Protests at Marquette Branch Prison | News, Sports, Jobs

By VICKIE FEE

Editor of the magazine

MARQUETTE – Strikes broke out outside the Marquette Branch of the prison this week as the Michigan Corrections Organization held a series of protests to draw attention to staff shortages and working conditions at the prison.

Byron Osborn, president of the Michigan Corrections Organization, has released a series of reports to alert lawmakers to the additional danger to prison staff that the organization says is posed by severe staffing shortages.

Upper Peninsula prisons have high vacancies, with Marquette Branch Prison and Baraga Corrections Facility each having 34% vacancy, Alger Correctional Facility having 33% vacancy, and Chippewa Corrections having 30% vacancy.

The staff shortage has led to numerous mandatory overtime hours and double shifts.

Correctional officers at Marquette Branch Prison, a maximum security prison, work under high stress and dangerous conditions. According to a recent report from the MCO, officers are forced to work double shifts several times a week. It also found that the prison operates with far fewer officers than required on a daily basis, resulting in prisoners' activities being limited or stopped altogether. This leads to riots and attacks on officers when prisoners become frustrated.

“These are the highest security prisons in the state. These are generally not the most cooperative prisoners. There's a reason they're at Level 5. The reason is because they're dangerous and generally don't follow the rules.” said Osborn.

On Wednesday, correctional officers demonstrated outside the entrance to the Marquette Branch prison to raise public awareness of the severe staffing shortages and the dangerous and unfair conditions for prison staff.

According to Adam Earley, communications coordinator for the Michigan Department of Corrections, 2,000 correctional officers have resigned over the past six years and the Michigan Department of Corrections has suffered a net loss of more than 1,250 officers.

“The number of job openings is much higher in the Upper Peninsula than in Lower Michigan,” he said.

A recent MCO report shows that the average vacancy rate at UP in 2024 was 23.9%, compared to a statewide vacancy average of 16%. In August, the vacancy rate at UP was 24.9%, compared to 10.8% at Lower Michigan facilities.

MCO has released a summary of the July incidents that occurred at Marquette Branch Prison.

From July 1 to July 28, correctional officers worked 785 hours of overtime. Of those, 326 shifts were mandatory overtime, and most of the rest worked voluntary overtime to avoid mandatory shifts. There were 88 violations of the MDOC's 32-hour rule, a policy designed to protect officers from excessive overtime. In July, there were also 519 “closed” Officer positions in all three shifts. A closed officer position means that no officer was stationed at a required position in the prison.

Dangerous incidents in July included: Police officers broke up a fight between three inmates in the Level 5 prison yard who were fighting with weapons. The Level 5 prison yard for the general population was canceled due to disruptive inmates and staffing shortages. Police officers broke up a fight between inmates in a housing unit and used stun guns to break up the fight. Inmates started a fire in a housing unit that police officers put out. Security patrols were interrupted because inmates threw bodily fluids and other objects through cell bars in an attempt to attack police officers. Body armor and a pepper spray gun were used to protect police officers from attack. And the prison yard was canceled due to several inmate fights.

Numerous correctional officers sustained injuries in the incidents reported for July.

“Some of the injuries required medical treatment,” Earley said.

A correctional officer academy began in July with 187 new recruits, and MDOC is currently actively recruiting for the next academy, which MDOC says is scheduled to begin in October. Recruits in this class are eligible for a starting salary of $21.50 per hour, reaching a maximum salary of $68,500 per year (before overtime) after three and a half years of service as a correctional officer.

State Senator Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Township of the 38th District) said officials are making great sacrifices to keep the facilities running.

“It is a dangerous time,” he said. “When you look at how much overtime they're working. When you look at how many mandates they're working, how many hours, it's not healthy for our workers. It's not good for their families. It's certainly not fair to them and it's a dangerous thing.”

Vickie Fee can be reached at 906-228-2500, extension 542. Her email address is [email protected]