Prison Guard Shortage Forces Jails To Use Cooks And Nurses To Guard Inmates

A shortage of correctional officers is causing problems across the federal prison system. Many jails are short-staffed, forcing them to get creative as they try to keep inmates safe and under control. The Justice Department currently employs 13,762 officers who staff federal prisons across the country. The agency budgeted for 20,446 officers in 2020, leaving them 7,000 officers short.

The coronavirus pandemic made the problem worse as more than 7,000 officers were diagnosed with COVID-19, causing them to miss weeks of work. In addition, some officers were pulled from the prison and sent to the hospital to guard inmates who contracted the virus.

To make up for the shortfall, some prisons are using nurses, teachers, cooks, and other prison workers to help guard the inmates.

"When they augment you, you're not doing your job that you're hired for," said Jonathan Zumkehr, the union president at the federal prison in Thomson, Illinois. "If you're a counselor, you're not able to counsel the inmates. If you're a case manager, you're not able to do the First Step Act. Those are two days that you're not going to get back."

The Bureau of Prisons defending the practice, saying that all staff members are "professional law enforcement officers" who have adequate training.

"This is not a new practice," the agency said in a statement. "It is important to note that staff assigned to our institutions are professional law enforcement officers first, regardless of their occupation. All staff are trained accordingly and are expected to perform law enforcement functions during routine and non-routine situations."

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