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| Union says D.C. jail needs more staff for safety |
| By washingtontimes.com - Andrea Noble |
| Published: 09/21/2012 |
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Corrections officers working at a D.C. jail facility worry about their safety on a daily basis due to a lack of adequate staffing after recent layoffs, employees testified Thursday at a D.C. Council hearing on the facility’s management. Corrections Corporation of America has run the District’s Correctional Treatment Facility since it took over operations from the District in 1997, but workers said problems that include faulty radios, inadequate staffing and high levels of contraband found inside the jail have been exacerbated since 77 employees — approximately one-third of the workforce — were laid off in April. “They are putting us in danger as well as the inmates,” said Dana Bushrod, a corrections officer of 10 years and leader with the union that represents employees at the facility. Ms. Bushrod went on to describe how units at the medium security facility, which is run separately from the higher security D.C. Jail that is still overseen by the District, are now commonly staffed with one corrections officer when they should be overseen by two or three officers. “We have a mental health unit that should have three staff members but have had one,” Ms. Bushrod said. “We have had an incident where an officer was attacked because she was by herself and a mental health patient attacked her and another mental health inmate had to help her.” Faulty radios and telephones also often leave officers without a way to communicate with staff in other units, she said. Read More. |
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