Good Morning,

 

Our summer has started out on a less positive note than I had hoped. Summer is always a dangerous time. The weather is hot and tempers are short. We have already experienced too many bad outcomes involving assaults on staff. Be watchful and wary in your yards and areas of responsibility.

 

I am grateful for the notes and words of thanks that I have received concerning our efforts to attack security vacancies. Of course, I also received a single, anonymous complaint, with the familiar whine of ‘treat everyone the same,’ (as if this agency has unlimited money and discretion) and, ‘they do not deserve it.’  Frankly, ‘deserve’ has nothing to do with it; taxpayers could never afford to pay the employees of this agency what they deserve. Instead, in an imperfect world, these incentives are aimed at the specific problem of security vacancies.

 

On a more positive note, I continue to receive complements about our treatment of visitors and family. Recently, Kirkland, Northside and Livesay have been singled out. The staff at those institutions should be commended.

 

Finally, at the recent agency managers meeting I promised a summary of the spending priorities that we set for limited non-recurring funds. These funds are limited, so we focused on agency-wide needs, as opposed to needs unique to any single institution. We simply do not have sufficient funding to address all of our needs, but this year we hope to provide the following:

 

 

A new computer at every prison, to continue our efforts to update our connectivity and communications;

 

Floor buffers and lawn equipment for institutions;

 

Radios and security equipment for security, institutions and investigations;

 

Kitchen equipment to replace obsolete and un-repairable items;

 

A pilot project for computerized and less expensive law libraries;

 

Training manuals, supplies and equipment;

 

Inmate mattresses and pillows to begin to catch up on replacement cycles;

 

Vehicles for institutions and divisions;

 

Interior fencing at Wateree and McCormick;

 

*Phone switches at Allendale and Perry;

 

*The boiler at McCormick and the lift station at Perry; and, 

 

*Over 2600 locks at Allendale, Broad River, Evans, Lieber, McCormick and Perry.

 

These * last three items were not really discretionary.

 

 

Again, please take time to address your leadership and even your shifts about the hazards of summer. Summer brings heat and heat brings fatigue. Unchecked, fatigue breeds carelessness and apathy. Already, carelessness has cost us this summer. Please address this head-on and be vigilant.

 

Have a great week !