By John Eckenrode

Last month, hundreds of members of Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association (PSCOA) descended on Harrisburg to fight for the future of SCI-Rockview, SCI-Quehanna and the community corrections centers (CCC) of Progress and Wernersville – all of which are being targeted for closure by the Shapiro administration.

The state Department of Corrections (DOC) says every employee will receive a job at another facility, which sounds easy on the surface. Until you look deeper. Three of the four facilities they’ve targeted for closure are at least an hour-long one-way drive to the closest facilities where our members could work. The lone exception is Rockview, which is located very close to Benner. There’s just one problem: Rockview will have 466 employees looking for work but Benner only has about 40 vacancies. That means Rockview staff who don’t get a job at Benner will also be forced to travel an hour a day one-way. To make matters worse, the department has already assigned incoming trainees to some of the positions in Benner and another prison targeted for transfers, SCI-Houtzdale.

For those who are able to transfer from Rockview or Quehanna, they’ll now have to spend two hours in their cars each day away from their families. Their financial reward? An extra $500 each month out of their own pockets to pay for gas because our department doesn’t help with any expenses. Commutes from those transferring from CCCs are similar, if not worse.

Closing a jail is also a death sentence for its host community. In today’s America, it’s virtually impossible for small towns to replace prisons that create hundreds, if not thousands, of direct and indirect jobs when factoring in that prisons contract with local businesses for goods and services.

Transparency also continues to be an issue. Even though we filed Right-to-Know requests about the steering committee the department used to rationalize these closures, they will not release even basic information to us. To this day, we do not know who the members of this committee are, any of their deliberations or CGL’s contract. Given that these dedicated public servants working in the jails and their families are facing an uncertain future, you’d think the department would want to be fully transparent to their people.

If these facilities close, history tells us the other jails will become more dangerous as their populations absorb more inmates. In 2019, violence in our state prisons was some of the worst I’ve seen in a quarter century of service to this commonwealth. Much of this was due to 21 of 25 prisons being over 90% capacity, including 11 over 100%. Today, violence has dropped in part because the prison population is spread more evenly. Last year, only half of all prisons were over 90% capacity and only four over 100%.

In DOC Secretary Laurel Harry’s recent Appropriations Committee hearings, she indicated that most of the violence in our state prisons was committed in only seven prisons. She was correct. But what she didn’t say was the most violent seven prisons were the ones with the highest capacity. The violent lessons learned from 2019 now are being forgotten.

Saving money at the expense of the safety of our members is too high a price to pay. In fact, are there even any real savings? As we all know, state budget math can be quite creative. The commonwealth talks about saving money by closing these prisons, but we know that’s not true. It’s just a budget gimmick. 

For example, according to a recent Senate Majority Policy Committee hearing, three state-run facilities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been closed since 2018, but their continued maintenance and upkeep has run up a $47 million tab for taxpayers — and counting. 

The committee also examined three properties that sat vacant for years before being torn down. The state spent more than $115 million maintaining the former Harrisburg State Hospital, Allentown State Hospital and SCI-Pittsburgh properties.

We filed our own Right-to-Know requests for the most recently closed state jails. Even though it’s been five years since it was shuttered, SCI-Retreat has cost the commonwealth millions of dollars. Together with two other closed prisons, Greensburg and Graterford, Pennsylvania taxpayers have paid nearly $30 million since the last inmate was transferred. 

So, do the math.

The closings of Quehanna, Rockview and two CCCs were pitched as a way to save the commonwealth $100 million. But taxpayers have spent nearly $200 million on properties that have been closed for years. The commonwealth’s contention that we’re somehow going to save millions by closing more prisons simply isn’t believable.

This isn’t putting money above public safety. It’s even worse. This is putting budget gimmickry above the safety and quality of life of our brave corrections employees, their families and communities.

John Eckenrode is president of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association.