Arizona Prison Unions remain Quiet about Assaults
One has to
wonder why the prison unions remain silent as one of their own received a near
fatal beating at the hands of two violent inmates in the Kaibab Unit in
Winslow. Not a word has been said by the leadership of the union that
represents the majority of Arizona correctional officers as they face what is a
most difficult task under very severe staffing conditions.
The union
has not yet met with media or other sources to address this violent trend
inside Arizona prisons as they fail to publicly denounce the current practices
of putting staff in harm’s way by short staffing them at every essential post
inside their prisons.
The union
relies on the DOC’s investigative units to reveal what went wrong last Friday
afternoon when an officer was nearly beat to death. Hospitalized and suffering
from serious injuries she was luckily rescued by her fellow officers that
responded just in time from giving the inmates the opportunity to kick, hit and
stomp her to death.
Because no
weapons were involved, the likelihood of charges being filed are slim but if
they do, it is likely not to be
prosecuted as the record is weak on such follow up actions by county attorneys
who review such cases. In fact the chances of filing and getting a conviction
stands about at less than a 33 per cent change of happening.
Arizona
prison officials need to be sensitive to the safety concerns of staff working
there. They need to address the daily shortages that puts their officers in
harm’s way whenever they try to do their job and enforce the rules. Shortages
impact many things; they reduce the findings of contraband due to less
searches, they reduce vigilance of compliance of institutional rules and
regulations and they put staff at risk because the number of officers that can
respond to an emergency has been severely reduced.
Secondary,
the public should be aware and concerned as well as a shortage of staff impact
community safety as well. There are many officers assigned to community
hospital rooms watching convicted felons at reduced staffing patterns by
combining supervision of inmates even when they are not assigned to a bed
together in the same room. Sometimes this entails different wings or floors as
bed space is not always available side by side.
Out of
facility transports are being done by officers fatigued by overtime or lack of
training in such specialized duties. The fact is that whenever there is a need
for an emergency transport, they find the first available officers and send
them on their way without checking their certification cards or knowing their
skill levels and training proficiency as they hurry the process to avoid a
delay and be criticized for not doing it fast enough by administration that
quarterback their arrangements the next day.
Today,
violence has escalated exponentially and is out of control. The DOC’s solution
to the problem is to move the inmates to a higher custody level after they
attacked someone. Some have been moved out of state but regardless, nothing is
being done about the rising trend of violence on staff.
This
violence trend leaves the prisons tense and consequences of being targeted are
higher now than ever before as there are less officers on the floor to watch
these felons on what their home turf is and where their rules supersede those
of the administration and officers assigned.
This creates
a conflict that most often results in a confrontation as the seizure of
contraband and other violations lead to personal conflicts at staff doing their
jobs. A job that is covered under the terms of their union agreement with
management that reasonable and practical work conditions should exist to keep
staff safe and at less risk than what they are experiencing today.
Is it
reasonable to expect some sort of backlash from the system for speaking out on staff
safety? I am certain there is. Backlashes are common reactions to criticism as
it is designed to discredit the one doing the criticizing as speaking out on
dangerous workplace issues is not tolerated and viewed disloyal to the system
that hired them.
It is
predictable that most employees of the estimated 10,000 correctional officers
will remain silent as will their union leadership for they have proven that in
the past. They may silently or covertly encourage documenting workplace
deficiencies but in a whole will not cause an uproar or argument over these
dangerous conditions that exist statewide.
Never mind
that staff are getting hurt and maimed on the job; never mind that medical
costs are rising and creating a higher expense for the state and never mind
that the inmates go unpunished for their misdeeds while incarcerated. It is all
tolerable in the name of silence. .
A few years
ago, the union took a membership poll and found they had no confidence in the
DOC leadership and while nothing has changed for the good, nobody is concerned
that work conditions have worsen and violence has risen to the point that an
officer can expect to be assaulted once every three days in the year and more
to come. I guess it’s fair to say that this is a tolerable number of assaults
for the union as it remains quiet.
