Won't say the state, but it rhymes with Nexas.
Anyways, Ive worked for the department of criminal justice in this state for about 4 years. I've been a supervisor for a year.
The short staffing is incredible real. It's a retainment issue. They can't retain staff because they hire so few over long periods of time because new recruits have to go through academy. New recruits hit shift, get overworked because it's so short and they hired so few that only 2 people were went to each of the 4 shifts. They say F this and walk before the next academy graduates.
So all this short staffing means most correctional officers are consistently working 14-15 hour shifts easily including mandatory overtime (it's supposed to be 4 on 4 off, but we're doing 6 on 2 off) Supervisors are working 15-17 hour shifts easily, 6 days on 2 off. It varies by unit and region though, the max security units are being hit the hardest. Supervisors simply do not have the time to actually handle supervisor duties because they are having to cover multiple wings the entire shift and can only take care of their own duties once the next shift arrives.
So, they wonder why they can't maintain supervisors either, because the state pays them to do the job of 1 supervisor; not the job of 2 supervisors and 3 officers. They don't have the time to actually train any of the officers because they themselves are having to cover wings, as such, they have to abandon their duty station to respond to every call another officer (that has not been comprehensively trained, or legitimately simply does not want to deal with an inmates issue) sends out over the radio.
I want to quit so bad. The toll on my mental health is insane. I put in a 110 hour work week last week, covering 2 wings and building desk for each day. They don't want humans anymore, what the administration is demanding can only be accomplished by machines. We are tired.
Those walls keep people's nightmares out of the public, but it takes good people to give them what they are supposed to have by law. They're not all nightmares. Some got caught up in bad situations. Some were a product of their environment. They are all sons, daughters, husband's, wives, aunt's, uncle's, you name it to someone else… And it takes people like myself to make a positive change in their behavior and way of thinking before they re-enter society. And we are tired.