Last summer, detainees and medical workers at six prisons in Maricopa County sounded the alarm. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, prisons have faced severe staffing shortages, and more and more people are being incarcerated.
But despite signing bonuses and recruiting efforts last year, county jail staff shortages are even more acute, with the vacancy rate for detainees approaching 40%.
Before the pandemic, there were just a few dozen vacancies in county jails. According to Sheriff Paul Penzone. However, by the summer of 2022, the vacancy rate for prison officers reached 28%. In December, it was 33%.
Only 1,171 of the 1,895 budget slots for detainees were filled in June, with a vacancy rate of about 38 percent, according to figures provided by Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Calvert Gillette.
A June 2022 report in the Phoenix New Times indicated that severe staffing shortages contributed to severe medical inadequacies throughout the prison. Additional reports found prison lockdowns due to staffing shortages left medical positions vacant. County jails are administered by the sheriff’s office, but medical and other services are provided by other county departments.
“Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to operate the academy or recruit staff, and many people decided that the environment was not healthy for them or their families, and chose to resign,” Penzone said. KTAR in April.
However, at the height of the pandemic, the number of people in prisons fell, with about 6,200 in November 2020. That number had risen to 7,182 as of July 6, according to MCSO spokeswoman Norma Gutierrez-Deorta.
‘serious threat’
Staffing shortages are a serious concern, according to detainees, including Benjamin Fisk, who heads the Maricopa County Law Enforcement Association.
“As president of the Maricopa County Law Enforcement Association, I can confidently say that staffing shortages are having a significant impact on our ability to maintain safety and security inside our prisons,” Fisk wrote in an email to The New Times.
The association said, “We urgently called on the Penzone Sheriff and the County to take action to address the prison staffing shortage. We believe the staffing shortage poses a serious threat to the safety and well-being of our inmates and staff, and cannot wait for a crisis to act.”
Another detention officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said the shortage was putting a heavy strain on staff. “Physical exhaustion and compassion exhaustion, wanting to do nothing but the bare minimum to avoid being fired, having no police officer to back you up, it’s obvious that your safety is threatened if something happens…” the officer said. “It goes without saying that a lockdown that lasts for days must be a violation of civil rights.”
When the shortage of staff reaches a breaking point in a particular prison, it will force a “security override”.according to prison protocolThis override allows officials to “deny, restrict, or withhold certain privileges or delay access to individual rights from groups of inmates.”
In effect, these overrides simply “lock” [people incarcerated in the jails] He was kept in solitary confinement for the entire shift,” said a sheriff’s office official familiar with the protocol.
“Visits and even routine medical care could be curtailed,” the official continued.
Sheriff’s Office policy indicates that deactivation should only occur as a result of “extraordinary circumstances.” However, according to multiple sources within the agency and prison records, such practices are becoming increasingly common as a result of understaffing.
One recent report obtained by The New Times provided a snapshot of a day at an understaffed prison, in this case Lower Buckeye Prison, which has about 2,400 beds. Of the 48 “critical” positions, 22 were vacant, according to a June 29 report.
“Levels 1, 2 and 3 had no more than two floor staff, so security was prioritized due to understaffing,” the report said.
In response to a question about the staffing shortage, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Monica Bretado said the sheriff’s office has “a variety of tools that it uses to keep the MCSO’s work focused,” including holding job fairs and other community events.
A recent shift summary obtained by The New Times shows the impact of ongoing staff vacancies within prisons.
New Times Source
Prison health services continue to be understaffed
Staffing vacancies in Correctional Health Services, the county department responsible for medical care in prisons, are beginning to improve compared to county jails, where staffing shortages have worsened over the past two years.
Last year, CHS had a vacancy rate of 23% as auditors revealed serious medical deficiencies in prison. The vacancy rate remains at 22% this year with the addition of 24 new positions. Maricopa County Public Affairs Director Fields Moseley said that without the new positions, that percentage would be about 18%.
But vacancy rates for nurses, a key component of prison correctional health systems, are even higher. According to figures provided by Moseley, the vacancy rate for registered prison nurses is 27.7%, while the vacancy rate for vocational nurses (LPNs) is much higher at 46.5%.
“CHS has hosted monthly on-site recruitment events for nursing professionals over the past year, which has helped with recruitment efforts,” Moseley said. “These events and efforts by the HR department to approach new graduates have resulted in a steady flow of applications.”
