PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Department of Prisons (PDP) welcomed four dozen new cadets to its correctional officer ranks this week — its largest class in about a decade. The boost in recruitment follows a court order in August requiring the department to address its massively understaffed workforce.
In response to a class action lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions for inmates, a federal judge ordered PDP to put $25 million toward improving its prison system.
The department was ordered to appoint a recruiting coordinator and an outside firm, eliminate residency requirements, and implement retention measures, like an employee wellness program.
“We will be implementing programs and services to the population to hopefully improve their condition and ensure that when they’re released, they’re released back into the community in better shape and they don’t return to us,” added Prisons Commissioner Michael Resnick.
The prison system has dealt with multiple incidents, including three stabbings in a two-day span in November, a corrections officer accused of working with inmates to smuggle in drugs and weapons, and a May 2023 escape.
One of the biggest factors in improving prisoners’ surroundings is having more staff.
“The goal is to staff up so that people are at their programs, at their services, at the appointments that they need. We increase out-of-cell time,” he said.
The PDP currently has only about half the correctional officers it needs.
“In any organization, if you have half the people you need, there’s gonna be strain on the people that you have,” Resnick said. “We’re asking people to do a lot.”
The 48 newly graduated cadets cap off a year that saw 100 more people complete the training academy than in 2023. Nearly 60 trainees are expected to graduate from the next class. And, after decades of using the warden’s house at the old Holmesburg Prison, training operations are moving to a state-of-the-art facility.
“There was a facility on campus and we renovated it, and it will allow us to train simultaneously two classes of 60 each,” said Resnick. “Plus, there’s a training annex for training our current staff.”
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