Like the rest of California state agencies, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is being forced to reduce its budget. Poor fiscal management and a progressive tax system has forced CDCR to operate this fiscal year with a cut of close to ten percent of last year’s budget. In trying to figure out the new budget, CDCR has decided officer and staff safety are not a priority.
CDCR has decided to close four prison yards. One yard at WSP, Facility C at NKSP, Facility C at CAL, and four housing units on Facility D of HDSP. These are smart cuts; prison population has decreased and closing select yards is a smarter alternative to shutting entire prisons.
Another cut was to remove officers assigned to yard programs on third watch two days a week (Wed. and Thurs.). This removes the yard officer positions completely from third watch, reducing the staff available to respond to emergencies. Often many staff are needed to deal with inmate misconduct, aggression, and medical emergencies. Staff will now be forced to provide public safety with less resources.
In regard to officer and staff safety, the most impactful cut was the decision to remove the control booth officers from all Level II yards. This post, now being removed state-wide, was an officer posted in an elevated and fortified position able to observe an entire housing unit. This officer was the only responder in the building with a rifle and was tasked with observing not only the inmates in the unit, but also ensure the staff inside the unit are safe. This important safety position will be no more on Level II facilities. There will be no lethal force options for emergencies in the building or on the yards near the building. There will be no dedicated observation inside the building and no dedicated observation on the yards near the building. There will no longer be a location officers can run to retrieve specialized equipment and/or tools.
Level II inmates do not require constant observation and CDCR needs to cut positions. It would have made much more sense to remove the floor officers from the building and keep the control booth officers. Floor officers can work as a team between multiple housing units to perform safety checks and conduct count. It is a blatant disregard of officer safety to lock these officers in a building with 200 inmates without any observation coverage.
CDCR needs to cut posts because California made itself broke. We can deal with the budget cuts, but we plead with CDCR to try and remember officer safety is important. It is possible to make smart cuts which do not put officers and staff at further risk. Staff assaults have increased steadily despite inmate population decreasing. Additionally, in the past two months, there were three attempted murders of officers all on Level II yards. The threat continues to be real if not getting worse; CDCR should try and consider protecting its staff as part of its mission.