By Scotty Reid – The head of Virginia’s prison system, Harold Clarke, who is the head of Virginia’s entire prison system gave a dire description to lawmakers last Wednesday reporting that their lacking 1,500 correctional officers, and that many posts were going unmanned putting a burden on the rest of the staff who were being forced to work double shifts with no days off. “We’re doing our best to manage a dire situation,” Clarke said.
The comments were given during the first-ever legislative sessions studying the conditions of the state’s Department of Corrections employs more people than any other state agency. Many states and municipalities along with the private industry, promoted hails and prisons as “job creators” with one group of citizens employed to incarcerate another group of citizens.
Mr. Clarke went on and blamed the low pay offered by the department for some of the hiring difficulties, as the facilities concentrated in urban areas where there is more competition for employees. It could also be that fewer and fewer citizens are willing to earn a living incarcerating other citizens, disproportionately black, and are seeking other employment opportunities. Working in prisons can be inherently dangerous and it can only be intensified during the coronavirus pandemic.