Government

Union, Corrections face off on prison patrols

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By WEI YU
Capital News Service
LANSING – The Department of Corrections is looking at new technologies to reduce staffing costs without reducing security. According to the department, 27 prisons will no longer have armed perimeter patrols 24 hours a day. It also will change the job classifications of some corrections officers in April as a cost-saving strategy. However, union leaders say the move could endanger the public and staff. Corrections Director Daniel Heyns said the changes will reduce the $2 billion Michigan spends annually on prisons, about one third of the state’s general budget.

Government

Prison population continues to drop

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By XINJUAN DENG
Capital News Service
LANSING —- Michigan has its smallest prison population since 1997. “Prison populations have been dropping in the last five years,” said Russ Marlan, the public information officer at the Department of Corrections. Michigan prisons had 42,940 inmates at the end of December, compared to a peak of 51,554 in March 2007, according to a new department report. “It’s good news,” said David Moran, clinical professor of law at the University of Michigan. “As of 2008, the U.S. had the highest incarceration rate in the world.