By Robert Barron, Staff Writer
Enid News and Eagle
ENID, Okla. — Safety in Oklahoma prisons has become a concern because of the lack of corrections officers available to oversee inmates.
The crisis is caused by several factors, including low pay, no raises and a failure to compete with the oilfield for employees, officials said. At James Crabtree Correction Center in Helena, the inmate population has held at about 1,000 since 1982, said Warden Janet Dowling. Crabtree is the only medium-security prison facility in the state that operates as a dormitory-style institution.
“We have 800 medium security and 200 minimum security offenders. Our most recent staffing numbers were 56 security officer and 61 support staff,” Dowling said. Support staff are medical, clerical and food service personnel.
“The actual officers we have to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week average about 12 per shift,” she said. The ideal number is 20, Dowling said.
Three years ago, Crabtree had 93 correctional officers, and today Dowling has trouble hiring for the positions that are open. When new officers are hired, there usually are others leaving for higher salaries elsewhere, she said. The starting salary at Crabtree for correctional officers is $11.43 per hour, and Dowling said she recently saw a newspaper advertisement for a nursing home hiring nurses aides for $14 per hour.
Full story: Prison crisis: State losing corrections officers due to low pay