Report cites need for more female prison guards in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD | Against the backdrop of a rise in inmate grievances at the state's lone maximum-security prison for women, Illinois officials say they are investigating ways to boost the number of female prison guards.

Although a spokeswoman for the agency offered no details for how top prison brass may approach the situation, officials said they are exploring ways to increase gender-specific hiring.

"The Illinois Department of Corrections is committed to finding ways to increase female and minority recruitment within the department," spokeswoman Stacey Solano said.

That statement came in response to a recent report issued by the Chicago-based John Howard Association, which said it received a number of unconfirmed reports from inmates at the state's all-female maximum-security prison in Dwight that male correctional officers have acted in ways that were physically aggressive, inappropriate or sexually suggestive.

The prison watchdog organization found that the total number of grievances filed by inmates alleging staff misconduct was nearly double during the first half of 2011 compared with the entire year of 2010.

John Howard chief John Maki said male correctional officers can play an important role in female prisons, but they shouldn't be working in the cellblocks where privacy issues may arise.

"Everything is out in the open in a prison, including the showers and the bathrooms," Maki said. "Male officers in living quarters could traumatize female inmates."

Solano said female guards are critical at both male and female prisons to deal with strip searches and pat searches of both inmates and visitors.

Illinois operates all-female prisons in Dwight, Decatur and Lincoln. Compared to the massively overcrowded male prisons, the John Howard Association gives generally high marks to the operation of the state's prisons for women.

However, problems between male guards and female prisoners have occurred over the years.

In 2008, for example, two federal lawsuits alleged a pattern of sexual misconduct and repeated inmate rapes at Dwight.

The John Howard report, written after a team of observers visited the facility in August 2011, noted that a number of inmates said both male and female guards were fair, kind and even-handed. But, the report also noted concern by some prisoners over having male guards.

"A great number of inmates expressed distress over lack of privacy and the feeling that their bodies were thoroughly exposed and on display to observation and surveillance by male officers in the housing units," the report states.

According to corrections officials, the current ratio of male to female guards throughout the state's sprawling prison system is 5.4-to-1.

During fiscal years 2010 and 2011, the state hired 216 female guards and 1,236 male guards.

In the current fiscal year, 33 females have been hired compared with 107 males.

Maki commended the agency for attempting to boost the numbers.

"They understand it's important," Maki said.