Recruitment
The Recruitment section is dedicated to strategies and best practices for attracting and hiring qualified candidates in the correctional field. This directory offers articles and resources on effective recruitment techniques, workforce diversity, and the challenges of staffing correctional facilities. Understanding the recruitment process is essential for building a strong, capable team that meets the demands of the correctional environment. For more on career development, explore our section on Corrections1 Career Resources.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly explains how A&E’s “Booked: First Day In” is helping bust myths, boost morale and bring new recruits through the jailhouse doors
The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office and union say earlier entry helps build careers while tackling persistent staffing shortages
By opening the door to younger applicants, the Massachusetts DOC aims to create long-term career opportunities and address immediate staffing needs
Instead of closing prisons, the union supports pay increases and revisions to the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act
After extensive deliberation and strategic planning, the Delaware Association of Chiefs of Police (DACP) announced a collaborative partnership with All-Star Talent and Guardian Alliance Technologies
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said the closures of Great Meadow Correctional and Sullivan Correctional are primarily due to staffing challenges
New York DOCCS determined it could safely close Great Meadow and Sullivan correctional facilities as both prisons are operating with incarcerated populations below capacity
The judge acknowledged the city’s good faith efforts to fix understaffing by recruiting more COs with better pay and incentives but emphasized that more needs to be done
The union’s president said in a letter that COs are being forced to work mandatory 16-hour overtime shifts and, at times, with “far less than the required numbers of officers”
Ala. DOC partners with college to help future COs meet physical, educational requirements at no cost
Participants who complete the ACTIVATE program may earn up to nine free college credit hours, as well as gain preparation for the academy and a career with the ADOC
“We have recruitment and retention incentives across the country. We have direct hire authority. The bottom line [...] we need to pay them more,” the BOP director said
The study analyzed data on the number of COs and the number of prisoners in each state to determine the states with the least staffed prisons
Secretary Jeffrey Macomber called the class “a stride toward fulfilling the ’30×30' pledge to increase the proportion of women in correctional cadet roles to 30 percent by 2030”
The workers have been vocal about the working conditions and the amount of mandated OT they have been working due to extreme understaffing, with some working 16-hour shifts four to five days a week
The lower age requirement will require more training and supervision, but it will make deputies better prepared, Capt. Jim Moore said
Following the staged escape that wounded three COs, IDOC is working with Centurion Health, its medical health care provider, to find ways to reduce the number of hospital transports
“It’s not a management issue,” the Ulster County Jail CO’s union said. “Honestly, the sheriff is phenomenal. Our supervisors are great. It’s a matter of getting people in here. It’s the job”
The warden was stabbed when Telfair State Prison COs were conducting a shakedown to remove contraband from one dorm, but those in the dorm refused to comply with the lockdown
Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams said his primary responsibility is to keep the Weld County Jail operational, and all other agency operations are secondary to this responsibility
During the escape attempt, 100 staff members were scheduled — the minimum needed to run Los Padrinos — for the shift, but only 40 showed up
The NYC DOC said 160 officers retired in 2023, 368 in 2022 and 403 in 2021 — a total of 931 over three years
The emergency plan will shift a minimum of 200 probation officers to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall and at least 50 officers to the Barry J. Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility on 90-day rotation
The pension change means some people hired shortly after high school or college could now qualify for full retirement benefits while still in their 40s, a fact recruiters intend to promote
Compensation plan, recruitment efforts continue to reduce security staff vacancies
In an effort to boost staffing, the Pennsylvania DOC reduced the CO’s minimum age requirement to 18
The Maine Criminal Justice Academy welcomed 67 new correctional officers, marking the largest class to graduate from the Basic Corrections Training Program
“If we get more staff, then the working conditions would be better. If we got 10 more people, the working conditions would be astronomically better here. Most of the problems we have here come from our lack of staff,” the prison union’s president said
The Florida Department of Corrections said the officers are now under criminal investigation
“This is noteworthy because it previously had a 30 percent vacancy rate in September of 2023,” Gov. Jim Justice said
“You would have to be sleeping under a rock in another country not to realize and not to understand the absolute danger that exists in the Georgia State Department of Corrections today,” said Sen. Randy Robertson
“It’s the only way to get anyone’s attention before one of you are calling one of our families to tell a father, a mother, daughter, son was killed in the line of duty,” a 14-year CO said
A new four-year contract was established for correctional officers, offering an annual salary increase of 3.5%, with the potential for further yearly adjustments
The DOC has eliminated the college requirement and slashed the length of training, but has had continuing trouble luring new officers
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