Editorial: Corrections officers are key to a successful jail
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The most important part of a corrections operation is not the bars.
A jail is not a cage. It isn’t a place where people are chucked in and the door is locked behind them like some medieval dungeon. At least, it’s not supposed to be.
No, the word “corrections” implies the experience is about change. Ideally, someone who is in jail or in prison should be learning something during their stint and applying it to post-incarcerated life. Maybe it’s about impulse control. Maybe it’s about sobriety or mental health.
But none of that happens in a vacuum. All of it requires personnel.
Corrections is one of those areas that has seen huge reductions in staff over recent years. In Pennsylvania, the shortage has been called a “full-blown crisis” by John Eckenrode, Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association president, in an op-ed for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star in September.
The state had 757 vacancies in June. In June 2019, there were just 94.
But it isn’t just a state issue. Counties are impacted as well. Westmoreland County has 29 vacancies, which might not seem like that many compared to that massive figure for the state prisons. But the state has 15,000 employees, meaning that too-high number is just 5% of the total complement. Westmoreland has 158 corrections officers; 29 is more than 18% of its staff.
Like teachers, police officers and truck drivers, these are jobs that are vital to daily life. It isn’t just that the law-abiding residents and visitors of Westmoreland County need to be kept safe. The inmates at the jail do, too. Every county facility includes not just those sentenced to short stays behind bars. It also has the care and safekeeping of people accused of crimes who are awaiting trial.
The county is taking steps, planning to offer bonuses and making a concerted push to hire officers. Doing so may require more than the county has on the drawing board.
Starting pay for new officers is $17.72 per hour for the first 920 hours — about 23 weeks — before bumping up to $23.75 per hour. But at Allegheny County, starting pay is $22.55 per hour, then $24.01 per hour after a year and $24.49 per hour after 18 months. Would-be guards looking at that difference might opt to work in Pittsburgh instead of Greensburg. Allegheny officials wouldn’t confirm how many vacancies they have.
Acknowledging the importance of the valuable, appropriately trained corrections officer in making the corrections process work can’t be underestimated. Appreciating that role is probably the best way to attract people to the job.