War with Iraq Could Mean Fewer Prison Guards

By Rob Masse on Thursday, March 6, 2003.

listen:

In Governor Craig Benson's proposed budget he calls for a ten percent cut from the Department of Corrections.

That could mean trouble if the United States goes to war.

Governor Benson?s proposed cut could save over seven million dollars, but 108 people working in the state prison system face lay-offs.

Of the twelve hundred people who work for the Department of Corrections, over eighty are military reservists.

They could be called to duty the U.S. attacks Iraq.

Kathleen Anderson is a Navy reservist.
She is also manager of the State Prison Psychiatric Unit.

ANDERSON: 28 seconds
OUTCUE: ?extremely dangerous for the staff left behind, and also for the inmates.

But Lisa Currier of the D.O.C. Human Resources departments says a war doesn?t necessarily mean all reservists will be called.

CURRIER: 8 seconds
OUTCUE: Through Desert Storm we had about 12 folks called.

Still, some Department of Corrections staff believe that behavior at the prisons could get out of hand.

Currently, the state?s prisons house 25 hundred inmates.

And the ratio of guards to inmates is 1 to 3.

Sergeant Gary Smith of the Men?s Prison in Concord believes that staff reduction could lead to some dangerous situations.

SMITH: 14 seconds
OUTCUE: ?Which is going to come about from the elimination of programs.

If the prisons do lose some of their reservists to war, the department plans to rehire some of the employees affected by the lay-offs.

However, Jeff Lyons doesn?t think there will be any problems resulting from the proposed budget.

LYONS: 22 seconds
OUTCUE: ?however, we have never had all of them called up at any given time.

The governor?s budget still has to be approved by state legislators before any actions take place.

For NHPR News, I?m Rob Masse?