March 3, 2011 in City

Corrections center staff fear budget cuts will reduce safety

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Airway Heights corrections officer Jeff Rude waves to passing motorists Wednesday during a Teamsters Local Union 117 informational picket in Airway Heights. State prison workers are demanding immediate steps to improve staff safety.
(Full-size photo)

A cold, damp picket line of state prison guards asked for safety and respect Wednesday in Airway Heights.

The pickets got an occasional car-honk salute as they called attention to staffing cuts at the Airway Heights Corrections Center.

“They’re putting us at risk,” corrections officer Jeff Rude said.

State Prisons Director Bernie Warner acknowledged that a 6.3 percent budget cut caused “some difficult reductions” in support programs that may affect safety.

However, Warner said cuts in the corrections staff were “very, very small.”

With each corrections officer overseeing 126 inmates, there was little room for cuts except in programs aimed at reforming inmates and keeping them occupied, Warner said.

He said the Legislature recently passed a supplemental budget that will soften some of the cuts, and more relief is expected in the biennium that starts July 1.

Rude was among eight Teamsters Union informational pickets at the corner of U.S. Highway 2 and Lawson Street, about three miles from the corrections center.

They and other Teamsters Union members at prisons around the state waved signs calling for “Safety, Dignity and Respect” and pointing out that corrections officers do dangerous work for the public good.

“We’re no different from law enforcement on the street except we don’t carry weapons,” Rude said. “Our only defense is our professionalism – the way we work with inmates.”

He has been a corrections officer nearly 12 years, including eight at Airway Heights.

According to a Teamsters news release, union concerns include inadequate video surveillance, large numbers of officers working alone, a flawed offender classification system and management failure to take safety complaints seriously.

State Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail said in a news release that state prison officials are “working closely with the National Institute of Corrections to find additional steps we can take to ensure the safety of our staff members.”

Warner said there has been “a significant effort to communicate with staff,” but there are about 6,000 employees in 13 prisons. Managers don’t want to delay “quick-fix” safety improvements with too much conversation, Warner said.

Wednesday’s daylong picketing was planned before a guard was stabbed in the head with a pen Tuesday evening at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

The unnamed officer suffered puncture wounds to the face and a dislocated shoulder, and two others who came to his aid suffered minor injuries.

In addition to staff cuts, the picketing was in response to the Jan. 29 strangulation death of corrections officer Jayme Biendl at the Monroe Correctional Complex.

Rude said Airway Heights officers frequently face dangerous situations. On Friday, he suffered a puncture wound from a homemade needle hidden in a sock in a locker he was searching.

The needle’s owner probably had used it for tattooing, but it also could have been used as a weapon, Rude said.

“It’s a hazard we deal with on a daily basis,” he said.

Rude said he has “a little bit of anxiety” as he waits for tests to determine whether he was exposed to any contagion.

Rude believes violence is on the rise among Airway Heights inmates.

“Whenever inmates fight each other, it’s inevitable that some staff member is going to get in the middle,” he said.

Warner said there was a 30 percent reduction in serious assaults in state prisons in the past three years, to 43. “But the number should be zero.”

He and Rude agreed that elimination of recreation and education staff positions is a step in the wrong direction. However, Warner said superintendents have been directed to “think a little bit differently” and save as many programs as possible.

Rude said many recreation staff members were laid off Tuesday and several programs, such as music and the hobby shop, were cut.

“They give the inmates something to do,” he said. “When the inmates get bored, violence ensues.”

Warner agreed: “Idleness is our enemy.”

Vail praised the pickets for “their willingness to bring this important issue to the public’s attention.”

Four comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  SpokaneLiberal on March 03 at 10:49 a.m.

  Where is the money going to come from? If you ask me if I would rather have music and shop in a high school or a prison I choose a high school. Voters have said no to takes and that means cuts. If you cut from education then more people end up in prisons. If you cut from police it is hard to get the bad guys. If you cut from prisons violence ensues. All are bad choices, how about for idleness we get them to make videos like the Chinese prison that did Thriller. That might even generate revenue. Or make more goods. Offset their cost to society.

• 

  woamike on March 03 at 11:45 a.m.

  Where’s the money going to come from? How about ELIMINATING many of the ridiculous state government agencies, consolidating agencies with overlaping responsiblities and drastically cutting others that have grown to big for their briches (sp?).

  Go to the WA state government website (access.wa.gov) and click on the “Agencies” link for a real eye opener. Some of the crap we spend money on will make you want to hurl. I’d get rid of 25% of them for starters without blinking an eye or looking back.

  Also, this CONSERVATIVE agrees w/ SpokaneLiberal when it comes to prisoners earning their keep. No work, No eat. “Prison Labor” to produce goods and services - of course. Properly convicted and incarcerated people SHOULD earn their keep, just like the rest of us… except the slackers on the public dole, that is. Note: “slackers”, does not include those who cannot take care of themselves and have a legitimate claim on public assistance.

  We need to change our minset regarding “prison labor”. “Prison labor” is NOT slave labor. It’s people working for their daily bread just like the rest of us. If done properly, prisons should practically pay for themselves. As a minimum, their burden to society would be greatly decreased. Why should inmates get to live (such as it is) for free?

• 

  SpokaneLiberal on March 03 at 4:26 p.m.

  I just reviewed the budget expenditure report for the biennium. I came to a shocking realization. Almost every state agency UNDERSPENT what they were allocated by the state. There was only one state area (other than “special projects”) that overshot their allocation - higher education.

  Within higher education they overspent their budget by 4.7 billion dollars. That is more than the whole budget gap. Of that 3.7 billion of it was overspent by the University of Washington.

  In other words, based upon the budget if UW would have simply stayed within their budget (or even close to it) we would have had a state budget SURPLUS. Every other college at least stayed close but UW went almost 4 billion over. Normally I support public education and public colleges but someone at UWs head needs to roll… .

  http://fiscal.wa.gov/FRViewer.aspx?Rpt=Monthly%20Monitoring%20Expenditure%20Statewide%20Summary

• 

  D Statler on March 03 at 8:54 p.m.

  I have personally witnessed the professionalism excersized by the staffs at two of our state prisons. These state employees are the very best we have. We the public need to strive for the best leadership from DOC to compliment our excellent local staff. It sounds like we can make numerous changes at the top levels to enhance worker safety without costing valuable programs.We really should have public work crews(inmates) available to private contractors that bid on public projects.There are plenty of ways we could get a return on our investment in state prisons. There are plenty of low risk inmates more than willing to learn these trades.We just need more innovative leadership from DOC.
  I would also say from experience that most of the DOC probation officers are a waist of money also. If they spent half as much time trying to get these guys jobs as they do trying to put them back in jail.We might actually see a benefit from their positions also. Their whole mentality needs to be changed.
  I would finish by thanking the guards at Airway Heights Corrections Center for their dilligence and respectfulness. Your actions make the facility and our State a better place!