By Clifton Adcock and Shaun Hittle
Oklahoma Watch
MCALESTER, Okla. — Although the number of inmates at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester has dropped in recent years, the prison still faces some of the same problems afflicting other corrections institutions, state officials and prison officers say.
Those include a shortage of staff, low morale, high turnover, funding needs, aging facilities and uncertainty about the future.
Oklahoma Watch interviewed seven guards, some currently employed and others employed until recently, along with corrections officials and the director of the Oklahoma Corrections Professionals. They were asked about working conditions at the penitentiary.
A number of the issues apply to other prisons as well, said Sean Wallace, who heads the corrections officers group.
“We’ve got crisis right now in staffing,” Wallace said, referring to staff shortages and hiring challenges. “I think everywhere right now there’s a real (safety) threat to officers and to the inmates.”
Full story: Prison staffing called a ‘crisis’ in Oklahoma