The list of escapes, assaults and injuries goes on and on. In October an officer was attacked and suffered an eye injury at another state prison facility. Last year an officer was stabbed by an inmate at the private prison in Clayton. In September 1999, during an uprising there, inmates ambushed Officer Ralph Garcia and stabbed him to death. Case in point? The Guadalupe County Correctional Facility in Santa Rosa.
Understaffed and overworked prison security is a recipe for disaster. The folks that kill cops, the folks that hurt people, rob your house, those are the folks that are in prison.” “They’re responsible for the worst of the worst in the state. It’s a very dangerous job,” Trombley said. Rob Trombley who is the Public Safety Coordinator for AFSCME Council 18, says the job of a Correction’s Officer is a thankless job. “It was very easy for the prisoners to take over the entire prison with so few Correctional Officers on duty.” “Understaffing was a significant cause of the riot,” Mark Donatelli says. Some C.O.’s have been ordered to work 24-hour shifts. Many of the state’s Correctional Officers are required to work 16 hour days, every day. KRQE News 13’s investigation finds, since 2015, Correctional Officer overtime at state prisons has cost taxpayers $31,616,074. To compensate for all the vacant Correctional Officer positions, existing staff must fill those positions. In order to maintain proper security at state prisons, minimum staffing levels are required. The failure to hire adequate security staff is having a major impact on the Correction’s Department’s budget. “All (five private prisons) have been penalized at some point during the fiscal year for lack of staffing,” said Correction’s Secretary Jablonski. Since 2012, the five private prisons in New Mexico have paid the state a total of $5,674,848 for failure to maintain required staffing levels. Since 2015, the Northwest New Mexico Correctional Facility (Core Civic, Inc.) in Grants has paid $546,405 in monthly staffing penalties. Over the last two years, the Lea County Correctional Facility (GEO Group, Inc.) in Hobbs has shelled out $871,918 in penalties for not hiring the required number of security officers. In fact, private prisons must pay significant penalties if they fail to maintain minimum staffing levels. New Mexico’s privately owned prisons don’t fare any better. This is supposed to be what we need to ensure reasonable safety and security in the community.”
“If 70 percent of the police officers in Albuquerque didn’t show up one day what would they think would happen? They’re here for a reason. “If these standards aren’t met people are going to get hurt. He is considered an expert on prison reform issues. “These are minimum standards to ensure the safety and security and efficient operation of our prisons,” said Santa Fe attorney Mark Donatelli.ĭonatelli led the 1980 Riot Defense Team. vacancy rates are “absolutely” unacceptable. Newly named Correction’s Cabinet Secretary David Jablonski says these C.O. In July 2015, a whopping 70 percent of the Correctional Officer positions were vacant at the State Prison facility in Springer. In July last year, more than half of the Correctional Officer jobs at the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants went unfilled.Īt the State Prison in Roswell last December, Correctional Officer vacancies reached 58 percent. In December, at the medium security Central Prison in Los Lunas, 34 percent of the Correctional Officer positions were vacant which is more than three times the national standard. Something’s going to snap.”Īccording to the American Correctional Association, which accredits prison facilities, Correctional Officer vacancy rates in prison facilities should “…not exceed 10 percent for any 18-month period.” In New Mexico, only two of the state’s 11 prison facilities come even close to the national standard.įor example, the maximum security State Penitentiary in Santa Fe is so short-staffed that routinely as many as 29 percent of the Correctional Officer positions there are vacant. State Senator Sander Rue told KRQE News 13, “It is a terrible situation and the harm is, eventually, something’s going to happen. “We’re just a time bomb waiting to happen and it needs to be addressed,” says State Senator Howie Morales. Over the last two years, taxpayers have shelled out tens of millions of dollars to compensate for inadequate staffing at all New Mexico prison facilities across the state.
Department of Correction’s records show state officials have failed to hire enough Correctional Officers to control inmates or keep our prisons and the public safe. It’s dangerous, disturbing and costly.Ī five-month KRQE News 13 investigation finds New Mexico’s prison system in the danger zone. (KRQE) - There’s trouble brewing behind prison walls.