Georgia lawmakers seek answers to deaths and violence plaguing the state’s prisons
ATLANTA– Georgia prisons continue to be understaffed and plagued by violence and deaths, according to statistics presented to state lawmakers on Wednesday.
Legislators are seeking solutions to a wide range of problems facing prisons that federal investigationSome of these problems include a sharp increase in prisoner deaths, high staff turnover and many arrests for criminal activity, and a persistent problem with illegal cell phones and drugs.
A total of 981 people have died in Georgia prisons since 2021, including 207 this year alone, according to figures Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver presented to a legislative committee holding its second meeting on the issue. The cause of 98 of those deaths is unknown. Officials are investigating 36 as homicides, Oliver said, a number that is nearly as high as the total number of homicides in the system in all of 2023. There were more prison deaths in the first six months of 2024 than there were in the same period in previous years, This was reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Widespread violence and lack of supervision by employees have led to some deaths and injuries, but about half of the homicides are the result of inmate attacks on their cellmates and rampant gang activity, Oliver said. He added that the percentage of inmates convicted of violent crimes in prison has increased in recent decades. One possible solution is to increase the number of single-person cells in the state’s prisons, he added.
However, employees are not innocent. Some have been accused with sexual abuse, assault, gang activity, and drug trafficking. Other employees have ordered inmates to attack each other, the AJC reported. Last year, at least 360 employees were arrested on suspicion of smuggling prohibited goods into prisons, although Oliver said most smuggled drugs come from visitors.
“It’s not as bad as the propaganda makes it out to be when it comes to personnel,” Oliver said.
Oliver said he has a “zero tolerance” policy for employees who violate prison rules, and that new employees are screened and trained. He said the prison system has lost more than 2,000 employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the agency’s efforts to raise wages and improve workplace culture have kept more officers on the job since the pandemic. However, vacancy rates have only declined slightly, still sitting at about 50%.
“I understand the additional sacrifices that people who work in prisons make … the pressures and the stresses and the other issues that come with that and the dangers of being there,” said Sen. Randy Robertson, a Republican from the Cataula community who formerly ran a county jail.
Cell phones are often used to coordinate attacks outside the facility and to bring drugs inside, lawmakers noted. So far this year, 10,051 cellphones have been seized from inmates, Oliver said. Last year, 14,497 were seized, compared to 7,229 in 2019.
Prison and government workers regularly conduct “shakedowns” to clear facilities of cellphones and other contraband, but outdated infrastructure makes it easier to smuggle drugs through ditches, roofs and pipes, Oliver said. It’s also difficult for workers in understaffed prisons to drones landing more often in the facilities, he said.
To effectively address Georgia’s prison problems, lawmakers should look at a range of possible solutions, including improving technology, physical conditions in prisons and programs to keep inmates occupied, Assistant Commissioner Ahmed Holt told the committee.
“This is a situation where no silver bullet is going to solve this problem,” Holt said.
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Charlotte Kramon is a staff member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-reported issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon