In May 2021, KSFY’s Beth Warden reported on an anonymous letter from a Corrections employee alleged a whole host of problems in South Dakota’s prisons. That anonymous complaint prompted Governor Kristi Noem to fire top Corrections officials and promise all sorts of reforms. Yet working conditions in the State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls and other Corrections facilities remain bad, and the report Governor Noem commissioned dismissed issues like sexual harassment and nepotism as “perceptions“.
A new anonymous complaint from a Corrections staffer fearful of retaliation from management supports the impression that the Governor isn’t solving the problems in Corrections. Beth Warden reports that this new letter, from a different staffer than the May 2021 complaint, says Corrections is fudging numbers:
Our I-team asked if he believes skewed information is being reported to Secretary of Corrections Kellie Wasko.
“I do,” he said. “With the staff numbers, it looks as if we’re better staff, but we’re really not” [Beth Warden, “Second Anonymous Letter from South Dakota Correctional Officer Says Little Has Changed,” KSFY, 2022.06.11].
…and failing to address problems with staffing, equipment, and pay:
And the pods, where staff review security cameras and open gates, are unmanned more than reported. The claim is no more than five minutes, but the officer says that’s not the case.
“These pods have been unmanned for an entire night,” he said.
Since the first anonymous letter, followed by a visit from Governor Noem, more equipment was brought in, but it didn’t meet their need. Proper fitting vests and left or right-handed gun holster belts are still in short supply. Staff is pulled from training to cover shifts. He believes these issues need to be taken seriously.
…The correctional officer believes the low pay is also a detriment to enticing future applicants, considering the risk of the job for the paycheck and benefits received [Warden, 2022.06.11].
Maybe when Noem recovers from her latest campaign trip to California, she can sit down with Beth Warden and with her Corrections staff and discuss what the state needs to do to solve its prison problems for real.
One item of government malfeasance, at SD DOC, and virtually all levels of government is the legislatures and executives resource SD DOC (and agencies) at a level of 100% filling full time employee positions. When SD DOC faux leaders fail filling positions, they then direct funds allocated for salary to pet projects. Thus agency leaders are incentivized to NOT FILL authorized full time positions. Recall these same agency faux leaders testified to the legislatures that their agency NEEDED these positions.
The solution is the legislatures demand that SD DOC and agencies return unused personnel funds equated to positions left unfilled – to the SD general fund, annually, or dock the next years allocation by an equal value. Alternatively, if SD DOC and agencies decide to operate under-staffed from their full time employee authorization – then those unused funds allocated for personnel ought to be redistributed to the existing workers, thus increasing their compensation
SD DOC and agencies are motivated to NOT FILL positions. SD DOC and agencies are motivated to have under-resourced work forces. SD DOC and agencies are motivated to have largely dissatisfied workers.
Yes, John, what you say about the Department of Corrections keeping FTE’s open and transfering the money toward the end of the fiscal year to other projects was true fifty years ago and apparently still is.
Well John. It happens everywhere. I retired and my position wasn’t filled, two adjuncts are my replacement. Less cost etc, etc….academia isn’t what it used to be. A whole sheet load of VPs banking on enrollment.
All the whiners just need to get new jobs. If management of any business just reacted to bloggings then the whiners would whine more. These fellows just need a swift kick in the caboose to get back to work. Harder!
grudznick, your comment manifests government corruption, doing nothing to solve it. Turn in your social security and medicare as not being worthy of it.
If the federal government, Mr. John, reacted the way the whiner-enablers on the blogs wanted them to every time somebody getting a well deserved and earned Social Security pittance, those of us getting one would be richer-than-rich. You can’t make these whiners happy. They will just keep whining. If they don’t like their jobs, they should go back to being a garbage man or whatever.
Well, Grudz, one of the problems we have in this country is that the old timers, who worked very hard and took what pay was offered without complaint, had some time off during Covid and discovered they liked the time off and could just as well retire than keep working to 70 and beyond. They left, many to take part time jobs at something they liked or develop a service or product they could sell as a hobby. There is no one in the pipeline to replace them. The working years of the “Baby boom” generation are at an end. So your simplistic solution to just work harder, your contributions will ultimately be rewarded…which was never particularly true, is now definitely baloney as the scarce new workers in the pipeline demand higher starting wages than the old timers made in the same job after 40 years in harness.
The ones who are not playing dress-up like they are shooting a movie montage are in trouble. All the comfy, sturdy, secure systems aren’t really there anymore because the wanna-be shot-callers are frauds. People want to work. They want to feed their kids, fill their tank, pay their rent, and buy an 1/8. That shouldn’t upset anybody. It still keeps the yuppy scum sitting pretty. But it only works if the pooty-lips do their part too: make sure to not run out, make safety a priority, and sign the damn checks. They need to quit scrying into their black mirrors to obsess about themselves. Bunch of heretics.
Just like the prison and school meltdowns, what happened with the Amber Alert system so many people worked their tails off lobbying to create a necessary, pragmatic, national protocol? On Friday night, the TV did the alert sound and the text scroll on the screen announced Amber Alert, the date, and time. That was it. The alien, unintelligible AI voice said something about a juvenile….four zero L-B-S….brown hair… nothing else could be deciphered. My buddy and I both had our phone settings already turned on to receive Amber Alerts, but no alert was issued through either of our devices. We simultaneously searched the internet. We scoured the Amber Alert official page, the AG website, Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse, we clicked every site the search engines came up with until we scrolled to the end of the internet. Seriously. Nothing. No location. No vehicle. No photo. No description. Not even a phone number with a person on the line to inquire about the 40 pound, brunette minor.
Yet another practical system some crappy superintendent or what have you decided to no longer practice, which will cost lives, is the Tornado Drill. Every June, we always practiced Severe Weather Awareness. The city rang the tornado bell and our teachers showed us where our class’s designated spot was to crouch down and we discussed our fears so we understood what was happening. Starting this year, that will no longer be a region-wide drill. The weather didn’t lighten up so why was something as important as adequate jails and finding abducted kids scrapped?
If the weather keeps flexing like it wants to and the ones getting paid the big bucks to run things keep dropping the ball because they are too busy to play their position, let alone know what quarter it is and what play was called, there will be hungry times. The ones still putting some food on the table and a roof over their family and working for that fuel to be able to work deserve a fat sack because they are the thing keeping it strung together. Instead of attaboying them, they get thrown in jails. While the jails are breaking the law! Along with the ones making the law! Sorry, I get mad when I’m scared. If you’re not pissed off or scared, you’re not paying attention. Pass the dutch.