By Corrections1 Staff
RALEIGH, N.C. — Officials told lawmakers that changes are coming to North Carolina state prisons after five employees were killed last year.
State officials said Thursday that policies and procedures have changed, safety equipment is being distributed and hiring has sped up, WRAL reports. The moves come following a deadly year at two of the state’s prisons.
Last April, Sgt. Meggan Callahan was beaten to death by an inmate at Bertie Correctional Institution. In October, four prison employees were killed during a prison escape attempt at the Pasquotank Correctional Institution.
The state DPS called on federal investigators to review the prison operations at the Pasquotank prison. National Institute of Corrections investigators found many problems in the prison and made more than 100 recommendations.
Hiring was a key issue officials said they were going to address.
Officials said the prison had a staffing vacancy of around 25 percent, and that the facility was very short-staffed on the day of the escape attempt. CO Justin Smith, who was killed in the attack, was doing the work of three employees that day.
Prison officials said they plan to hold a career fair to recruit COs and target military veterans, spouses and their dependents, according to WCTI.
“Our impression is they were trying to do their best under the circumstances, and as a result, there were shortcuts occurring,” Larry Reid, who led the team from the National Institute of Corrections, said. “As a matter of fact, they had to rely on inmates to do some of the functions just to get the mission done.”
Reid said outdated policies and a lack of training also led to problems at the prisons.
Director of Prisons Kenneth Lassiter said many of the recommendations Reid’s team made are already being implemented. He said high-security inmates will no longer work with potentially dangerous tools in prison workshops. He also said stab-resistant shirts are being distributed to prison staff.