Following the arrest of a correctional officer at the local county jail who is being charged with having sex with an inmate, jail officials told county leaders last week that more information could be forthcoming.
And the bulk of those investigations could involve more jail employees rather than inmates. One jail official said the facility will soon experience “some housekeeping” in connection with the inappropriate relationships between jail staff members and the inmates they are paid to oversee and keep secure. And it’s not just “relationships,” but it also involves the smuggling of contraband inside the facility.
This is a disheartening statement to hear. The Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility made headlines last year when guards went on a strike, demanding more pay in comparison to the salaries in other facilities across the state. The pay increase was small, but it was an increase.
But this newspaper was told that a lot of the contraband arriving at the local jail could be coming in thanks to the correctional guards.
Many family and friends of inmates have been blamed in the past for bringing in contraband during visitation. We agree that is a valid argument to make. But with many facilities shutting down visitation to fight the spread of COVID, why was contraband still arriving in large numbers?
This week’s most recent arrest at the jail reminds us that contraband is still coming in and that sexual relationships between guards and inmates are still very prevalent.
The contraband issue is not just an issue within our local facility. All across the country, low-paid employees in understaffed facilities have found other ways to compensate for a small paycheck. True, contraband is probably going to come in one way or another. But having dirty staff aids to that problem.
Contraband is not just drugs. It is tobacco products, weapons and, of course, cell phones. And in a correctional facility, a phone can be just as dangerous as a drug deal.
We hope that jail officials take this problem as seriously as it is. Putting salary levels out of the picture, let’s look at the type of employees the facility is hiring to make up for its low staff numbers. A warm body to fill a time slot is not the solution. We need qualified employees who are there for the right reason, not to score an extra load of cash in exchange for smuggling in contraband. And we certainly do not need employees who see the prison as a dating service with the inmates.
If this pattern continues, the inmate population will continue to rise. Only this time it will be thanks to the corrupt guards who exchanged their uniform blues for stripes.
