* Note that this is a projected increase and not yet an actual increase…
The union representing corrections officers says inmate attacks on state employees have increased 51 percent since 2015.
Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 said Thursday that assaults increased from 541 in the 2015 calendar year to a projected 819.
AFSCME says the Illinois Department of Corrections is reclassifying violent inmates to lower security levels to save money. Those inmates are transferred to medium-security prisons which are less costly to run.
* The department counts the numbers differently…
Corrections acknowledged an increase in staff assaults from 2015 to 2017, but put the number at a 34 percent increase, not a 51 percent increase. The department counts assaults by fiscal year which runs from July 1 to June 30. AFSCME based its numbers on calendar year figures. For 2017, the union compiled the number of assaults reported so far this year and extended it to the end of the year.
Corrections also said that more than half of the staff assaults at state prisons involved inmates throwing a “liquid substance” at staff. It said that since 2000, the department has averaged about 1,282 staff injuries per year. That number dropped to 907 in the 2017 fiscal year that ended in June.
[AFSCME executive director Roberta Lynch] also said inmates are being reclassified for their security threat which has resulted in inmates convicted of violent crimes being moved from maximum security prisons to medium and minimum facilities. She said the reclassifications are being made by Corrections’ management without consulting staff who actually deal with the inmates. […]
Lower security prisons have lower staffing requirements and cost less to operate, she said.
However you count it, even a 34 percent increase is still a lot. And “liquid substance” can include, um, bodily excretions.
* The explanation…
“Is it because … prisons with lower security levels have lower staffing levels and cost less to operate and that far too little attention is paid to the human cost of increasing violence against staff?” Lynch asked […]
Illinois Department of Corrections Director John Baldwin, meeting later with reporters, rejected AFSCME declarations that management “doesn’t care” and dismissed the AFSCME’s claims of “budget-driven security re-classification.”
He said the department is changing its classification system for inmates to replace a 30-year-old model, acknowledging that “we have a lot of population in the wrong place.” […]
Seven in 10 assaults are perpetrated by mentally ill inmates, Baldwin said. Key to reducing those, he said, is training approved by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which all department employees have had, in dealing with sometimes uncertain responses and reactions associated with mental illness.
We have a mental health crisis in this country and we’re making prisons and jails deal with it.
* More…
Baldwin says the department’s staffing level has grown by 11 percent over the past three fiscal years.
He also says some increase in assaults is expected as Illinois changes the way it deals with inmates who have mental illness, but that based on the experience in other states, the trend will improve over time. The state has agreed to improve treatment of inmates with mental health disorders in order to settle a lawsuit.
- JS Mill - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 12:20 pm:
=We have a mental health crisis in this country and we’re making prisons and jails deal with it.=
And schools, and police departments I might add.
- Dude Abides - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 12:35 pm:
The bigger issue is the fact that we do have a mental health crisis and that these inmates with mental illness will we back on the street someday. God forbid if some of them commit gun violence but if they do there will be another discussion on gun control and not the bigger issue, which is failure to deal with the mental illness problem.
- Da Big Bad Wolf - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 12:36 pm:
==Baldwin ..says some increase in assaults is expected as Illinois changes the way it deals with inmates who have mental illness but ..the trend will improve over time.==
That’s nice to know if you’re a prison guard. So there is no way the guards can be protected now? Will the trend improve before or after the Janus tsunami?
- Last Bull Moose - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 12:42 pm:
Back in my youth they emptied the mental health centers. These people are ok if on their meds, but don’t stay on them.
Is there a way to revisit this? I then think it was a court order that changed practice. With more knowledge and different technology, we should be able to do better.
- Fixer - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 12:55 pm:
What Director Baldwin fails to mention for context on this subject is that the staffing increase is also due to that lawsuit. And not all of those new employees are security staff. Lots of new mental health types in these facilities.
And Rich, you are spot on. Mental health treatment is not what IDOC was designed for. Not even close.
- Anon - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 12:58 pm:
Contact state OSHA at Illinois Department of Labor…but I bet rauner ripped apart that too like every other regulatory agency that has lost nearly all its employees with no replacements.
He simply doesn’t care about public sector enployees
- DuPage Saint - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 1:28 pm:
I always believed changing the mental health laws about involuntary commitment was a liberal/conservative dream come true. ACLU wanted no commitment or at least “least restricted environment ” and conservatives did not want to pay for incarceration. So both sides happy and now people sleeping in viaducts or prison
- crazybleedingheart - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 1:36 pm:
The fact that conservatives won’t pay for basic social services does not make “both sides happy,” but I’m sure it feels better to position oneself as a reasonable moderate when calling for a return to asylums.
- Anon - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 1:47 pm:
This is a problem through out our society. The majority of individuals never get the help they need starting from birth. Most do not have access to mental health care. While in school those with behavior problems are shipped off to an alternative school that does nothing other than provide a secured setting with the goal to remove the problem from a “Normal School”. These individuals than turn to drugs to cope, catch a drug charge and are shipped off to another secured setting without getting the proper mental health. Get released from prison and are forever marked with a felony which is a high wall to overcome for anyone, especially those who have behavioral issues.
Until we start addressing the mental health issues in this country nothing will change.
- Duke of Normandy - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 1:51 pm:
Is there any wonder the average age at which correctional employees die is 59? The PTSD rates for staff are in the same neighborhood as firemen too. It’s a tough job, to be sure. It’s also worth noting that not all AFSCME members are desk-jockeys. They’re the people that are forced to deal with this kind of thing every day.
- DuPage Saint - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 1:59 pm:
Bleedingheart: I was being a tad facetious or snarky in my response. The truth is both the left and right got what they wanted and hurt the people that needed it most. Return to an asylum, actually group homes with some tyoe of court ordered mandatory and freqeuntly reviewd treatment might not be a bad idea. How about orphanages or shelters for women and children on a temporary basis. Something should be done. Cut them loose become failure to appear for trespassing, minor crime or drugs and sleep outside is not exactly a treatment plan. So yeah, maybe asylum not bedlam would be better
- Swift - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 2:06 pm:
==Corrections also said that more than half of the staff assaults at state prisons involved inmates throwing a “liquid substance” at staff==
Am I to read this statement from IDOC to mean that “banned word”, “other banned word”, and “likely another banned word” dousings don’t really count? I can’t seem to read it any other way except as IDOC saying that half of the assaults don’t really count. Who is the PIO for IDOC? Maybe he/she should spend a shift with the inmates to see if an inmate’s bodily fluids coming into contact with him or her counts or not.
- anon2 - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 2:23 pm:
=== The state has agreed to improve treatment of inmates with mental health disorders in order to settle a lawsuit.===
Why did DOC have to be compelled to do the right thing?
- Tier1gal - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 2:23 pm:
I know three CO’s who have been injured severely enough they required surgery in last few years. If you start talking about the nurses in prisons that number will increase.
- crazybleedingheart - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 2:24 pm:
You are misrepresenting what happened. So please provide some concrete evidence that the left wanted people to be without homes and treatment, or stop saying that “both sides” got what they wanted.
For others who do not know, here is a timeline:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/timeline-mental-health-america/
- Anon - Friday, Oct 13, 17 @ 4:44 pm:
DJJ is even worse. They have to bribe the kids with food to get them to go to their groups. There are multiple educator openings everywhere because teachers are verbally assaulted daily. If you’re a female how long do you think you can make it when you’re called the b word 15 times a day before lunch.
The few people who apply and qualify to work security usually bail before training is over once they spend time inside these places.
Harrisburg at leaset started pressing charges on youths over 18 who assault staff or other youths. The ACLU is currently throwing a hissy fit over that.