Arizona Prison Unions remain Quiet about Assaults

Arizona Prison Unions remain Quiet about Assaults

 

One has to wonder why the prison unions remain silent as one of their own received a near fatal beating at the hands of two violent inmates in the Kaibab Unit in Winslow. Not a word has been said by the leadership of the union that represents the majority of Arizona correctional officers as they face what is a most difficult task under very severe staffing conditions.

The union has not yet met with media or other sources to address this violent trend inside Arizona prisons as they fail to publicly denounce the current practices of putting staff in harm’s way by short staffing them at every essential post inside their prisons.

The union relies on the DOC’s investigative units to reveal what went wrong last Friday afternoon when an officer was nearly beat to death. Hospitalized and suffering from serious injuries she was luckily rescued by her fellow officers that responded just in time from giving the inmates the opportunity to kick, hit and stomp her to death. 

Because no weapons were involved, the likelihood of charges being filed are slim but if they do, it is  likely not to be prosecuted as the record is weak on such follow up actions by county attorneys who review such cases. In fact the chances of filing and getting a conviction stands about at less than a 33 per cent change of happening.

Arizona prison officials need to be sensitive to the safety concerns of staff working there. They need to address the daily shortages that puts their officers in harm’s way whenever they try to do their job and enforce the rules. Shortages impact many things; they reduce the findings of contraband due to less searches, they reduce vigilance of compliance of institutional rules and regulations and they put staff at risk because the number of officers that can respond to an emergency has been severely reduced.

Secondary, the public should be aware and concerned as well as a shortage of staff impact community safety as well. There are many officers assigned to community hospital rooms watching convicted felons at reduced staffing patterns by combining supervision of inmates even when they are not assigned to a bed together in the same room. Sometimes this entails different wings or floors as bed space is not always available side by side.

Out of facility transports are being done by officers fatigued by overtime or lack of training in such specialized duties. The fact is that whenever there is a need for an emergency transport, they find the first available officers and send them on their way without checking their certification cards or knowing their skill levels and training proficiency as they hurry the process to avoid a delay and be criticized for not doing it fast enough by administration that quarterback their arrangements the next day.

Today, violence has escalated exponentially and is out of control. The DOC’s solution to the problem is to move the inmates to a higher custody level after they attacked someone. Some have been moved out of state but regardless, nothing is being done about the rising trend of violence on staff.

This violence trend leaves the prisons tense and consequences of being targeted are higher now than ever before as there are less officers on the floor to watch these felons on what their home turf is and where their rules supersede those of the administration and officers assigned.

 

This creates a conflict that most often results in a confrontation as the seizure of contraband and other violations lead to personal conflicts at staff doing their jobs. A job that is covered under the terms of their union agreement with management that reasonable and practical work conditions should exist to keep staff safe and at less risk than what they are experiencing today.

Is it reasonable to expect some sort of backlash from the system for speaking out on staff safety? I am certain there is. Backlashes are common reactions to criticism as it is designed to discredit the one doing the criticizing as speaking out on dangerous workplace issues is not tolerated and viewed disloyal to the system that hired them.

It is predictable that most employees of the estimated 10,000 correctional officers will remain silent as will their union leadership for they have proven that in the past. They may silently or covertly encourage documenting workplace deficiencies but in a whole will not cause an uproar or argument over these dangerous conditions that exist statewide.

Never mind that staff are getting hurt and maimed on the job; never mind that medical costs are rising and creating a higher expense for the state and never mind that the inmates go unpunished for their misdeeds while incarcerated. It is all tolerable in the name of silence. .

A few years ago, the union took a membership poll and found they had no confidence in the DOC leadership and while nothing has changed for the good, nobody is concerned that work conditions have worsen and violence has risen to the point that an officer can expect to be assaulted once every three days in the year and more to come. I guess it’s fair to say that this is a tolerable number of assaults for the union as it remains quiet.