Penitentiary police, never-ending staffing crisis at Arginone

“The prison in Ferrara lives a moment of very high tension finding one very serious shortage of staff which finds no precedent.” The complaint comes from Francesco Campobasso, regional secretary of Sappe, the autonomous prison police union, who warns of a “problematic situation for several yearsbecome increasingly unsustainable with obvious prejudice for the maintaining safety to the prison in via Arginone”.

“A physical lack of staff police and other operatorswhich can seriously lead – continues Campobasso – to running the risk of paralysis and of absolute criticality to achieve institutional objectives. In fact, the lack of staff does not allow us to guarantee the coverage of the institute’s minimum safety measures on a daily basis. He comes the very integrity of the policemen was compromised with the total compression of constitutionally guaranteed rights such as weekly rest and holidays. Unfortunately, it was equally noted the absence of feedback and useful measures by the administration capable of meet the needs of the Ferrara structure“.

The regional secretary of Sappe adds: “The data in our possession they make us reflect on the current emergency situationbecoming necessary further represent the delicacy of the moment in which the structure of the prison of Ferrara and of the unpostponable is located urgent need to prepare a work plan that restores the necessary increase in the workforce assigned to the department. The organization of the Ferrara penitentiary establishment has been drastically affected by a reduction in staff due to issues related to national mobility which has resulted in a strong scaling of the actual workforce, in a context in perennial difficulty and whose data unmistakably testify to the criticality of the current historical moment”.

Specifically, the trade unionist highlights, “the current staffing plan, in reference to what was foreseen in the 2017 PCD, is equal to 212 units of staff with the following breakdown: that administered is 184 units for all roles, of which 20 are seconded to other service locations and for various reasons, which is why the current force amounts to a total of 164 units. Of which at the same time 29 units belonging to the role of non-commissioned officers counterbalance the 135 units in the qualification of agents/assistants (which includes a member of the blue flames who does not provide operational service). To date, the employable force has become 124 units“.

“The emergency – he points out – is mainly the result of wrong policies, the result of choices that turned out to be unsuccessful and dangerous. But in all of this it is as if the leaders of the Department of Penitentiary Administration did not realize the real situation. In all of this the prison administration decides to also cut overtimemaking institutional services even more difficult. And in this, security is emasculated and significantly reduced“.

Campobasso concludes: “We believe that the penitentiary administration department must urgently address the problem of operator safety, which also involves increasing the staff of both penitentiary police and civilian personnel operatingand so that dignified working conditions can finally be implemented“.

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