From Stateline an Initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts:
HOUSTON — The pay is rising — but so are average temperatures, and because many of the workplaces are not air-conditioned, toiling for this employer often means broiling in the Texas heat. The job is stable and recession-proof but also potentially dangerous, with an ever-present threat of violence.
There are drawbacks to being a prison guard in Texas, but there are advantages, too. Wearing the gray and blue uniforms of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Frederick Simon and Kieshi Booker accentuated the positives as they looked for recruits at a recent job fair in the Gulfton neighborhood of southwest Houston.
Simon, 61, told potential job applicants that in his 34 years as a corrections officer, he has been promoted numerous times and has earned a salary that has enabled him to “take care of my wife, my family.” For Booker, 45, working in Texas prisons is a family tradition: Her father was a corrections officer, as are several other relatives.
Simon and Booker, aided by two plainclothes recruiters, scored some successes: In three hours, they received 37 applications and held 15 interviews, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. But there are thousands of empty slots to fill.
In February, 8,043 of the 24,020 jobs inside the Texas correctional system were vacant, an all-time high. A recent pay raise has helped lower that number to just under 7,000. But Bryan Collier, executive director of the agency, said staffing remains the “most significant operational issue.” Continue reading >>>
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