Former prisons chief: While progress has been made in NC prisons, more must be done

Welcome to NC Voices, where leaders, readers and experts from across North Carolina can speak on issues affecting our communities. Send submissions of 300 words or fewer to opinion@charlotteobserver.com.

Troubling issues in NC prisons

One of the largest agencies in state government, the N.C. Division of Prisons, has had many troubling issues in the last few years.

In 2017 five correctional staff members were killed by offenders at two different correctional facilities, Bertie and Pasquotank Correctional Institutions.

Correctional Sgt. Meggan Callahan was killed during an inmate assault. Just a few months later four staff members were killed during an inmate escape attempt. They were correctional officers Wendy Shannon and Justin Smith, correction enterprises manager Veronica Darden, and maintenance mechanic Geoffrey Howe.

These fine staff members were the first to be killed as a result of offender assaults since 1991. Prior to that it had been 1975 since a staff member had been murdered.

These deaths in 2017 were a shock to those of us who had worked in corrections in our state.

By 2019, things in the Division of Prisons had not gotten much better. Prison Commissioner Todd Ishee stated in a report that the staff vacancy rate for correctional officers was nearly 21%.

On an average, two correctional officers were assaulted in state prisons each day.

While progress has been made with the agency, more remains to be done. One initiative I support during this legislative session is Senate Bill 501, which would remove the Division of Prisons from the Department of Public Safety and establish adult corrections as a separate cabinet level agency, as it is in 45 other states.

This organizational change would provide the direct attention and support our correctional system needs from the governor, the N.C. General Assembly and the public.

It would make our correctional system better. It would make our state better.

Boyd Bennett

Former Director, NC Division of Prisons 2001-2009. Department of Correction employee, 37 years.

Sen. Phil Berger and NC schools

Regarding “NC Senate leader: The Republican vision for North Carolina is clear,” (April 22 Opinion):

In 2012 when Republicans took control of the N.C. legislature, the budget was projected to include a multi-billion dollar deficit, so public schools were on the chopping block and about 7,500 teacher assistants were cut, in addition to other teaching positions.

During the 2013 session Republicans slashed taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

In 2014-15, the state budget spent almost $500 million less than what was requested to maintain the status quo in the classroom.

If we had teacher assistants in our virtual classrooms, how much better would our children be during this pandemic?

Instead of investing fully in public education, North Carolina’s Republican leaders would rather place children of color in private or charter schools.

Instead of investing in all children, only the wealthiest or those in poverty who can be bused away from their families, friends and neighborhoods can have access to the resources and connections that lead to higher education and jobs that will help them support themselves.

And the systemic racism continues. Has N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger forgotten the 2014 Harvard Study that ranked Charlotte dead last nationwide for economic mobility out of poverty?

Doesn’t Berger know about North Carolina’s accelerated school to prison pipeline? It funnels vulnerable students out of classrooms and into courtrooms by criminalizing routine disciplinary problems.

For decades now, the state has been planning for prisons rather than investing enough on all of our children.

Berger writes that North Carolina has become one of the best states in the country, yet Education Week ranked North Carolina’s K-12 public schools 37 out of 50 and gave the state an “F” for per pupil spending.

Also, 11.3% of North Carolina’s citizens are uninsured — one of the highest rates in the country and above the national average of 9.2%. Yet, our GOP legislators continue to refuse to expand Medicaid coverage for the 1 million people in North Carolina who do not have health insurance.

We can do better.

Karen DuBose, Charlotte