Paying the Price

For years, Nebraska's prison system has twin crises: Too many prisoners, and not enough employees to guard them. Paying the Price examines the causes and outcomes of the state's overcrowded prisons.

ABOUT THIS REPORTING

The prison system has for years faced interlocked twin crises: Too many prisoners, and not enough employees to guard them. By September 2021, the average number of prisoners reached 149.8% of the system’s design capacity. It’s projected to continue growing.

This crisis has consequences, say the former guards, former prisoners, family members, advocates and experts interviewed by the Flatwater Free Press. It cost taxpayers $31 million in overtime payments in the past two years. It keeps prisoners locked in cramped cells for days at a time. It works a dwindling correctional staff to exhaustion.

“It’s one thing to have a staffing issue. It’s one thing to have overcrowding,” said Dan Pacholke, former secretary of the Washington State Department of Corrections. “It’s a whole other challenge to have them both going on at the same time and at a very high level. Prison crowding and staff shortages are two indicators that a system is in trouble.”

Overcrowded and understaffed, prisons costly for taxpayers, unsafe for prisoners and guards

In the minutes before 5 a.m., a group of Nebraska correctional officers arrive at the Omaha Correctional Center, a few miles east of downtown.  They go inside, clock…

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