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| Corrections never fails to present challenge for Oklahoma policymakers |
| By newsok.com - Oklahoman Editorial |
| Published: 07/06/2012 |
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WHETHER it’s sending criminals away, letting them out or handling them when they’re behind bars, corrections in Oklahoma constitutes one of the most challenging issues facing policymakers. Recent events help make the point. The Department of Corrections has been getting an earful from relatives of some inmates who are being transferred to the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite. OSR, a medium-security prison located in the hot and hardscrabble southwestern corner of the state, is a tough place. It’s also understaffed. That’s a bad combination. In an effort to help keep law and order within the prison walls, the DOC over several weeks’ time is moving out younger inmates from OSR and moving in roughly 480 others from around the state who are older than 40 and have behaved well. Family members of those being moved to OSR don’t like it — they cite the much longer travel to visit their loved ones, but also concerns about violent episodes at the prison through the years. However, “It’s not going to be the same OSR population,” corrections spokesman Jerry Massie says. The DOC is banking on more mature, better-behaved inmates easing the prospects for trouble at the prison, which holds about 800 inmates. It’s an interesting idea, one borne out of necessity because the prison, like all of them in the system, needs more security guards. With 55 officers, OSR is only at 48 percent of its budgeted staffing level. Finding men and women who want to do the work is one challenge, keeping them is another. Massie says the prison hired 28 officers during fiscal 2012 but lost 36 — many to higher-paying jobs in the oil fields. Wardens at prisons across the state could share similar stories. Read More. |
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