Union Says Prison Inmate Assaults On Guards Up 51%
AFSCME is asking the Illinois Department of Corrections for additional protection for corrections officers. jobsforfelonshub/Flickr/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
The labor union representing Illinois prison guards says assaults on staff are way up — and state officials aren’t doing enough about it.
Roberta Lynch is the head of AFSCME. She says too often, the Department of Corrections only increases staff or repairs equipment AFTER correctional officers are assaulted.
“We don’t want people to have to be injured in order for change to come about.”
Both AFSCME and I-D-O-C agree that assaults on staff have increased in recent years.
Prison officials say they take staff safety “very seriously.” They say some increase in assaults is expected … as Illinois changes the way it deals with inmates who have mental illness.
The state has agreed to improve such treatment in order to settle a lawsuit.
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- Illinois Prison Staff Trained On Mental Illness, But Do They Really Buy In?
- Study: Illinois Women’s Prison Treats Inmates Too Harshly
- Ammons-Sponsored Prison Phonecall Bill Signed Into Law
- Six Illinois Prison Workers Treated After Inmate Attack