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Correctional officer testifies staff cuts, safety and training harming prison operations
Summary
A 23‑year correctional officer told the Senate subcommittee staffing reductions, restricted disciplinary authority and increased inmate aggression are eroding safety and the ability of staff to implement rehabilitative programs, and urged lawmakers to restore staffing, hands‑on training and meaningful consequences for violent behavior.
Joseph Cisneros, a correctional officer and member of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, testified to the Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 that staffing cuts and policy changes have left many institutions short‑staffed and constrained officers' ability to respond to aggression inside prisons.
"Staff reductions are not just budgetary line items. They are lives," Cisneros said, describing assaults on staff as "becoming routine almost daily." He told the committee that reductions in custody staff and limits on disciplinary tools have, in his view, weakened officers' options to keep housing units and programs safe.
Why it matters
Cisneros framed staffing and training as core public safety concerns for both staff and incarcerated people. He said programs intended to rehabilitate people in custody depend on adequate custody supervision to protect participants and staff;…
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