The Michigan Corrections Organization, the union representing corrections officers at state prisons, has released a report decrying violent incidents at the St Louis Correctional Facility. The union says the mid-Michigan facility saw several fights and assaults in July.
There were 15 assaults on staff and another 25 on prisoners at the facility in July, the report reads. There was an incident on on July 14 where the facility was shut down because of a fight involving 12 prisoners where weapons were found.
"It's no way to live. It's not a professional job at that point,” said Joseph Von Buskirk, a corrections officer at the St. Louis facility who has been a corrections officer for 24 years. Drugs and fighting are a constant problem, the prison is overcrowded and officers are working long mandated overtime hours in unsafe conditions, he said.
"It takes the morale and just puts it right in the toilet," Von Buskirk continued. "Officers are miserable. I've never seen so many officers that want to quit. It's the morale is just in the dumps due to the overtime, due to the standards in prison these days."
The report added that the facility does not have enough bedding to separate level five maximum security prisoners from the general population.
“It is just a matter of time before corrections officers face more serious incidents, and the lid blows off one or more of these prisons,” the report says.
The new report comes after the union highlighted violence at the Chippewa Correctional Facility in the eastern Upper Peninsula.
Von Buskirk said that the St. Louis facility has prisoners using drugs and violent incidents have occurred from bad drug deals within the prison. “We're short on nurses, we're short on responders. So, we have a lot of inmates that are overdosing on a regular basis,” he added.
The union is advocating for a bill in the Michigan legislature that would expand pensions for corrections officers. It passed last year but wasn't sent to the governor's desk before the end of the legislative session by then Speaker of the House Joe Tate (D-Detroit) along with eight other bills.
Current House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) has not sent the bills to the governor. Senate Democrats are suing the House Republicans in a bid to get the bills sent through.
Increasingly difficult environments where officers are often insulted, and the lack of competitive pension and health benefits has officers leaving, Von Buskirk says.
“If they have their vested 401K, they can take that and move on to their next employment and roll that with them,” he said.
Some advocates say that expanding mental health services for prisoners would help make the overall environment in state prisons safer.
Hakim Crampton is with Citizens for Prison Reform, who advocate for expanding of mental health treatment services for convicts.
“We have to address the fact that people in prison need and deserve treatment services so that when they do rejoin society after 10, 15, 20 years that they are better people,” he said. “It would create a better, more relaxed environment for correction guards to actually work within.”
Von Buskirk says that, while the St. Louis facility has seen an increasing number of suicide attempts, they have increased staffing for mental health services. “I think that we've really stepped up on that avenue and a lot of other avenues we haven't really stepped up on.” he said.
Ultimately, Von Buskirk said he’s one of the officers reconsidering their future.
“At any given day, I'm looking for another opportunity. I personally would love to do another seven to eight more years, but I don't think I have it in me. I don't think it's safe enough for me,” he said. “It's just such a negative environment and what we see every day is not worth the paycheck at this point.”
In a statement, a spokesperson from the Michigan Department of Corrections said they are “committed to the safety and security of our facilities, officers, and those under our supervision.” They commended their officers for the work they're doing and added that the majority of interactions are peaceful.
“We continue robust efforts to reduce criminal activities in prisons across the state by conducting wide-ranging intelligence activities, comprehensive training, and implementing new security technologies,” the statement continued. “The facility currently has an officer vacancy rate of 6.9% - one of the lowest in the state.”
