The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — A state employees group says a recent run of escapes from Oklahoma prisons can directly be attributed to low staffing levels for corrections officers.
But a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections somewhat disputes that notion.
According to DOC figures, nine inmates at four Oklahoma prisons have escaped so far in 2008, all from minimum-security facilities. 6 of those came in April from state-run prisons.
There are 1,989 corrections officers in Oklahoma who guard about 17,000 inmates held at state-run prisons. Another 574 officers could be added before the DOC’s finding limit for such positions would be reached.
Scott Barger, a former state prison correction officer who now is the deputy director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, says when there is not enough staff and posts go unmanned, loopholes in security are created.
However, DOC spokesman Jerry Massie says there is no specific evidence of a connection between escapes and staffing issues at Oklahoma prisons.