The Maryland correctional officers union is criticizing plans to deal with staffing shortages by giving incarcerated people unsupervised recreation time, saying the move would place both prisoners and officers in danger.

Union officials on Wednesday said the plans were distributed at Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland, which has more than 240 correctional officers, sergeants, lieutenants and majors. The maximum-security facility has the capacity to hold about 1,700 prisoners.

The plans, which were reviewed by The Banner, call for recreation areas to be supervised remotely by a group of correctional officers stationed in a control tower. They advise officers to stay out of recreation areas while prisoners are there unless there is an emergency, in which case they would need to secure backup and approval from a supervisor before entering.

In a statement, AFSCME Maryland President Patrick Moran called the plans a “sad and dangerous attempt” by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to offer recreation time to prisoners “with zero regard for the egregiously low staffing levels at the institution and the alarming danger these new protocols will put both inmates and officers in.”

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“What if multiple units need a response? What if there are not enough supervisors?” Moran said. “An emergency is going to happen, and someone is going to get killed because officers aren’t able to respond in time and keep everyone safe.”

In response to the union’s statement, Keith Martucci, spokesperson for the Maryland corrections department, said that correctional officers “will maintain constant supervision from adjacent areas that provide clear and unobstructed views of all activity and movement.”

“This will ensure the protection of officers — no matter the staffing levels — while enabling quick and appropriate responsiveness should an incident occur," Martucci said.

The call-out from the union comes amid an unprecedented spike in prison homicides last year that has continued into this year.

The staffing strain at Maryland prisons, along with rising assault rates, have also led to frequent lockdowns, which can agitate prisoners and create conditions that contribute to violence, according to messages from incarcerated people to The Banner

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The union emphasized that assaults in Maryland prisons are at an all-time high, and have nearly doubled in the last five years.

Martucci, the department spokesperson, said that corrections officials have increased hiring efforts, launched a camera upgrade program and expanded the capacity of its crisis de-escalation training program.

“We are seeing signs of this progress in common areas of facilities, which operate under continuous direct supervision and camera coverage,” Martucci said.