Prison Guard Turnover Leaves Jails Vulnerable

Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. prison guards quit or are fired each year, a likely consequence of stresses created by low-paid work with often violent or mentally ill inmates in crowded jails, prison experts said Friday.

While high turnover among guards is not new, two recent prison escapes, in Texas and Alabama, put the spotlight on conditions inside the nation’s correctional facilities and the dangers that arise when prison jobs go unfilled.

About 1.5 million inmates are housed in the more than 1,500 state prisons and 110 federal jails, with an additional 500,000 in local jails, double the inmate population of 10 years ago. Many states spend more on prisons than they do on higher education.

James Turpin of the American Correctional Assn., which inspects and accredits prisons, said correctional officers must contend with myriad challenges, from the 12% of inmates deemed mentally ill, to violent gangs inside prisons, to the crowding that overwhelms efforts to divert or rehabilitate prisoners.

Compensation for correctional workers is relatively low compared with other jobs in the profession, Turpin said. Pay can range from $16,000 to $25,000.

“In the hierarchy of law enforcement,” said St. Louis University criminologist James Gilsinan, “correctional officers are still considered the bottom of the heap.”