Legislators raise more concerns about increase of violence in Oklahoma prisons. 'It's serious and real'

A state legislative leader says he's concerned that violent incidents, deaths and rapes will increase in Oklahoma prisons if something doesn’t change.

State Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, chair of the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee, said Wednesday his office receives about 30-40 calls a week from inmates, inmates’ families and former employees who say the Oklahoma Department of Corrections isn’t doing enough to address these issues. Humphrey made the statement during a committee meeting at the state Capitol.

Humphrey attributed problems in state prisons to lack of staff.

Others agreed. State Rep. Danny Williams, R-McLoud, said he takes these concerns seriously. He's been notified of things that need to be addressed and knows they're short-staffed.

A Tulsa-area news station, Fox 23, which had received a video of an assault, reported an officer allegedly sexually assaulted an inmate. The officer was fired and arrested after a state Corrections Department internal investigation.

“It’s serious and it's real,” Wiliams said.

During the meeting, Williams formally asked the Corrections Department to provide correctional officer-to-inmate ratios at the Mabel Bassett and John H. Lilley facilities.

Emily Barnes, founder of the advocacy group Hooked on Justice, said she doesn't think the staff numbers given by the department are accurate and, in fact, are lower than reported.

More: Oklahoma state prisons plagued by violence, one of the highest homicide rates in the nation

Humphrey said he thinks the department is covering up a staff shortage, and "when we sweep it under the rug, we're not doing a service to the state of Oklahoma."

“[There’s] a large amount of Oklahoma citizens in our custody and for these things to go on, I think we have to address [it],” he said.

The state Corrections Department's most recent weekly inmate count on March 25 showed 22,924 people incarcerated, from community correctional centers to maximum security facilities.

How the Department of Corrections reacted to issues raised by Oklahoma lawmakers

At a news conference after the meeting, Kay Thompson, the Correctons Department's chief of media relations, said she was familiar with some of the issues raised by Humphrey and Williams, but not with others. In a media statement, the department said Humphrey made "vague" and multiple untrue claims.

"Rep. Humphrey's commenting deaths within our facilities were preventable is pure speculation," Thompson said.

The department said its inspector general’s office has not received any reports from Humphrey and has not received any reports from outside law enforcement agencies. Humphrey said he turned over the information to the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice.

Humphrey said three cases of meningitis had recently occurred in state prisons, but the department said one inmate died and another presented with symptoms but was cleared after extensive tests. The state Corrections Department said it followed health protocols to mitigate the spread. The Oklahoman followed up with the Oklahoma State Department of Health but has not received confirmation.

Opinion: Oklahoma needs to focus on prison reforms, not exploiting inmates with rodeo

As for staffing levels, the department said 30 cadets graduated earlier this month and more applicants are in the interview process. The agency said staff attrition rate is declining, a “clear indication of the culture shift within DOC.”

“ODOC has been open about the need for more security staff," she said.

Thompson said violent incidents have decreased in state prisons since October, after the department revised its misconduct policy and took strategic moves to house certain security threat groups together, which reduces the violence between gangs.

“We’re actually making strategic, data-driven decisions to decrease the violence inside our facilities,” she said.

The 30 to 40 calls a week Humphrey's office gets and the 5 to 10 that Barnes, from Hooked on Justice, said she receives are usually about violence, death and extortion that inmates say are not isolated incidents, both of them said. Humphrey added that even though inmates are serving a prison sentence, they do not deserve to live in such conditions.

“We have not even had a conversation on what corrections should be ... changing inmate behavior, so when they come out, they become a part of the workforce and taxpayers and not a burden on the system,” he said.

Humphrey has raised concerns in the past. In January, he called for an independent investigation into the department after claims of increased violent assaults against inmates and state Corrections Department staff, as well as an examination of the agency’s budget and how the department spends its funds.

“Stabbings, assaults and rapes appear to have become a near daily occurrence,” Humphrey said in calling for the investigation.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Violence in Oklahoma prisons will increase without reform: Lawmaker