BARAGA — On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, officers and supporters from three prisons in the Upper Peninsula held pickets to inform the public of the current dangers they face inside their workplaces with an emphasis on understaffing. State lawmakers from the Upper Peninsula stood in solidarity with the officers at their pickets and held discourse with them to learn more about their current situations as well as speak with them about possible remedies they are pursuing in Lansing.

State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-38th District, and state Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-110th District, toured Baraga Correctional Facility a few years ago and were present at pickets within their districts or districts in which their citizens work for the facility. They have seen the interior of the facility Baraga Correctional Facility and have knowledge of its troubles. Recently another lawmaker toured those same halls.

State Rep. Jenn Hill, D-109th District, toured Baraga Correctional Facility on Aug. 13 before joining the pickets earlier this week. She spoke with corrections officers of varying levels of experience, administrators, the warden and other prison staff during her visit.

“I found it sobering because what I really walked away with the most is how hyper-aware you have to be as a corrections officer when you’re on duty,” Hill said. “You can feel the toll it would take physically and mentally.”

The sight of the facility was something of a first for Hill as she said she had never seen Concertina wire stacked in the manner the facility lays it out. She first toured the Level 1 building which houses Level 1 prisoners who have the least restrictions of all prison levels. She engaged with some of the guards there and was surprised seeing two officers supervise a building which can house over 170 prisoners. Hill said that even in the Level I building that there was a sense of tension in the air.

Afterward, she went to the Level 5 housing areas which supervises the maximum security prisoners. The Level 5 buildings house far fewer prisoners and allow far less movement. Hill recalled that despite limited movement of prisoners in the maximum security units that she still sensed the tension and hyper vigilance. She noted that the facility is far more modern than Marquette Branch Prison and that Baraga reminded her of a hospital with its white walls and heavy doors.

“What I learned in there is that the people (prisoners) in Level 5 are there not because of the crime they committed, but because of their behavior while in the institution,” Hill said. “These are people who have harmed others often whether it’s another inmate or an officer or a staff person. The level of tension when you go into work there is a whole other level of stress. I was told by people there that this can shorten people’s lives.”

During her tour, she witnessed the facility respond to two fights. The first incident was called when she was meeting with the warden and prison administration. Two staff members bolted from the table in a rush to respond.

The second incident occurred when Hill was being escorted from one building to another. The radios officers have on hand sent an alert. She said that dozens of officers flocked to the building where the fight was. While Hill did not feel in any danger during the tour, she was off-put by the tense atmosphere.

“The need to have to respond, the need to jump to action, the hyper awareness that you have to have; just the toll that would take is very clear and to have to do that for 16 hours,” Hill explained. “They [corrections officers] want to keep people safe, but when you’ve been on duty for 16 hours you’re tired and I hear the same thing from nurses. They know how tired they are and they know that they’re not doing their job at their best [due to the hours]. That’s management’s … responsibility to make the conditions better for the worker.”

Hill said while talking to officers that they had concerns regarding the Michigan Department of Corrections of that she will take to the agency about how it manages the facility. One of such concerns officers mentioned was the way the MDOC spends funds in a way which appears to overlook or ignore officers’ needs.

Hill explained that the service of corrections officers is essential.

“These people are providing a public service and they’re essential workers,” she said. “I said this, like we learned in Covid, there are essential workers that we need to have there 24/7 and so what I want folks to understand is that these officers are showing up 24/7 and then having to stay for 16 hours because they have to. They’re doing it for their colleagues to make sure the place can run. If we’re going to build a middle class back, there are jobs that are essential and need to be supported. We in the state of Michigan need to think about how we want to manage this part of public safety.”