Do you need a job?

[peejay 327]

State prison guard shortage 'critical'

Most understaffed units at remote sites, where it's hard to lure employees

By LISA SANDBERG

2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — The Neal prison in Amarillo has so few guards working these days that Dorothy Barfoot, a correctional officer, often finds herself working alone in a dorm with 80 to 100 male felons. Sometimes she gets so scared her knees shake.

"Usually there should be two (correctional officers with me), at least," said the 13-year veteran.

But the prison can't find enough people to do the job of guarding inmates in Amarillo or anywhere else.

The Texas prison system is short more than 4,300 guards, with 17 percent of its full-time security positions unfilled. Nearly one in five of the state's 106 prisons operates with fewer than 75 percent of its correctional guards.

Far-flung Fort Stockton, the worst-staffed unit, operates with 59 percent of its correctional officers.

Barfoot's lockup in Amarillo operates with 76 percent of its alloted guard positions.

The prison system has 34 percent fewer guards today than when seven Texas inmates pulled off an escape at the Connally Unit in South Texas in 2000, even though its inmate population has grown 5 percent since then, to 153,000.

Testifying before a legislative hearing last month, Texas Prison Board Chairman Brad Livingston called the guard shortage "critical."

To deal with the shortage, the prison board recently approved a 10 percent emergency raise for new employees, bringing starting salaries to $25,000 a year and $1,500 signing bonuses for those taking jobs at the hardest-to-staff units.

The raises were an attempt to address the fact that Texas guards earned the second-lowest salaries in the nation, according to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The turnover rate for first-year correctional staff is 43 percent.

The signing bonuses were a recognition that staffing shortages are as much about geography as about pay.

Texas prisons were built in some of the most out-of-the-way areas of the state.

Thirteen of the 15 prisons with the most severe guard shortages are in towns with fewer than 15,000 people.

Nine of those places have lost, not gained, residents since 2000.

Dalhart Unit hard to staff

Consider the Dalhart Unit, a 1,300-bed facility that operates with 31 percent of its correctional staff positions unfilled and is located in a remote Panhandle town of the same name with 7,000 residents.

Marty Turner, a field representative with the union in the region that includes Dalhart, said the prison is always short-staffed because it has a tiny work force to draw from.

"There's no help," he said. Skyrocketing gas prices have made it difficult to lure people to commute from distant towns, he said.

A shortage of affordable housing keeps them away.

State Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who chairs the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, said he blamed the staffing problems squarely on decisions made during the massive prison building boom of the 1990s to put most of the units in far-flung locations.

"The state built most of its prisons in all the wrong places," he said. "They used prisons for economic development. The rural counties would give you the land and throw in other incentives. It might have looked like a bargain, but we're paying a huge price for it."

Allan Polunsky served on the prison board between 1987 and 2000, when the prison population jumped from 49,000 inmates to 147,000. In an interview last month, Polunsky said he was generally opposed to building prisons in rural areas. But his board colleagues, and the rural lawmakers who wielded power back then, favored it.

The state built most of its correctional facilities for youth in remote places, too, and now faces chronic staffing shortages at many of those units. Whitmire champions closing the Texas Youth Commission altogether and moving its 2,800 juvenile offenders back to the mostly urban communities from which they come.

Raises create resentment

Union leaders say the recent raises for newly hired guards may do nothing to ease the shortage because the fix largely ignores seasoned officers.

"They've created a big problem with the veterans. They're raising Cain. They've been the backbone of this agency," said Brian Olsen, who heads the correctional officers union.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5714829.html

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

They need to hire illegals.

[GabachaYucateca 0]

I thought we had USCs chomping at the bit for a job, any job, and blaming those rascally illegals for taking them away! And here we have an employer practically BEGGING to hire people and there are no takers?

It was a badly thought out decision to build prisons and detention facilities in a place where there wasn't a ready-made workforce, but if USCs are saying "I need a job, but I won't do that (move to Weirdville, Texas)" I'd imagine that they'll also be saying "I need a job but I won't do that (work in the recently raided poultry plants)."

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I thought we had USCs chomping at the bit for a job, any job, and blaming those rascally illegals for taking them away!

[panamania79 2]

I thought we had USCs chomping at the bit for a job, any job, and blaming those rascally illegals for taking them away!

The prison guards here make a ton of money,the overtime is rally nice too.You have to complete a "boot camp" like training first.

[Mags 112]

I thought we had USCs chomping at the bit for a job, any job, and blaming those rascally illegals for taking them away!

The prison guards here make a ton of money,the overtime is rally nice too.You have to complete a "boot camp" like training first.

I think it depends where you are. Prison guards in Indiana are paid pretty badly.

[Ursa Tripudio 2]

The prison guards here make a ton of money,the overtime is rally nice too.You have to complete a "boot camp" like training first.

It is a very unpleasant job. Not many people can tolerate it for a long time.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Plus, think... You are literally "in prison" for a third (or more) of your day too! If you worked there for 18 years, you've served a 6 year sentence yourself.

The prison guards here make a ton of money,the overtime is rally nice too.You have to complete a "boot camp" like training first.

It is a very unpleasant job. Not many people can tolerate it for a long time.

[GabachaYucateca 0]

My landlord is a correctional officer, and I just can't imagine him doing the job...he's probably one of the nicest, mellowest fellows I've ever met!

Unfortunately, he and his fellow officers have been without a contract for a few years now!

[nana_356 0]

My husband is a correctional officer, great benefits, great pay, bit it defenetly changed him as a person!!

[sereia 0]

State prison guard shortage 'critical'

To deal with the shortage, the prison board recently approved a 10 percent emergency raise for new employees, bringing starting salaries to $25,000 a year and $1,500 signing bonuses for those taking jobs at the hardest-to-staff units.

The raises were an attempt to address the fact that Texas guards earned the second-lowest salaries in the nation, according to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Looks like a pretty low salary to me in Texas~! I always thought prison guards made a lot of money too. I would definitely NOT do it for $25,000/yr!

[panamania79 2]

I thought we had USCs chomping at the bit for a job, any job, and blaming those rascally illegals for taking them away!

The prison guards here make a ton of money,the overtime is rally nice too.You have to complete a "boot camp" like training first.

I think it depends where you are. Prison guards in Indiana are paid pretty badly.

Really ? That must suck.

State prison guard shortage 'critical'

To deal with the shortage, the prison board recently approved a 10 percent emergency raise for new employees, bringing starting salaries to $25,000 a year and $1,500 signing bonuses for those taking jobs at the hardest-to-staff units.

The raises were an attempt to address the fact that Texas guards earned the second-lowest salaries in the nation, according to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Looks like a pretty low salary to me in Texas~! I always thought prison guards made a lot of money too. I would definitely NOT do it for $25,000/yr!

They make double that here that doesn't include overtime and benefits.

[sara535 15]

yeah they make a ton of money out here in california too, and since all the prisons are understaffed there is pretty much unlimited overtime available. I hve a girlfriend who's husband makes about 10 grand a month. but he works his ### off for long hours and I am SURE its a kinda hellish job.

[Krikit 1,163]

State prison guard shortage 'critical'

Most understaffed units at remote sites, where it's hard to lure employees

By LISA SANDBERG

2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — The Neal prison in Amarillo has so few guards working these days that Dorothy Barfoot, a correctional officer, often finds herself working alone in a dorm with 80 to 100 male felons. Sometimes she gets so scared her knees shake.

Hopefully, no one in the Neal prison has a subscription to the Houston Chronicle, putting Dorothy Barfoot even more at risk.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Wife's uncle is a correctional officer in northern CA. It may pay well - but the job itself is rough, at best.

He's got some pretty hair-raising stories....