A union representing Michigan corrections officers has called for Governor Gretchen Whitmer to send in the National Guard to help with the staffing crisis. Now some lawmakers are calling for a change as well.
State Senator Ed McBroom, as part of the oversight committee, has documented the Department of Corrections abuse of overtime rules, and says prison guards are being forced to work more than 80 hours a week, sometimes more than 32 hours in two days.
“And so you work 16 hours, you drive an hour back home, you get a few hours sleep, get a sandwich, get back on the road, drive back again, and do it again all the next day, and then the third day after that,” McBroom said. “This is terrible work life balance.”
McBroom is calling on Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington to put a short term and long term plan together to fix the staffing issue, or to step aside so new leadership can come up with a better plan.
