Staff shortages in Maryland prisons put inmates at risk

Although Maryland's prison system has worked to improve its facilities over the past two years, staffing shortages across the state are putting inmates and employees at risk, according to a statement from the correctional officers union.

“Despite all their work and hiring, every day correctional officers retire or leave the job because it is so dangerous and they can't stand it,” said Stuart Katzenberg, collective bargaining director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Maryland Council 3.

Last year, the union released a report finding the need for more than 3,400 additional officers to efficiently run the state's prisons – a number slightly higher than an independent analysis by a public safety consulting firm. Katzenberg said Friday that while the number is now at 1,000 employees, more needs to be done.

Aside from the violence, the prison system also struggles to meet the needs of inmates. Without guards to secure the various areas, vocational training programs are being halted, while visits, educational activities and recreation are being compromised, according to the AFSCME audit.

The problem is likely to get worse, Katzenberg said, as the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Corrections is already working on projects, including a women's release center and the $1 billion Baltimore Therapeutic Treatment Center, which is expected to have 800 beds.

“Staff shortages lead to poor outcomes… it has a direct impact on the inmates and then on our members,” Katzenberg said.

To make up for staffing shortages, prison administrators regularly schedule overtime for their officers, which the union says makes a dangerous job even more dangerous. Statewide, correctional officers are paid nearly $180 million a year in overtime, Katzenberg said, which is equivalent to about 2,500 full-time positions.

Staff working double shifts struggle to manage their personal and health needs, Katzenberg said, and inmates may “take advantage” of the exhaustion at work.

The negotiator said the union is waiting for data from DPSCS officials documenting the officers' injuries.

Nevertheless, the number of new crimes involving prison inmates continues to rise.

Anne Arundel County Public Defender Anne Stewart-Hill said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, she has noticed an increasing number of assault and smuggling cases coming out of Jessup Correctional Institution. Even if a defendant lived in another county before serving his sentence, because the facility is in Jessup, he would only be eligible for an Anne Arundel County public defender.

On Tuesday, one of her clients who is incarcerated at the facility pleaded guilty to first-degree assault after attacking another inmate last year. The victim's injuries did not require serious medical attention, she said, and they were not reported. It was only when correctional officers noticed the inmate bleeding that they began investigating, charging documents show.