Prison violence on the rise.

• Author: Seabrook, Norman
• Position: Law & Justice

ON AUG. 23, 2003, a 37-year-old prisoner strangled fellow inmate and former priest John Geoghan to death. Since the correction system was unable to protect this high-profile inmate, people began to wonder how many others were being failed behind prison walls. The incident brought to light growing concerns over inmate security and staffing levels. Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Massachusetts, where Geoghan was killed, is only one example of an ongoing problem that local jails, state and Federal prisons, and juvenile detention centers are lacing. These facilities are overcrowded and understaffed, causing safety concerns not only for inmates, but for those employed to supervise the convicted offenders. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that there are more than 2,166,260 Americans housed in correctional facilities.

The U.S. has the largest incarceration rate in the world and many experts believe that this is the result of the "get tough" sentencing laws of the 1990s. Correctional facilities now are filled with nonviolent repeat offenders and drug addicts. These laws were passed during a time when funds were available to build more jails and prisons and money could be used to hire additional officers to oversee the increasing inmate population. These resources no longer exist. States are looking at combined deficits of more than $75,000,000,000 and jails and prisons are filled to capacity, or close to it. Seventeen states recently reported increases of at least five percent in inmate population, with Maine up 11.5% and Rhode Island 8.6%.

While inmate populations continue to grow, staffing levels in most facilities either have stagnated or decreased. Oftentimes, the first to be hit by cutbacks are the men and women employed to supervise inmates. This means that, as the inmate population multiplies, there is less staff" on hand to supervise those placed in the system's care.

In the last formal report of the jail system conducted by the Bureau of Justice, the ratio of inmates per correction officer jumped from 2.9 to 4.3. The ratio of inmates per correction officer in state and Federal correctional facilities rose from 4.6 to 4.8.

State and Federal correctional facilities report a 27% increase in inmate-on-inmate assaults and a 32% rise in inmate-on-staff attacks. This data coincides with reports that facilities are filled beyond capacity. In fact, it is reported that state prisons are operating between one and 16% above capacity...