Prison violence on the rise

ON AUG. 23, 2003, a 37-year-old prisoner strangled fellow inmate and former priest John Geoghan to death. Since the correction system was unable to protect this high-profile inmate, people began to wonder how many others were being failed behind prison walls. The incident brought to light growing concerns over inmate security and staffing levels. Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Massachusetts, where Geoghan was killed, is only one example of an ongoing problem that local jails, state and Federal prisons, and juvenile detention centers are lacing. These facilities are overcrowded and understaffed, causing safety concerns not only for inmates, but for those employed to supervise the convicted offenders. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that there are more than 2,166,260 Americans housed in correctional facilities.

The U.S. has the largest incarceration rate in the world and many experts believe that this is the result of the "get tough" sentencing laws of the 1990s. Correctional facilities now are filled with nonviolent repeat offenders and drug addicts. These laws were passed during a time when funds were available to build more jails and prisons and money could be used to hire additional officers to oversee the increasing inmate population. These resources no longer exist. States are looking at combined deficits of more than $75,000,000,000 and jails and prisons are filled to capacity, or close to it. Seventeen states recently reported increases of at least five percent in inmate population, with Maine up 11.5% and Rhode Island 8.6%.

While inmate populations continue to grow, staffing levels in most facilities either have stagnated or decreased. Oftentimes, the first to be hit by cutbacks are the men and women employed to supervise inmates. This means that, as the inmate population multiplies, there is less staff" on hand to supervise those placed in the system's care.

In the last formal report of the jail system conducted by the Bureau of Justice, the ratio of inmates per correction officer jumped from 2.9 to 4.3. The ratio of inmates per correction officer in state and Federal correctional facilities rose from 4.6 to 4.8.

State and Federal correctional facilities report a 27% increase in inmate-on-inmate assaults and a 32% rise in inmate-on-staff attacks. This data coincides with reports that facilities are filled beyond capacity. In fact, it is reported that state prisons are operating between one and 16% above capacity, while Federal prisons are at 31%.

It has been easy to overlook the increase of crime inside correctional facilities because of a focus on the decreasing national crime rates on the street. When these lawbreakers are arrested, they bring their criminality inside prison walls. A perfect example is New York City's Rikers Island--the world's largest penal colony--which faces the dilemma of too many inmates and not enough correction officers. Since the layoff; of 2003, crime inside the jail has risen 20% and the suicide rates of inmates have increased dramatically.

Politicians boast that they are keeping the streets safer than ever, which logically follows since more offenders are being placed behind bars. Taking criminals off the streets should be a priority, but placing lawbreakers inside facilities that are lacking the staff necessary to maintain proper safety puts hundreds of civilian employees, such as doctors, nurses, and counselors--as well as inmates--at risk on a daily basis.

Some states have tried to combat this problem by reducing inmate populations. Michigan has halted mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. Texas and Washington have eased their sentencing laws and several states, including Kansas and California, have new legislation requiring drag treatment rather than prison time for nonviolent offenses. Other facilities are taking a different tack. Several are implementing harsher punishments. Officers are able to use pepper spray if an inmate poses a threat and they have the fight to handcuff dangerous prisoners to nylon tubes. Guards also may debilitate an inmate with an electronic stun shield, which injects enough electricity to incapacitate an individual for 30 seconds. The Body Orifice Scanning System (BOSS) also may be employed, making it almost impossible to conceal weapons. San Francisco jails use a screening process to sort out violent, aggressive inmates. They then place the prisoners with records for violence in separate areas.

In addition, many jails and prisons use an inmate-classification system to determine suicidal tendencies. Some have updated their suicide training, while the majority have unstable prisoners on suicide watch. In New York City, where inmate suicide has skyrocketed, the Commissioner of Correction is requiring selected prisoners to wear "suicide smocks"--special one-piece garments that cannot be made into nooses. He also has sought to monitor inmate telephone conversations without approval as a way of increasing safety.