At a state prison in south Alabama plagued by violence, some correctional officers are choosing not to show up for work.
Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton says six corrections officers called in sick for the third shift Sunday at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Nine officers failed to show up for the same shift last week. Three of those correctional officers have since resigned.
Horton says the officers haven’t announced an official strike or given any demands to the department. But he says the officers’ concerns about workplace safety and security at the facility are “understandable due to understaffing and overcrowding.”
A corrections officer at Holman died last month after he was stabbed by an inmate. In March of this year, inmates took control of a prison dormitory, set multiple fires and stabbed the prison’s warden. A similar disturbance occurred in August.
The Alabama Public Radio news team is currently producing a series of investigative reports on prison reform and justice reform in Alabama.