House panel hears assaults on prison staff up sharply

While the number of people in state prisons dropped in the past 18 months, safety within the state corrections systems took a different track.

Assaults on prison staff in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, increased 62 percent, with 120 incidents reported, according to the Department of Corrections.

And with 59 incidents since that time, Fiscal Year 2019 is shaping up to exceed staff assault totals from 2013 through 2017. Incidents for the current year include the fatal attack of a prison guard at Stillwater state prison in July. Another corrections officer died of a medical emergency in September after responding to an attack on another officer

Why these numbers are high was alluded to, if not explicitly explained Wednesday during a joint meeting of the House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy and the House Corrections divisions.

The state housed 9,479 inmates in state prisons on Jan. 1, 2019; the number was 10,111 on July 1, 2017.

Low staffing numbers have created issues that include safety for both staff and inmates, noted newly appointed Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who said his department is looking at every option.

“Because, ultimately, there is not a single fix to this,” Schnell said.

Every action with inmates in a prison facility requires staff to handle movement. Taking an inmate to a work position, to counseling, to classes, or to receive a visit requires correctional officers be present to supervise and manage the movements.

Without adequate staffing, not all moves can be made, which turns into idle time for inmates or, in a recent case, being denied privileges when Oak Park Heights prison lacked staff to handle inmate visitors.

More than 4,300 staff oversee facility and community supervision of offenders.

Referencing high turnover rates, Schnell also noted that training becomes difficult due to facilities being underequipped to move staff around.

“Even operationally, we think that there may be some things that we at least want to explore … about how it is that we meet the immediate, immediate needs,” Schnell explained.

“It’s clear over the course of the last two years something dramatically different has occurred,” said Rep. Nick Zerwas (R-Elk River).

Zerwas asked if changes in the use and misuse of solitary confinement may be playing a role. He said he’s been trying to get data on the use of solitary confinement for 27 months without success.

Schnell offered his assurance the data would be provided, saying it is critical that it is understood how restrictive policies occur and why, as well as how their use relates to incidents of violence, along with the impact of low staffing.

“We are focusing heavily on evidence-based practices,” Schnell said of current decision making.