Senator, DPSCS Secretary Visit Prisons

Increasing staffing problems at the state’s prisons led State Senator Mike McKay and Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary Carolyn Scruggs to make unannounced visits to the two state prisons located in Allegany County. McKay said they, along with local AFSCME union president Tony Sines, were able to speak with corrections officers to see how staffing levels affect them…

 

 

 

 

 

“They’re exhausted. They’re absolutely exhausted. They believe in the mission. They believe they are doing what they were hired to do but because we’ve not been able to solve the staffing crisis, it just adds and compounds to it.”

McKay said the state needs to make corrections a funding priority…

“When you’ve got somebody who’s tired, both physically and mentally, my concern is that they’re not going to make a good decision which may put somebody else in harm’s way.”