Barbs Fly in FL Private Prison Conflict
Posted January 31, 2012 09:38 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida correctional officers say a proposal to privatize some prisons amounts to the government picking winners and losers. They claim the losers will be correctional officers who would be unemployed or displaced, along with their families and communities. Proponents, including private prison operator GEO Group, counter that privately-managed prisons are money-savers for the state.
Link:
GEO Group
Captain Mike Riley, a corrections officer in Ocala,
says private operators may throw current officers out
the main prison gate.
"One of the things that the senators have said they'll
put in the bill is they're recommending that they hire
current employees, but there is nothing that makes it
mandatory that they hire them."
Captain Riley points out that private prison operators
typically cut staff to save money. He predicts the
higher unemployment that would result will devastate
local communities and businesses. He also claims the
private companies choose staff members who were fired by
the State Department of Corrections.
"I do know that the current prisons here in Florida that
are private, a lot of the employees that are working for
them are employees that have been fired from the
Department of Corrections for, usually, discipline
reasons."
The state Senate Budget Committee voted 13 to five for a
massive expansion of prison privatization in south
Florida. The bill is set to go to the full Senate today.
The plans include closing correctional facilities in
Gainesville, Jefferson, Monticello, Polk City, Raiford
and Vero Beach, and women's prisons in Fort Lauderdale
and near Tampa.