Audit: Staff shortages affecting safety at Minnesota state prisons
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Office of the Legislative Auditor released a new report Wednesday that raises concerns about safety in Minnesota’s prison system.
The legislative auditor’s office evaluated security at the state’s 11 correctional facilities, looking at how safe state prisons are for both the inmates and staff as well as the steps the state Department of Corrections has taken to improve safety in the prisons.
Lawmakers directed the state legislative auditor to conduct the audit after a spike in prisoner assaults on staff in 2018. That year, two corrections officers died on the job. Officer Joseph Gomm died on July 18 after an inmate at the Stillwater prison attacked him. Officer Joseph Parise died after responding to an assault on a staff member at the Oak Park Heights prison on Sept. 24.
The report found several prisons have experienced chronic staff shortages that has affected the safety of inmates and staff.
According to the report, turnover rates have increased in recent years and the DOC has not been able to hire enough officers to keep up. As a result, prisons have had to rely on staff to work overtime, including forced overtime, to meet shift-staffing requirements.
“When you’re working 16 hours a day in that kind of environment, working on three or four hours sleep, what do you think’s going to happen? Not good things,” said state Rep. Marion O’Neill, R-Maple Lake.
Staffing shortages have also led many prisons to limit or suspend recreation and programming for inmates, increasing tensions and leading to safety concerns.
Prison staff complained that in some instances however, administrators have chosen to run programming with insufficient staff.
“Some prison staff blame the death of Stillwater Officer Joseph Gomm on a decision to keep prisoners working in an industrial program even though a staffing absence meant that only two staff members would be present to supervise prisoners in two large workshops,” the report read. “When Officer Gomm was allegedly assaulted by a prisoner, he was unable to call for assistance, and no other staff person was present to radio for help. Help was called only after another prisoner went to the neighboring workshop and alerted the staff member there.”
The Gomm family’s lawyer, Mike Padden, said the audit was “positive” because it was “an admission of the problem.”
“There isn’t any question that more funding is needed,” Padden said in an interview. “That’s just a reality I think that it’s clear that the more bodies the better when it comes to appropriately looking over inmates in our state.”
Gomm’s family is seeking $3 million from the state Legislature. The family has hired former Republican state Rep. Nick Zerwas to lobby lawmakers on its behalf.
Another issue detailed in the report was unprofessional workplace relationships. One in three prison staff members said bullying and harassment among staff is a problem at their prison. Many staff members also said they do not believe their coworkers or supervisors take harassment seriously.
The report also revealed that sexual offenses against female staff by male prisoners, such as catcalling or verbally threatening sexual assault, occur frequently at some prisons, but are often ignored or downplayed by supervisors or coworkers.
“If I could wave a wand and fix this, I would do it in a second,” Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell told lawmakers Wednesday. “I’m responsible for making sure we’re always moving forward. Together we’re committed to making a difference. Our staff know we can’t just lock people in and we can’t continue to force people on overtime because it’s not a sustainable solution."
Another problem affecting prison safety is the infrastructure of some state prisons. Design features of some state prisons—particularly the living units—are outdated, creating conditions that increase danger for both prisoners and staff. The St. Cloud and Stillwater prisons in particular still rely heavily on infrastructure that is over 100 years old.
The legislative auditor’s office also noted in its report that the DOC’s data on violent events is inconsistent and incomplete.
The DOC should transform its data collection processes, so it has better data about violent events, staffing shortages, overtime usage and prisoner discipline—which it can then use to improve safety, the report said.
The report also called for regular external oversight of safety at state prisons.
DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell, who took office in January 2019, said he concurred with the report’s findings.
“This audit was born out of tragedy,” Schnell said in a letter to the legislative auditor. “Action on the recommendations you present, along with agency initiatives currently underway, is an opportunity to develop the Minnesota Department of Corrections into a national leader on data-driven safety and security practices that supports transformation of lives for a safer Minnesota.”
Legislative Auditor James Nobles presented the report to lawmakers at the Minnesota State Capitol Wednesday afternoon.