Alabama has been losing correctional officers in its prisons since 2010. Why?
That question - and reversing that trend - was the subject not only of proposals in the Legislature this week, but an exhaustive study commissioned by the Department of Corrections that has been unsealed in court.
A 261-page report by accounting and advisory firm Warren Averett was ordered released Wednesday by District Judge Myron Thompson as part of the ongoing lawsuit over how Alabama treats its mentally-ill inmates.
Alabama currently faces court actions on several fronts because of its prisons, as well as the results of a sweeping investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Understaffing is consistently listed as a major concern - both in care for its mentally-ill inmates and in curbing a hideous atmosphere of violence and sexual abuse. The prison system already faces a federal court order to add about 2,000 correctional officers over the next few years.
On Thursday, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn told the Legislature’s prison committee that hiring officers is perhaps the most crucial issue facing the prisons in the wake of an April 2 report from the U.S. Department of Justice alleging that conditions there are unconstitutional. ADOC has a goal of adding 500 new officers over the next year. There are about 1,200 full time officers now, plus some retired state employees who work part-time.
This week, legislators introduced a bill to increase officer pay 5 percent and authorize bonuses to help with hiring and recruitment. The Warren Averett report gave two recommended starting salaries for correctional officers, between $36,500 and $38,500.
Last year, a 10 percent pay raise brought the starting salary of an entry-level correctional officer to $31,368.48 at maximum security prisons and $29,942.64 at medium security facilities, according to an ADOC news release at the time.
The Legislature’s plan would also create a correctional security guard position, which would require about half the training time required of correctional officers.
That was a suggestion of the Warren Averett study, which stated that, as of the end of 2017, the inmate to correctional officer ratio for the ADOC’s major facilities was 15.4 inmates to one correctional officer. And that’s just systemwide. In one facility, Bibb, the ratio is 30.7 to 1. At Easterling, it is 27.6 to 1.
“In one year alone, twenty percent of correctional officers working in ADOC facilities chose to resign,” the report stated.
Alabama did initiate an aggressive campaign in 2006 to recruit correctional officers, hiring a full-time recruiter, partnering with the U.S. Army to recruit retired and inactive military personnel and offering internships to criminal justice students. That increased the number of officers by more than 500 over four years.
There are several reasons why Alabama now can’t keep the jobs filled. “It cannot be explained by any one factor,” the report stated.
ADOC is not able to entice potential correctional officers away from less dangerous jobs at its current pay rate. According to the report, the mean salary for correctional officers and jailers in Alabama is about $10,000 less than police and sheriff’s patrol officers.
Not surprisingly, Alabama’s prisons are not ideal work atmospheres. Of the 15 major facilities, the newest was built almost 30 years ago, while the oldest dates to 1939. Many need renovations, all are very overcrowded, and some areas lack air conditioning, creating a sweltering environment in the summer. Employees decried the lack of break rooms, or even basic refreshment on the job, such as water or sports drinks. Uniforms are hot and uncomfortable. Some officers don’t have necessary equipment for the job, such as pepper spray, working radios or batons.
Less than one in five current correctional officers would recommend someone seek employment with the ADOC. Corrections typically leads the state in overtime spending, topping $31 million in 2017. Some officers, on 16-hour shifts, burn out on the job, while the long hours also affect reaction time and cognition.
The employment process is long, complicated and confusing. Applications cannot be submitted online, the report stated, and applicants may go as long as one month before hearing anything. The study also said many of the department’s job recruitment tactics were reactive - trying to fill already vacant slots, rather than anticipating needs in advance. Too-few candidates are showing up at on-site testing events, and have to bring their own materials.
The candidate pool has its own challenges. Alabama is currently at record employment. Moreover, it is the third most obese state in the U.S., with more than 35 percent of adults considered obese. This means many candidates are physically unqualified to be correctional officers. Some potential candidates are already out of consideration because of a felony conviction. “Additionally, some younger generations find the paramilitary nature of many corrections departments, with their formal hierarchic structures and accompanying rules about facial hair and tattoos, etc., to be unappealing,” the report stated.