Understaffing has always been an issue for guards in detention centers, but since the pandemic, the issue has only worsened. The pandemic, the overtime, the time away from families and the mental health effects have deterred people from working at correctional facilities. At Shawnee County Jail, they have felt these effects for a while. “Everybody’s tired but on top of being exhausted from working so many hours, ” said Sgt. Caitlyn Ross, “It’s now the workload because you’re now working for other officers because we don’t have them.” The department currently has 120 officers working but is budgeted for 180 workers. This means that they have 60 vacancies, which is 50% of the workers they have on staff right now.
Source: KSNT News
