PRISON-GUARD SHORTAGE A `CRISIS'

Corrections Secretary Sullivan says the system cannot handle any more
prisoners after June 30. Mike Flaherty Legislative reporter

The state is short 500 prison guards, with one in seven positions open, and
the shortage is threatening the safety of guards and the flow of new
prisoners, Corrections Secretary Michael Sullivan warned Tuesday. ``We're
in a crisis,'' Sullivan told a panel of lawmakers on the Legislature's
Joint Finance Committee.

The shortage of prison guards is made worse by an already crowded prison
system, he said.

``We cannot accept any more inmates after June 30th without threatening the
safety of the correctional officers,'' Sullivan said in an interview.

As it stands, he said, prisons are double- and triple-bunking prisoners in
cells and are converting meeting and storage rooms to cell space.

The crowding is putting pressure on the remaining guards, a union official said.

``We've even got double bunking in the segregation unit (used to isolate
dangerous prisoners), and I've never seen that in 20 years,'' said Sgt.
Gary Lonzo, a guard at Green Bay Correctional Institution and president of
AFSCME Council 24, which represents the state's correctional officers.
``Tensions are really rising here.''

The Joint Finance Committee on Tuesday approved $30 million to house 1,000
more prisoners in other states. But Sullivan said he'll likely have to come
back as early as January to ask permission to ship out even more.

Wisconsin's prison population, now at 16,200, is growing by 200 prisoners a
month in a system designed for 9,600, he said.

The state is building several prison facilities, including a 500-bed
supermaximum-security prison near Boscobel. But Sullivan said that without
correctional officers, the new beds won't be of much use. And attracting
employees has been difficult.

``Our biggest competitor is a healthy economy,'' Sullivan said. The state
is having trouble keeping correctional officers because, many times, they
can make more money working in other businesses or even in county jails, he
said.

``How would you like to work for $9.11 an hour?'' Lonzo asked. Even with
pay rising 3.5 percent in July, correctional officers can jump to some
county jails and make $4 to $5 an hour more, he said. ``We're training them
and they're jumping ship. We're losing officers with 10, even 17 years of
experience.''

In July, a starting guard will make $9.43 an hour, or $19,624 a year. A
guard with 20 years of experience will make $15.39 an hour, or roughly
$32,134 a year.

Correctional officers marched on the Capitol last month to protest low pay
and poor working conditions.

Marty Beil, the union's executive director, said during the march that
union members gathered at the Capitol to ``send a message to legislators
who beat their chests about being tough on crime,'' then don't provide
enough money to keep a professional prison staff.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)