WHERE HAVE ALL THE PRISON GUARDS GONE?

IDOC says they have a problem - they are losing more guards than they are hiring. Additionally, with the upturn of the economy under former President Trump, and employers such as Amazon moving into the Boise and surrounding areas starting new hires at wages significantly higher than the $15.00 an hour paid to the newest guards, many are jumping ship to work in the private sector. Fact is, anyone who is now working for the prison system WANTS to work for the system - there are too many other higher paying jobs, with fewer hours and better working conditions.

That said, working as a prison guard or other staff position at the IDOC can be a lucrative endeavor. Guards at the ISCC for example now work only 2 weeks per month - 3 days on, then 4 days off one week, then the next week, 4 days on, 3 days off with 12 hour shifts. This schedule saves hundreds of dollars a year in transportation costs to and from work compared to working 8 hour shifts 5 days a week as was the previous work schedule. Guards are allowed (and sometimes forced) to work overtime, and are now paid cash for holiday shifts and overtime hours.

A few staff supplement their family clothing budgets by taking home unopened packages of new state-issued (inmate) socks, t-shirts and underwear (which are pretty much the same as those purchased in big box stores), computer supplies (one contract staff member carried out a 10 pound Uninterruptable Power Supply in a tripled-up Walmart bag) and cases of canned roast beef.

One of the biggest recurring expenses for any family is food, and while many guards bring their own food into the facility to eat, others eat nothing but inmate meals, saving themselves hundreds of dollars a month.

While there is an official process to allow staff to pay for and eat prison meals while on duty, usually guards will simply call and order trays from food service to their units for staff consumption, telling the kitchen they don't have enough to feed the inmates. Despite this, some guards - with mouths full of burgers, pizza or ice cream - refuse to allow the inmate workers in their area to have an extra morsel, choosing instead to throw the food in the trash.

When the ISCC started serving inmates what were informally referred to as "FEMA" (pre-packaged, non-refrigerated) meals towards the middle of 2020, some guards were observed stuffing their faces with all kinds of "extra" food. In one instance a guard was seen ripping open "extra" packaged lunches sent to housing units and stuffing their ditty bags with 3 oz. pouches of Starkist® brand tuna to carry out of the facility. When asked what he was going to do with the 23 pouches of tuna he was observed hiding, the guard sheepishly said he was going to feed the neighborhood cats. Doubt it, as there were also just as many packets of peanut butter crackers and cookies hidden under the jacket he quickly stuffed in the bag to cover the food.

While the FEMA meals are long gone, it's unusual the day that guards are not seen eating "extra" inmate meals on the unit, hiding extra food in Control Pods for the next shift of guards or scarfing down fresh fruit while walking down hallways. (Do you know how difficult it is to maintain a "command presence"' with half a banana shoved in your face?). Staff refrigerators and freezers are typically stuffed full of milk, frozen Common Fare meals and ice cream - all supposed to have been either served to prisoners, or immediately returned to food service.

In documents disclosed in a public records request it is becoming clear that working for the Idaho prison system may be even more lucrative than even before realized for some staff. ISCC Inmate Management Fund expenditure records indicate that staff are purchasing food from outside vendors, like pizzas, burritos, pounds of coffee, burgers and other [as yet unidentified] items, logging their purchases only as "incentives". Without the need to explain what - or even why these "incentives" are being purchased (or who the incentives are for) - there is no real accounting for thousands of dollars per month being drained from the coffers. If the food is being purchased for specific prisoners - the question would then be why special (street) food is being provided to these inmates.

Entries in these official state documents also indicate that ISCC prison librarian staff are paid monthly salaries in excess of $4,000. This, despite the fact these staff are reportedly paid from a grant through the College of Western Idaho.

Being a prison guard in this day and age is nothing like it was in the old days. Back then, an inmate talking back to a prison guard would be dealt with in a darkened hallway or unoccupied basement, and a complaint by an inmate against a guard would end with a trip to the infirmary. These days, guards simply confiscate an inmate's property, trash your cell or throw you in the hole for "harassment". Though there are some places where guards get away with the familiar beatings (while shouting, "Quit Resisting), they are fewer and further between with each passing day, and with cases like that of Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin and his fellow officers on scene during the death of George Floyd, guards realize that the consequences of being caught (or told on by fellow officers) is greater than ever before.