Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

You Gets What You Pays For

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by

James A. Bacon
in

by James A. Bacon

Virginia’s prison system is short 1,500 correctional officers. Turnover has increased to 25% a year, much higher than the average 15% church for other state agencies. And the situation is getting worse as remaining employees work double shifts and come in on days off. The shortfall is worst in urban areas where there is more competition for jobs.

Those numbers come from testimony by Harold Clarke, head of the Department of Corrections, Wednesday in a legislative committee meeting. So reports The Virginia Mercury.

Manpower shortages make conditions less safe. Working longer hours impairs performance and lowers attention rates.

Clarke proposes raising starting salaries for correctional officers from $35,000 a year to $44,000. By comparison, Virginia State Police start troopers at $47,000 a year, while most regional jails and sheriff’s office start at more than $40,000 a year. Clarke says his plan would cost $70 million, an increase of more than 5% to the department’s $1.3 billion operating budget.

Bacon’s bottom line. The credo of Bacon’s Rebellion is that government should do few things but do those things well. Law enforcement and corrections is a core function of state and local government. If you want a secure, humane, and corruption-free prison system, you have to pay competitive salaries to get good employees. Clarke’s request deserves serious attention.

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10 responses to “You Gets What You Pays For”

  1. vicnicholls Avatar
    vicnicholls

    Wait until you get hit with the mark of the devil vaccine mandates for more people. Saying there aren’t enough workers, and then those workers have to pay for all the out of work workers, people get what they deserve: which is the whole shooting match will go under.

  2. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    I agree. Ya gets what ya pays for. Which makes one wonder why the GOP always wants to go on the cheap?

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      Project Exile – more people in jail – even though we have more folks in jail (as a percent of pop) than almost all other countries on earth, including countries like Russia and China!

      https://www.apa.org/images/2014-10-incarceration-chart2_tcm7-176264_w1024_n.jpg

      Oh, and after we throw more in jail, do away with parole, etc, we’ll also have tax cuts, and pay for them with cuts to education and entitlements.

      Yes, vote GOP!

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Well, another way to suppress the vote.
        Of course, if the restored felon vote ever becomes a plurality of the votes cast, you’ve got bigger problems than the issue of restoring of the right to vote.
        “Dems want the felon vote”
        Yeah, but only to counter the Aryan Nation vote.

  3. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Being a correctional officer is not an easy job. In many cases, it is tedious, standing around watching inmates. But, an officer needs to be alert at all times, because inmates are watching and will take advantage of any lapse in scrutiny. In addition, it can be dangerous. As Harold Clarke testified yesterday, there have been assaults on staff this year. Then, there has been COVID. Five DOC staff, including one warden, have died from COVID.

    A standard shift for a correctional officer is 12 hours. Often, when there are staffing shortages, officers are required to work overtime. I always wondered how anyone could be alert after being on duty for 12 hours; overtime would make it worse. Because most prisons are located in rural areas, the local labor pool is not large enough to support a prison. Therefore, DOC has to recruit widely. Many officers live significant distances from the prison in which they work. It was not unusual for officers to tell me they had a 45-60 minute drive from home to work.

    The role of the correctional officer has changed. Many years ago, it was strictly a security and discipline position. Officers gave the inmates orders and wrote them up if the orders were not obeyed forthwith. Under Clarke, a correctional officer is considered part of the team that is preparing the inmate for re-entry. Security is still most important, but understanding and assistance are also part of the job. It is a delicate balance.

    The issues laid out by Clarke are not new. The agency has long had a high vacancy rate in correctional officer positions. Some facilities are worse than others. However, some of the vacancies can be attributed to the management of specific prisons.

    Prisons compete directly with local and regional jails for security personnel. The Sheriffs Association lobbies the General Assembly for increases in pay for deputies. With every raise in pay for deputies, DOC is put at a competitive disadvantage. In the last few years, the GA has provided additional money for CO salaries and for one-time bonuses.

    1. Lvlyldy1955 Avatar
      Lvlyldy1955

      Why should you have to lobby the GA for them to do the right thing? If deputies and troopers need and increase, the GA should make sure all law enforcement personnel get the same increases. The do serve the same communities.

  4. Stephen Haner Avatar
    Stephen Haner

    Good thing Virginia is like the federal government and can deficit-spend at will, with no reference to actual tax cash flow. No, wait…..Good thing the $2.6 billion announced surplus is just the tip of the iceberg. No, wait, it is largely all committed, they claim…..Next governor is going to have fun.

    If those folks are unionized next year, as TMac has promised to allow, that’s just the start of the salary expectations.

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      “Next governor is going to have fun.”

      The revenge vote would be for Terry, ya know.

  5. tmtfairfax Avatar
    tmtfairfax

    Good thing our contractor is making good progress on the house in Wake Forest and that my kids graduated from high school before Virginia’s educators became woke.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      TMT – have you seen this:

      Subversive Education
      North Carolina’s largest school district launches a campaign against “whiteness in educational spaces.”

      https://www.city-journal.org/critical-race-theory-in-wake-county-nc-schools

      Are your kids attending “woke” colleges?

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