Senators made aware of manpower issues at Department of Corrections

Seeing what can be done to address issues at the prison, the Legislative Committee on Public Safety met with prison leadership last Friday at the Guam Congress Building. Discussing several issues for nearly two hours, Senators Chris Barnett, Joanne Brown, Sabina Perez, and Chris Duenas took away that manpower continues to be the dominant problem for the prison.

"We are committed," said Senator Barnett, "to getting to the bottom of some of the issues with recruitment and retention, immediate issues that require immediate attention."

Senator Duenas added, "The problem is without the manpower, they can’t execute strongly their programs like RSAT and the others, which have proven to be successful."

With the new attorney general’s strict no-catch-and-release plans, senators also discussed how DOC can prepare for a potential influx of people being held at the facility. "We certainly want to provide the support to DOC so they can absorb that that and our community can feel safer until the cases with these individuals are addressed. But having them out and continuing to harm our people, I don’t think any of us find that acceptable," Senator Brown said.

"And if we can also recognize the Department of Corrections has made a lot of advancements this past couple years and what they need is more support and funding to continue the good work that they are doing," Senator Perez stated.

The talks also included speeding up the Department of Administration's hiring process, which the committee hopes to work out with that agency's oversight chair, Senator Joe San Agustin.