Corrections officers at three Upper Peninsula prisons are planning informational pickets this week to draw attention to staffing shortages they said have created unsafe working conditions across the state.
The pickets come nearly a month after the corrections officers’ union unsuccessfully made a formal request to the Democratic administration of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for the deployment of the Michigan National Guard to help with the staffing shortages.
Since then, the union has been sending out weekly updates on conditions within the prisons that include incidents of inmates throwing bodily fluids at officers, lockdowns, repeated fights among inmates and the confiscation of contraband cellphones and weapons.
Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington last week sent a memo to staff outlining some measures the department planned to take to mitigate the shortages, and the department this past week threw its support behind a new bill that would waive education requirements for corrections officers.
At least four Upper Peninsula lawmakers — three Republicans and one Democrat — will participate in the pickets this week that are set to take place near the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kincheloe Monday, the Baraga Correctional Facility in Baraga Tuesday and the Marquette Branch Prison in Marquette on Wednesday.
The Marquette Branch Prison will be among three Upper Peninsula facilities where corrections officers are planning informational pickets to draw attention to staffing shortages they said have created unsafe working conditions across the state.
Staffing shortages have been plaguing Michigan prisons for nearly eight years and the department has failed repeatedly to resolve the problem, said Sen. Ed McBroom, a Vulcan Republican who plans to attend the Marquette picket. The situation is “more urgent now than it’s ever been” with officers working repeated mandatory overtime, he said.
“They’re ruining their family lives,” McBroom said. “They’re ruining their families. And we are not being a good faith employer of them.”
McBroom argued the department needs to do immediate “triage” to increase ranks across the state, hike pay to compete with surrounding states, and offer better retiree health care and pension benefits.
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“The department doesn’t seem to want to admit that there is a serious problem,” McBroom said.
In an Aug. 5 letter to the corrections officers union, the Department of Corrections said some of the information presented has painted “an inaccurate and incomplete picture of staffing levels and conditions.” The department has invested roughly $55 million in recruitment and retention bonuses and has been consolidating operations in some locations, including the closure of “multiple units” at the Baraga and Marquette facilities to free up staff, the letter said.
“As we have expressed to the Michigan Corrections Organization before, we look forward to working with them as we tackle these tough issues, as we value their partnership in helping to find solutions to our common challenges,” said Jenni Riehle, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Corrections.
‘People are exhausted’
State Rep. Jenn Hill, D-Marquette, said she’s heard from residents about the staffing issues since she started knocking on doors while running for the House in 2022. Last week, she said she talked to recruiters at the Alger and Baraga county fairs and toured the Baraga prison.
“I have been hearing firsthand from my constituents, people are being asked to work 16-hour shifts again and again and again,” Hill said. “People are exhausted. You can’t make any plans.”
State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, standing, talks to other senators on June 30, 2021. McBroom said the lives of prison guards and their families are being ruined by constant mandatory overtime because of staffing shortages. “And we are not being a good faith employer of them,” McBroom said.
State Reps. David Prestin, R-Cedar River, and Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock, also planned to join the pickets in Kinceloe and Baraga, respectively.
The SEIU Local 526M-Michigan Corrections Organization last month unsuccessfully lobbied the governor for the deployment of the Michigan National Guard, arguing the issue had been plaguing state prisons for several years and had reached a breaking point.
The Department of Corrections’ roughly 5,500 corrections officers oversee the imprisonment of nearly 33,000 felons across 26 facilities. The union said in July that nearly half of the 26 facilities in Michigan have vacancy rates over 20%, and the rate is over 30% for five facilities.
The Department of Corrections told lawmakers in a report this year that it had recruited and hired more than 400 non-custody staff and 861 new corrections officers in fiscal year 2023, but the department also saw a total of 1,167 departures during that same time period.
Over the past three weeks, the Michigan Corrections Organization has sent out a weekly newsletter with a rundown of July incidents at the Kincheloe, Marquette and Jackson prisons.
In Marquette, which has been highlighted as one of the more stressed operations, officers documented incidents of prisoners throwing an “unknown liquid” through cell bars at officers, including the warden and deputy warden, and what was confirmed to be “bodily fluid” in another incident, according to a statement from the union.
During July, officers broke up nearly 20 prison fights, including through the launching of pepper balls and chemical agents and by shooting a warning shot with a rifle in the yard, the statement said.
“The warning shot had no effect on the prisoners and the fight turned into an assault,” the report released in late July said. “Officers responded to stop the incident and restrain the prisoners.”
The vacancy rate at Marquette, the report said, is at 33%, resulting in roughly 785 overtime shifts worked by corrections officers and 88 violations of a department policy that prevents more than 32 consecutive hours of overtime. Additionally, during the July 1-28 period documented, there were 519 “closed” officer positions, meaning there weren’t officers stationed at a required post at the prison.
At Jackson’s G. Robert Cotton Correction Facility during July, the vacancy rate was up to 36% and, at Kincheloe’s Chippewa Correctional Facility, the vacancy rate was at 27% in July, according to union statements.
Traveling staff units mulled
In a memo to employees Aug. 12, Washington told staff that the Department of Corrections is researching the possibility of “permanent traveling units of staff” to help at the most desperate facilities and continues to send volunteers to help at some branches, including 50 who were sent earlier this month to the Marquette Branch Prison.
Washington said the department has been recruiting at job fairs across the state and is researching what barriers to employment are impeding recruitment efforts, including housing, child care or economic opportunity elsewhere.
“We recognize the sacrifices you make to ensure our facilities remain operational while we continue to address staff vacancies,” Washington said in the memo. “We know that the more you are required to work, the less time you have to spend in your communities, and more importantly, with your families.”
On Thursday the department put out a call for action on legislation introduced by Hill earlier that day, which would remove a requirement for recruits to have at least 15 college credit hours to work as an officer. The requirement is in addition to the 16 weeks of training required of recruits.
A waiver has allowed officers to be signed if they agree to complete the credits within two years of hire. More than half of Michigan’s new recruits have taken advantage of the waiver, but some have lost their positions because they hadn’t completed the credits within two years, Washington said.
“Removing prerequisite limitations on our recruitment pool to focus on hands-on training is one of many key department initiatives to improve staffing levels and reduce overtime at facilities across the state,” she said in a statement.
McBroom expressed frustration with the bill introduction and department support, arguing it amounted to an election year “cover” that wouldn’t make a dent in long-term problems related to pay and benefits at the prisons. Democrats hold a 56-54 majority in the House.
“It’s just foolish not to be remedying this issue in an urgent fashion,” McBroom said.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
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