangers COs face today," he says. "We have a nationwide crisis due to prison overpopulation, and it is exacerbated by staff shortages."
Another factor that fosters prison disturbances and hostage situations, Beverly explains, is "warehousing. ... The old philosophy of just locking up people and throwing away the key just does not work."
What's needed, Beverly believes, are programs and educational activities that will reduce tension, stress and frustration among inmates. "If they're kept busy doing something constructive, it leaves little time for them to observe staff behavior and cause disruptions."
Those problems apparently contributed to what happened on Jan. 18, when two inmates took over the armed watchtower. A commission appointed by Gov. Janet Napolitano to study the hostage standoff confirmed Beverly's views. As a result, a prison reform plan is underway. It includes changes to policies and safety procedures, and improved officer pay, training and equipment.
Arizona's prison population grew from 1,273 inmates to 31,062 between 1973 and 2003, to well beyond the system's capacity of 26,928 beds.
The number of COs, on the other hand, stands at 1,400 below the normal staffing level for that population. At the five-year-old prison where the hostage incident occurred, for instance, about 200 of the 1,029 CO positions are vacant — an alarming rate of 19 percent, which is very high by national standards. And with more prisoners to handle, COs are forced to work more mandatory overtime, thus creating a greater security risk to both prison staff and the public.
Low pay obviously contributes to recruitment and retention problems. At Lewis, COs start with a salary lower than what airport screeners receive — and stay an average of only 2.5 years. An estimated 70-plus percent of officers in the state have been on the job less than 18 months.
In his letter to the commission, Beverly wrote that the situation in Lewis prison mirrored the conditions that prevailed in Lucasville, the Ohio prison facility where a 1993 riot took the life of an ACU member — Robert Vallandingham. "With understaffing and so much staff turnover, we not only have inexperienced officers but also less-experienced supervisors," Beverly said. "Moreover, veteran staff feel as though they are not being respected or listened to by the administration. They are very often left out of the planning."
He adds: "This attitude leads to low employee morale, which is a key factor in the breakdown of prison security."
The fact that the Lewis hostage crisis was resolved without loss of life speaks well for Beverly and his co-workers. "From day one, we were kept apprised of the negotiations, and played an important role throughout the standoff," Beverly says. "It means a lot to us that both corrections officers are still alive."
Work conditions in Arizona prisons are changing for the better — at least in part because of the successful handling of the hostage taking. Governor Napolitano's appointment last year of Dora Schriro as Director of Corrections was also a positive development (see related story).
Beverly is optimistic that "with a strong labor/management relationship, a supportive governor and a responsive legislature, we can face these challenges together and make the Arizona Department of Corrections a model for the nation."
