Budget cuts force Iowa prisons to cope with decreased staffing

Greg Lockwood, correctional officer at the Newton Correctional Facility (NCF), is armed with mace and handcuffs as he enters what facility employees refer to as “the hole.” He just got the call to escort an inmate from what is officially called the segregation unit to health services for a follow-up appointment checking the offender for any side effects caused by recently prescribed psychotropic medications.

“OK, we’re going to have to do a strip down,” Lockwood cordially reminds the inmate.

The officer slides open a small steel access point on the larger isolation door. A pair of blue slip-on shoes pops out. Lockwood shakes them upside down, checking for any sharp objects. Next, a pair of red scrubs — first the pants, then the shirt and finally a pair of white briefs are all carefully examined. At this point, Lockwood can see the inmate completely in the buff through the slit of a small window on the large mechanically controlled steel barricade.

“Today my job is to walk around and be available for sudden security situations, to monitor and be an escort to health services,” Lockwood said Sept. 8, as he observed activity on the prison yard before the 9 a.m. escort call.

Lockwood is normally a transporter, with the daily duty of shuttling inmates to and from the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics in Iowa City for doctors’ visits and injuries. He is a Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.) Officer, which includes voluntary training through the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC), teaching him to be a first responder to a violent or medical situation.

Transferring from the Mitchellville women’s prison to NCF when it opened in 1997, the correctional officer (CO) is a 15-year-veteran of the DOC. Like others at the Newton facility, Lockwood has a growing concern over the disproportionate staffing-to-inmate ratio in Iowa’s system. The daily population statistics on the DOC’s website show, as of Sunday, Newton’s prison population of 1,222, is 20.5 percent over its capacity of 1,014 inmates — on par with state-wide average of 21 percent. Current levels at all nine incarceration facilities total 8,692 offenders with a capacity of 7,209. To employees like Lockwood, this creates a safety concern.

After he determines the safety of himself, the inmate and others they will interact with on their walk across the complex, Lockwood orders the inmate to put his clothing back on and place his hands through the opening. The officer pulls metal shackles, handcuffs attached to an approximately 3-foot long Velcro strap, from his belt and secures the inmates. He waves a large refrigerator-style magnet clinging to the cell door to another CO behind the thick glass of a control room at the front of the unit. The door crawls open, and a chunky man with a black goatee and bed-head hair emerges.

It appears as if the inmate knows the drill, turning his back to Lockwood as the CO straps the hand-shackles around his waist. Once he’s restrained, a pair of ankle shackles is cuffed to the inmate. After a short 5-minute appointment with an on-site nurse, the process is meticulously repeated.

The hole is a prison within a prison. It’s the unit where inmates are placed when they are deemed a danger to themselves and/or the general population of the facility. It’s isolation in a padded cell with a simple sink, toilet and bed. Lockwood explains some inmates are placed here after being transferred from other state facilities for assaults on imprisoned offenders or COs, others are from Newton’s prison segregated for the same reason. He says that all inmates placed in segregation are seen by an administrative law judge within the facility to allow the inmate due process. Most, after a time, are reintegrated into the general population.

Located 6.2 miles south of the city, NCF has both medium security, capacity 762, and minimum security, 252 capacity, facilities. The prison is currently at the lowest staffing levels in its history. At its peak in 2000, the facility boasted 374 employees, but currently, NCF employs 275 individuals including COs, administrative and support staff. According to the facility management, NCF has not hired anyone in over a year.

Jerry Jones is the fourth district at-large president for the state employee union AFSCME and a nine-year employee at NCF. While monitoring the security cameras in the hole, he says the facility has lost on average five COs a year since 2001 and an even higher percentage of support staff.

“Right now, we’ve reached critical levels on staffing,” he said. “We’re basically there to maintain the illusion that we are in control, and the more sets of eyes you have in there the better and safer it is for the inmates, the community and our fellow staff members.”

Although staffing is down, Jones affirms that employees at NCF are professional in what they do. The CO says that he does not feel unsafe at his job but “concerned.”

And inmate assaults at facilities state-wide are on the rise. Departmental statistics of critical incident reports provided by DOC spokesperson Fred Scaletta indicate several classifications of violent acts in the 2011 fiscal year saw an uptick from 2010 including offender on staff assaults. Assaults without serious injury rose from 63 documented incidents in 2010 to 95 in 2011, and assaults with offenders throwing substances at staff rose from 28 to 41 in a year period. Although assaults with serious injury have declined, the general rise in violent behavior is happening simultaneously with staffing cuts and shortages.

Anecdotal accounts of assaults at NCF appear to mirror the state-wide figures. Warden Terry Mapes attributes this rise in assaults to inmate overcrowding, staff reductions and an increase in younger offenders entering the correctional system. Assistant warden Jill Dursky concurs.

“We don’t have the ability intervene before it’s a problem,” Dursky said of offender scuffles. “Two years ago we were lucky to have two fights a month. Now we’re seeing two fights a week sometimes.”

Dursky, a 20-plus year veteran of the DOC, says young offenders bring more violent behavior because they are trying to protect themselves from long-term inmates and establish a name for themselves within the prison community.

Many days are quiet, but it’s the potential for issues NCF administration says sufficient staffing prepares for.

“Today is boring,” Dursky said. “We like boring.”

Mapes says that a typical shift at Newton has two duty officers to coordinate operation and “ideally” 36 COs, but because of staff shortages, they rarely meet that number. For the safety of facility staff Mapes did not want to divulge the true numbers actually on duty, but the warden did admit it is several COs short of the preferred level. Even with ideal staffing there is a 611-inmate-to-18 CO ratio on a duty shift. The warden says that many times if a CO is sick, leaves employment or is out for training, the spot will not be covered because of the lack of personnel.

Most of the staffing cuts originate from state budget shortfalls. Newton’s budget has remained fairly constant from the 2010-2012 fiscal years, hovering between $25.75 million and $25.95 million. However, the general fund for the DOC took a hit in recent years with a cut of 10 percent during Gov. Chet Culver’s administration. According to the 2010 DOC’s annual report, most of that cut was restored in the 2010 legislative session, however Mapes explains how a 10 percent across-the-board cut disproportionately affects Iowa’s correctional system because they are fully funded by the state and do not receive federal dollars to subsidize a shortfall.

Despite the concerning staffing levels, a feeling of pride, professionalism and smooth performance does echo throughout the prison. As Mapes walks around the yard, inmates greet the short, white-haired man with respect, and Mapes reciprocates. While pointing out the five separate housing units around the medium security complex, a tall African-American man wearing a plain gray sweatshirt approaches Mapes.

“Excuse me Mr. Warden, Mr. Warden. Good morning sir. May I have a moment of your time?” the inmate politely inquires.

The man begins to discuss with Mapes a robbery he allegedly committed at the Oasis convenient store on Des Monies’ east side. He says he was cleared of the offense but is concerned the case will still affect his release date on probation.

Polite yet firm, Mapes shows a deep understanding of the system as he tells the offender about probation time frames and contacts the inmate should make to clear up discrepancies.

The facility is a melting pot of cultural and religious diversity with multi-faith worship center for inmates of Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish faiths along with other world religions. Mapes points to the frame of a wooden hut on the north side of the yard. He explains that this area serves as the site of Native-American sweat lodge ceremonies where indigenous inmates will surround the structure with burning materials, enter the lodge and pray even in the dead of winter.

NCF has a variety of rehabilitation classes for offenders with substance abuse treatment programs, General education development classes and supervised work release options for inmates. In total, Iowa offered 522 offenders GEDs in 2010. The facility is semi-self sufficient, with inmates doing laundry, cleaning and working in the kitchen preparing their own meals. Using what supplies they have, offenders will bake breads and cinnamon rolls, make tacos and sandwiches. Some are disinterested while others appear enthusiastic as Mapes walks by asking, “What’s for lunch today?”

Though Iowa’s prison populations have grown from 2,890 inmates in 1988 to 8,603 at the end of 2010, the state still has the tenth lowest incarceration rate in the country. The Iowa Board of Correction showed in its annual report that in 2006 only North Dakota spent less money per capita on corrections than Iowa with each individual citizen paying $121 per year. Iowa also lowered its return rate by 2 percent in 2010 reaching a 32 percent recidivism rate. The DOC has a parolee return rate of 12.7 percent compared to a national average of 16.5 percent.

“We try to do more with less,” Mapes said. “You’re a tax payer, and I believe the people should see what they are buying.”

Mike Mendenhall can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 422 or via e-mail at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com.