Dangerous Prison Conditions Persist 7.23.25

I write to you today to draw your attention once again to the increasingly unsafe conditions in the state prisons in Michigan. This report is from the Chippewa Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula, and the same conditions exist at many other prisons as you will soon see in upcoming reports. The information and statistics are shocking and require your immediate attention. If the topic of unsafe state prisons sounds familiar, it’s because these conditions have been this way for years and are only getting worse.

The Chippewa prison is operating with a skeleton crew of corrections officers, well over 30% of the positions are vacant. This results in excessive, exhausting, and dangerous mandatory overtime for the officers that are still there trying to hang on. The overtime statistics are staggering- in the month of June 2025 there were 1,930 overtime shifts worked at Chippewa. Not only are the officers forced to work 16-hour shifts, but they are also being forced to do it on consecutive days, in many cases for up to 5 days in a row. This is a violation of a policy referred to as the 32-hour rule, which is a safeguard to ensure that officers have rest time between overtime shifts. They have no opportunity to live normal lives like other state employees and citizens do. Working 16 hours out of the 24 hours in the day leaves them with 8 hours to try to eat, sleep, interact with family if possible, and then return to work. They do not have time to decompress and take care of their families, take care of their homes, pets, or most importantly themselves. They’re physically and mentally exhausted, which is the exact opposite condition that employees at a prison should be. This cycle repeats every month, June is just an example.

I’m asking all of you, whether you’re a legislator, reporter, or a citizen that pays attention, how you would react if it was you, your staff, or your family members that were being forced to work exhausting hours like that?

If the exhausting hours aren’t bad enough, the officers are also working in the most dangerous conditions in the history of the Michigan prison system. Every single day the prison operates with far less officers than are required due to officer assignments being “closed”. This means there are stations in the prison that are supposed to have officers assigned to them but are left vacant. At the same time, the violence and drug use by prisoners is out of control. For the month of June 2025 at the Chippewa prison, the following statistics should alarm you- there were 12 incidents where prisoners assaulted officers, 13 incidents where prisoners threatened to harm officers, 20 incidents where prisoners assaulted other prisoners, 28 incidents where multiple prisoners were fighting, 59 incidents where prisoners were in possession of dangerous contraband or weapons, and nearly 200 incidents where prisoners were given medical treatment and/or were placed in restraints for being out of control and disruptive after smoking drugs that were sprayed or soaked on paper and books that were sent into the prison through the mail. Officers are forced to work in prisoner housing units that are full of smoke from drug use, and many have gotten sick from inhaling the smoke. Routine schedules in the prison are constantly disrupted due to officers having to respond to disruptive prisoners that are high on these drugs applied to paper. Again, that was just the month of June.

The unsafe conditions at the Chippewa prison and many other prisons need immediate attention, the officers are in danger. They’re being pushed past acceptable limits on overtime and the prisoner violence and drug use is out of control. The corrections officers need you to address these conditions immediately to ensure their safety, and the safety of other employees, citizens, and the prisoner population.

As of this morning, one of the Level 4 housing units at the Chippewa prison is on full lockdown due to a dangerous incident yesterday where a prisoner assaulted officers and was in possession of a homemade knife. As officers were restraining that prisoner, other prisoners became disruptive, and several were placed in segregation for threatening officers and threatening to riot. Officers and supervisors had to respond to the area with pepper ball guns and tear gas to maintain control.

These conditions cannot continue, it is only a matter of time before more serious incidents occur and the lid blows off one or more of these prisons. When that happens, legislators and administrators will not be able to deny that we, the corrections officers, warned them of what was coming.

B. Osborn
MCO President