The president has refocused government resources in apprehending and deporting undocumented immigrants. At the same time the Department of Justice has rescinded an order to phase out the use of private prisons. This move seems to indicate that private prisons will be needed (and utilized) to house the thousands of individuals who will be apprehended and held for deportation proceedings. 

Having personally witnessed the culture of private prisons where profits are foremost in the minds of “corrections officials,” and where inmate programming, food and other necessities are a low priority, I am concerned that private businesses inherent focus on profits will lead to a costly increase in 8th amendment (Cruel and Unusual Punishment) violations. 

Historically, private prisons have held approximately 65 percent of all detainees, usually along the southern border.  In some states, private prisons also hold a portion of federal and state inmates. 

Many of these companies boast of having former U. S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials on their staff, however, it’s well known that legions of former BOP staffers leave their employment because of the companies’ focus on profits over inmates’ basic human rights. 

We should not forget the reasons our government sought to distance itself from private prisons in the first place.  Those reasons include escapes (due to inadequate staffing), violence, and a culture of dehumanizing inmates. The concept of simply warehousing inmates is not consistent with contemporary corrections thinking because most offenders eventually return to society. 

In the United States, we supposedly incarcerate our citizens for four reasons: punishment, retaliation, incapacitation and (most important) rehabilitation.  A profit driven business is not concerned with rehabilitation – and why would they?  It would be like asking Exxon Mobil to invest money in solar powered energy.

It has been widely recognized that the United States over-incarcerates its citizens.  Through the years, tough talking politicians legislate laws and introduce sentencing enhancements that encourage more incarceration and confine people for longer periods of time. 

Wealthy companies have been known to influence politicians to continue passing laws and enhance penalties so their revenue stream continues.  In one particularly disturbing case, a Pennsylvania judge was sentenced to 28 years in prison for accepting over $1 million in bribes from private companies for sentencing youths to a privately run detention center. 

Privatizing work like paving, rubbish retrieval, etc. are cost effective measures that government agencies could and should employ.  But public safety and corrections are businesses that should never be privatized. 

Law enforcement and corrections agencies are not profit driven – how can solving a rape case or changing criminogenic behavior be profitable? Investigations sometimes take years and changing one’s thinking and behavior may take a lifetime. Simply put – no profit driven rubric can be applied. 

Private correctional employees are often hired quickly with little or no regard for their background, unlike at the York County Jail where applicants undergo a stringent vetting process that includes a background check and polygraph examination. 

Once approved, a candidate must complete a six-week Department of Corrections approved training course, followed by an additional three weeks of on-the-job training, and a probationary period.  We have several thousand dollars invested in an individual before they even start working on their own. 

Typically, only 75 percent of all new hires will be working at the jail in two or three years. Some leave of their own volition and some are encouraged to leave during their probation period because they posed a risk to the safety and security to the institution. 

After investing thousands of dollars in an individual, correctional managers must make difficult decisions to let an employee go – how many private companies would let a person go after that type of investment?

Public safety managers should prudently manage public monies.  However, they answer to the public, not a small board of investors. 

And that is the difference – the first priority of all public officials is public safety and correctional officials must remain focused on humanely treating those entrusted to their care.  Most offenders will eventually be returned to the community where our hope is that they are contributing members.