Mr. Speaker, the hiring of 1,000 new correctional officers is not at all inconsistent with the desire to reduce the prison population. On the contrary, it is good news for corrections. It is consistent with our goal to have effective corrections.
Correctional officers do not simply perform guard duty. They participate in programming, case management, risk assessment and provide proactive intervention measures.
In summary, they will reduce the individual caseloads of officers resulting in more effective corrections and will bring stability to some of the institutions.