Richard Allen, the state's prisons commissioner, said Wednesday the change is meant to reduce overtime, and should save the state $3 million to $4 million a year. 'We don't have any choice about it,' Allen said. 'We've got to save money. We've got to do some things that are out of the box, and this is one of them'" (Diel 2008). Corrections officers have naturally protested this measure, citing the dangers of the job and the impact upon the quality of their health and financial lives.
Alabama is not alone. In Florida budget cutbacks were blamed recently when "A Florida correctional officer was killed on the job last week" (Ray 2008). Even though corrections officer positions have not been eliminated in the state of Florida, an expanding prison population coupled with a refusal to add more positions have lead to understaffed prisons and overworked, tired officers. In other states, cutbacks in prison allocations resulted in more high-risk prisoners being placed in less appropriate, low-risk settings. Cutbacks in prisoner programs may mean prisoners have fewer constructive activities in which to engage in during the day that support rehabilitative efforts -- resulting in more unconstructive, violent, and criminal activities.
A persistent problem for corrections officers is that allocating more money for the prison system is not a popular political move. Although longer sentences for offenders might be popular amongst the public, allocating more funds for the penal system is embarrassing for a state, and is seen as merely benefiting law-breakers, rather than individuals who work within the penal system as well. Because...
While increasing the safety of the public may seem priceless, policing comes at a high price tag, and it can be difficult to communicate the need for greater revenue to create a more functional prison system to the public. The police, the courts, and the corrections system must all work together to ensure the public is kept safe, and the potential for rehabilitation of inmates is maximized. This will reduce recidivism, reduce the prison population over time, and by taking such a 'long-term view' even reduce costs by reducing the need for prisons.
Works cited
Corrections officers. (2008). 2008 Occupational Outlook. Department of Labor Statistics 2008-
2009 Edition. Retrieved 1 Oct 2008. http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos156.htm
Diel, Stan. (2008, September 25) Corrections officers at seven Alabama prisons to work 12-hour shifts. Birmingham News. Retrieved 1 Oct 2008.
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/statebriefs.ssf?/base/news/1222330508324710.xml&coll=2
Ray, Whitney. (3008, June 30). Police union blames budget cutbacks for correctional officer's death. Capital News Service. Retrieved 1 Oct 2008.
http://www.flanews.com/?p=2272A criminal justice
