By C1 Staff
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A former Hutchinson Correctional Facility inmate is speaking out after a corrections officer was stabbed multiple times.
“You got convicted murderers and a lot of problems up there,” the man told KAKE; he remained unnamed, wishing to stay anonymous. “There was supposed to be at least two correctional officers up there but due to staffing shortages, there would always be one.”
The inmate served time between 2008 and 2010; he described that a single officer would usually be in charge of 60 inmates. He described one inmate attack during his incarceration: “Hit in the head, I believe, with a fire extinguisher and another officer found him in a pool of blood …”
The Kansas DOC says there have only been three attacks on corrections officers this year, which is low.
More staff would be the best way to prevent more attacks, but the Kansas State Organization of State Employees (KOSE) Executive Director Rebecca Proctor says “KDOC firmly contends that they have enough staff, that they are fully staffed, and that they only have occasional openings, and that’s not the case.”
The DOC said some shifts are filled with voluntary or mandatory overtime hours.
But the former inmate said he could tell when officers were tired.
“You can tell the fatigue. You know some of the officers just want to go sit in a chair because they’ve been there so long.”
Hutchinson Correctional Facility is currently staffed with 363 officers, with 39 vacancies. The inmate population, however, is greater at 1,842.
The former inmate said he’s worried about the officers still working at the facility.
“I’m surprised when it doesn’t happen more than it does, but I’m not surprised when it does.”