Michigan’s prisons face a statewide ‘staffing crisis’

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Earlier this week, Michigan Corrections Officers picketed outside 3 prisons in the Upper Peninsula. They’re calling attention to what the Michigan Corrections Organization calls a “staffing crisis.”

Corrections officers across Michigan are struggling with staff shortages in about half of the state’s prisons.

“We’re running these prisoners with far less officers than are supposed to be there,” said Byron Osborn, the president of the Michigan Corrections Organization, the union that represents corrections officers. “We’re at the point the officers can’t keep going year to year hoping that something is going to change because it hasn’t.”

One of the prisons affected is the Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson, where the union says the vacancy rate for officers is as high as 36%.

“What that means for correctional officers is that it’s forced mandatory overtime,” said Cary Johnson, a corrections officer at Cotton.

The union says they are often working 16-hour shifts, violating the department’s overtime rules.

“For a corrections officer it’s a difficult and dangerous job already,” said Johnson. She said a work-life balance is crucial for dealing with the challenges of the job. “When you’re forced to work that amount of overtime, those things tend to get pushed to the side.”

“We need our elected officials in the House, the Senate, and thegovernor’ss office to take a real hard look at finding a long-term solution,” said Osborn.

The MCO recently sent a letter to Governor Gretchen Whitmer requesting to temporarily deploy the Michigan National Guard. However, they say she didn’t respond. Instead, she referred the request to the Michigan Department of Corrections, which is pushing a House bill that would remove college credit requirements for new officers.

“What they’re not telling the media is it’s going to have zero impact on the current situation because, for the past number of years, there’s a waiver in place so you don’t have to have the credits to get hired,” said Osborn.

And for now, they take to the picket line.

“We need help,” said Johnson. “It feels like we’re forgotten sometimes, that we’re doing this job and it’s just unsustainable right now.”

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