REAL REFORM IS NEEDED IN MASSACHUSETTS DOC, NOT ‘SMOKE AND MIRRORS’

“There is a cruelty that lurks in some men’s souls which is only released when they have other men in their power”. – Unknown

As other states in our country have taken part of the mass movement towards treatment and rehabilitation for their prisoners, Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) has ignored that movement all the while costing the taxpayers of Massachusetts hundreds of millions of dollars on a broken and corrupt prison system.

After last year’s criminal justice reform bill was passed through the State House, tens of millions of dollars were added to the DOC’s budget to implement those reforms throughout the prison system. As progressive minded advocates of prisoners were ecstatic over this history making bill, they forgot to address the most important part that was needed for this reform to take place, the DOC administration.

The biggest hurdle this reform bill faces is the Weld era’s prison staff that are now in charge of the DOC and each individual prison. Former Governor William Weld was famous for punishing prisoners when he was Governor in the 1990’s. He directed his DOC Commissioner to take away most of the programs and schooling the DOC offered at that time. He streamlined a new maximum-security prison to be built (SBCC), even though his DOC staff recommended more minimum-security beds. All the staff the DOC employed were taught and trained with that punishment as their focal point of their jobs, hidden under the guise of “security”.

When Governor Baker signed the reform bill, and with that the increase in the DOC budget, he must have known that a policy and mindset change was needed in the DOC administration for this reform to truly take place. Most, if not all, of the current administration and policy makers were either trained under that Weld “punishment” era or were trained by someone from that era. They were taught not to coddle the prisoners. If you do you are considered a “white hat” and weak. If a staff member wants a promotion, he or she must do it through “security” ideas and not through helping or treating the prisoners. All one must do is look at the current administration at the top of the DOC and at every prison to see this is true. The administration all come from backgrounds as either guards, caseworkers or secretaries for some administration staff member. You do not see anyone in a position of power that truly believes in treatment and programs. When we speak to the administrators about programs we are condescendingly dismissed and brushed away.

When the DOC received the big increase in their budget to deal with the programs and treatment in the reform bill, they spent the money on “security”. The DOC administration immediately spent money on buying cameras for every prison in Massachusetts. They created a new task force to work outside all the prisons, with brand new trucks and gear. They reduced the number of minimum-security beds, which costs less to house prisoners then in medium or maximum security. And in some prisons, they cut programs that were in line with the reform bill.

Massachusetts spends more money per prisoner than any other state in the country. Right around $70,000 per inmate. There are nearly 7,500 hundred prisoners and roughly 4,500 employees in the Massachusetts DOC. That is about 1 staff member for every 1.6 prisoners. It is the highest staff to prisoner ratio in the country. After hearing all those numbers, you would think that the recidivism rate in Massachusetts is one of the best in the country. Well, you are wrong. Massachusetts is not even in the top half when it comes to recidivism rates in the country. It should make you think how other states, that spend less money on their Department of Corrections, have a better recidivism rate then Massachusetts. Could it be that the other states have qualified and reform minded administrators running their prison systems?

As a prisoner in the DOC I’ve been to six different prisons. I’ve seen numerous administrations and numerous administration changes over the years. Each administration thinks they can run a prison better than their predecessors. I’ve been through all the policy and regulation changes. Some administrations micromanage their prisons and some just don’t care what happens in their prisons. What I’ve notice recently though is the Massachusetts DOC has adopted the ‘smoke and mirrors’ approach to running their prisons. They put out reports that certain programs are up and running at a prison. Currently at NCCI-GARDNER they list over 40 programs that are available to the prisoners. They are listed in the inmate orientation manual and the DOC Program Description Booklet. But the problem is about half of the programs listed are no longer available to the prisoners. With the increase in the DOC budget for programming how is it that there are now less programs available then what the DOC promotes to the public? Smoke and mirrors.

It is widely believed that what the DOC did with the increase in the budget was to reward the workers and unions that publicly supported Governor Baker in the last gubernatorial race. After all, that is what Bakers’ mentor, Weld, did in the 1990’s when Baker worked in the Weld administration. Correctional Officers (guards) now make over $100,000 a year with overtime. As long as Baker keeps on putting money in the guard’s pockets, they’ll always vote for him. It’s a quid pro quo situation.

What is needed to fix this corrupt system is a true audit of the prison system. From top to bottom. With the increases in the prison population in the 1990’s came along an increased budget and an increase in the number of staff the DOC needed to run the prisons and administration offices. When the inmate population was over 10,000 the DOC could at least justify to the public that all that staffing was needed to run the DOC. But, with the inmate population cut by 30% over the last decade the DOC administration has not made an equal 30% cut to their staffing. Why does the DOC need staffing for over 10,000 prisoners when they only have 7,500 prisoners currently with expectations there will be fewer people going to prison? Because those staff members will vote for Governor Baker. Wouldn’t the taxpayers of Massachusetts like to see a 30% cut to the over five hundred-million-dollar DOC budget?

At least to me it seems that everyone knows the prison system is broken. But the problem is the people who broke it are the ones who are trying to “fix” it. How is it that the people who are the farthest away from the problem are the ones who are trying to implement the changes? I cannot remember the last time I’ve been asked what would be needed to address the issues regarding reform in the DOC, nor has any other prisoner I know have been asked either. When a true audit of the DOC is done, when everyone’s input is included and heard, that’s when you can start talking about real reform.