Corrections leaders seeking big raises for prison workers
Facing beyond-critical staff shortages at almost every Florida state prison, corrections officials are asking lawmakers to allocate funds for officers to receive significant raises.
Florida Department of Corrections Deputy Secretary Ricky Dixon said the agency wants to implement a pay plan that would provide raises to staff across the board, from new officers to wardens, starting with increases greater than 20%.
“Pay is key,” Dixon said in a Wednesday presentation to the Florida House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Subcommittee. “We just don’t have another session to get this right.”
Dixon said the proposed new pay plan, which FDC officials did not provide to the Orlando Sentinel, would raise starting salaries for corrections officers, whose compensation currently begins at $33,500, to $41,000. He said Gov. Ron DeSantis was supportive of the hikes, but a spokesperson for the governor did not respond to questions Wednesday.
FDC and DeSantis administration spokespeople also did not respond when asked Wednesday how large the proposed pay increases would be for higher-ranking officers or how much the raises would cost the state overall.
The corrections department, which is the third-largest in the nation and Florida’s largest state agency, recently closed three prisons and dozens of other dorms, work camps and annexes trying to maximize the reach of its remaining staff, with almost 30% of security positions vacant.
While asking for legislators’
support for the increased salaries, Dixon described the crisis Florida’s prisons face as unprecedented in recent times — though the agency has historically struggled with violence, staffing and abuse of power, even before being overrun by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In February, when FDC Secretary Mark Inch called the situation dire, with 30 prisons across the state with more than 10% of staff positions vacant — which is considered a critical shortfall — and 18 of those above 20% vacancies, according to FDC data.
As of this month, Dixon said 46 prisons are at critical staffing — 30 of which have vacancies at 20% or higher. FDC operates 50 major prisons.
While 10 prisons in February were at an acceptable level of staffing, none are as of today, Dixon said.
“The conditions just continue to get worse, it’s just a vicious cycle,” Dixon said, noting that even as FDC hires more staff, twice as many are leaving every month. “... We’re in a race to hire staff faster than the population grows.”
He said persistent staff shortages have led to more difficult working conditions,
which drive more people to leave. Staff are stuck filling multiple roles during a shift and having to stay for mandatory overtime, often for days or weeks in a row.
Most dorms, which typically house about 200 people, should be staffed by four officers, but two officers should be the “absolute minimum,” Dixon said.
“Having only two staff in a dorm like that is extremely dangerous,” Dixon said. “The reality is, at this very moment, most of the housing units … throughout the state are operating not with two staff, but with one staff. ... They have no one to back them up. They’re alone and at the mercy of other inmates — not staff, but other inmates — to come to their rescue.”
The agency currently incarcerates about 80,000 people, which is down from prior years due to a delay in criminal cases from COVID19, but Dixon said the agency expects there are a “significant number” of people waiting to be transferred in from county jails.
With so many facilities temporarily closing — which has meant new housing assignments for thousands of people — FDC officials are worried about system-wide prison overcrowding, Dixon said. Already, many people are sleeping on emergency beds.
State Rep. Andrew Learned, D-Hillsborough, asked Dixon if there was anything legislators could do in the meantime to help alleviate some of the pressure, since budgetary decisions will take months to make, but Dixon reiterated his call for their support for increased funding.
“We have some pretty aggressive plans this year that we believe will help us restore ourselves,” Dixon told him. “We know how to do it, we just need the resources.”
State Rep. Spencer Roach, the subcommittee’s vice chair, said hearing how underpaid prison staff are is not only embarrassing but concerning for public safety.
“It’s appalling, it’s alarming,” said Roach, a Republican from Lee County. “You have my commitment to help you.”
Representatives from Florida Cares Charity, which advocates for people in prison, as well as the Florida Police Benevolent Association, the union for correctional officers, testified Wednesday that they supported pay increases for staff to help improve prison conditions.
Florida Cares’ Laurette Phillipsen asked legislators to also consider releasing low-custody, elderly people from prison to alleviate pressure. Jimmy Baiardi, with the officers’ union, asked legislators to act promptly.
“They’re overworked and underpaid,” Baiardi said of corrections staff. “They’re tired and they need help . ... I hope you all will take the action today to solve this problem.”