State searches for more prison guards

The Corrections Department has planned a 7,000-bed expansion at a time when there's competition for workers.

''Its a struggle when you have a 4.2-percent unemployment rate and only two college graduates out of every 100 unable to find jobs,'' said Corrections Department Recruitment Manager Gary Raff.

A state council on training standards will decide Monday whether to drop the requirement that job candidates must have earned at least 15 college credits in criminal justice or related fields. Instead, they would have 18 months to complete the courses after being hired.

A high school diploma would still be required along with not having felony convictions or pending misdemeanor charges. They also would have to pass a civil service exam for the $30,220 position.

The 10-member group may reluctantly go along with the Corrections proposal, Elizabeth Foley, chairwoman of the Michigan Correctional Officers Training Council said.

''We hope to accommodate their need without sacrificing our standards,'' Ms. Foley said.

Ms. Foley said the college credits, eight weeks of Corrections officer academy, two weeks of supervised on-the-job training and two more weeks of academy are the toughest requirements in the United States.

The Corrections Department employs more than 17,000 workers, which is 30 percent of the state government workforce, for a growing prisoner count of more than 46,000.

Prisoner advocates and the Corrections officers union have voiced concern but Fred Parks, executive director of the Michigan Corrections Organization, said he realizes the state's position.

Parks said Michigan's high training standards are the reason its prisons have relatively few incidents compared to other states.

''We have fewer assaults (on officers) and no officer has been killed since the mid-'80s,'' he said. ''Other states lose three or four officers a year.''

09-28-99