January 15, 2010
Editorial: “Trained correctional officers necessary”
The article "State considers private prisons," Jan. 12, provided comments from various stakeholders - the governor, the Legislature, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. Each argued for or against the privatization of California prisons. Regretfully, none of the individuals quoted spoke for or about the consequences to taxpayers, the families of inmates, or even the inmates.
Prisons are supposed to provide two distinct and important functions: providing for the incarceration of those individuals who are a threat to public safety; and rehabilitating those individuals who want to and can be, which is even more important financially to every taxpayer. The prison system has abjectly failed to provide either as is demonstrated by the 70 percent rate of recidivism and the number of inmates who become repeat offenders. If any business had a product failure rate of 70 percent, it would be closed. Unfortunately, we cannot close our prisons.
The high cost of prisons is falsely attributed to the people that work in them, the correctional officers and medical staff, to name a few. The governor, in order to find a "quick fix" and to "retaliate against the union," suggests that the best way to reduce costs will be to open private prisons which pay their staffs less. As with all simplistic solutions, it sounds good in a sound bite, but it is doomed to failure…
LINK - SBSun.com (San Bernadino Sun)
