I have 26 years of working in corrections and have worked in every prison in the U.P. I understand the shortage of corrections officers and it is nothing new; this has been going on for years and even decades. I have witnessed the high level of stress and the burnout of my fellow workers. It is time to put this crisis to an end.

At one time, corrections jobs were coveted; they had good pay, decent benefits and enough staffing to ensure safe coverage. As time went on, wages started to slack, pensions were dissolved and staff had to pay more for their health care. Staff were also laden with the saying, “you now must do more with less” …a lot less. This meant now officers (and most other staff) were burdened with additional duties, mandated overtime hours and less help. All of which lead to increasingly dangerous conditions for those working in the prisons. It is time to make things right and safe.

Budgets are fluid documents and the MDOC needs to shore up wages that are competitive. Higher starting wages are needed to attract talent. Higher caps are needed to keep the knowledge base of our senior staff. The pension should be brought back; a corrections career is stressful, and staff need to know that they can work hard in a sometimes-dangerous environment and then be able to retire at a later point where they can enjoy time with family. In the past, the state did delay credit requirements in order to promote hires at a faster rate. However, to ensure safety, the state does provide a quality training academy for new officers.

All these options cannot be stressed soon enough to those who have the power to make the change.

Kim S. Corcoran

Democratic Candidate for the 110th District