The top of Nebraska’s jail system, Scott Frakes, is leaving subsequent month, after practically eight years on the job. Fred Knapp of Nebraska Public Media Information sat down with him lately to ask about among the issues – and progress – Frakes has seen within the jail system. This dialog has been edited for readability and size.

When Scott Frakes got here to Nebraska in 2015, Nebraska’s prisons had been in turmoil. The system was overcrowded, and prisoners had been launched sooner than their sentences allowed. Workers morale was low, turnover was excessive. Throughout Frakes first seven years, the inspector common for corrections says, the entire full time workers within the Division of Correctional Companies dropped greater than 15 %.

In a particular legislative listening to final yr, jail employees testified concerning the risks of understaffing. Amongst them was Jeff Seeley, a lieutenant on the state jail in Tecumseh.

“It is harmful. It is scary. And I routinely put folks into positions the place they find yourself being assaulted…I fear I’m going to publish any individual to a place and that is perhaps their final day. Time and time once more all through historical past, will increase in overcrowding and reduces in employees have at all times led to violence. Have at all times led to dying. And we’ve got to do one thing about it,” Seeley mentioned.

After years of pressure on the problem, there was a breakthrough. Final July, the state and the union representing jail safety staff signed a brand new contract containing important pay will increase. In our interview in his workplace, I requested Frakes about that.

Fred Knapp: On staffing, you had these massive pay raises as much as 40% this previous yr. And that seems to have made massive inroads into your issues. Is that proper?

Scott Frakes: Sure. Unimaginable progress. With over we have employed over 600 employees since January, and the protecting providers numbers are. I do not need to give a fallacious quantity. So we have, we had been at roughly 440 custody or protecting providers vacancies at December 1 of final yr. And immediately we’re sitting at about 130.

Knapp: However that was such an extended standing downside. Why not do this 4 or 5 years earlier?

Frakes: Properly, it is sophisticated. Initially, it is costly. And all of the competing calls for for {dollars}. We tried a number of methods. After which as we noticed that nice resignation, that is when issues actually went sideways, so shortly. So from March 2021, via September of 2021, we noticed the best turnover that we would ever seen on this company. And that basically elevated issues to a degree of the place we knew one thing drastic needed to occur.

Knapp: So I’ve seen a chart of turnover, and it appears to be like prefer it’s means down this calendar yr. However is that non permanent? Is {that a} sugar excessive from the pay enhance? And has the tradition modified considerably? I imply, there have been there was that listening to the place folks described all types of horror tales.

Frakes: Properly, you’ll be able to by no means relaxation in your laurels, that is for positive. So compensation and bringing folks within the door is definitely a part of the answer, however not the long run answer. It is at all times about been about what will we do totally different to retain employees, we knew that obligatory time beyond regulation was at all times a contributing downside. And obligatory time beyond regulation has nearly been eradicated.

One other factor that occurred throughout Frakes’ time in Nebraska was the 2018 execution of convicted assassin Carey Dean Moore. It was Nebraska’s first execution in additional than 20 years, and the primary by deadly injection. After I requested Frakes concerning the dying penalty, he expanded on the query:

Knapp: What are your ideas concerning the effectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent?

Frakes: Fred, I am making an attempt to consider anyone’s requested me that particular query. Let’s be real looking about crime and punishment basically. If legal sanctions are an efficient deterrent, it doesn’t matter what they’re, we must always have a complete lot much less folks in our jails and prisons. However sadly, there is a disconnect between the trigger and impact. Are the folks that consider they’ll get away with it. They’re the folks that within the warmth of the second consider it would not matter. It is value it. After which, after all, there are the folks that fill our jails and prisons after which notice, oops, that most likely wasn’t a very good choice. So I am unsure that any of the sanctions that we use have important – they assist hold sincere folks sincere, I’ve mentioned that for a very long time, that is the identical factor about locks on doorways. They hold sincere folks sincere.”

I requested Frakes about disappointments – issues he would have finished in a different way. He mentioned he works actually onerous to not have regrets. However he did point out one factor.

Frakes: I might have been much more glad with the general ending outcomes if I would have been in a position to get the brand new penitentiary in movement to a larger diploma. I really feel just like the undertaking is in movement. So I am not sad. Simply I might like to be realizing that we had been breaking floor right here in a pair months as an alternative of most likely a yr from now issues go as I hope.”

The Legislature has put aside cash for a 1,500-bed new jail Frakes proposed. However it hasn’t given last approval to constructing it.

You may hear extra of Frakes’ ideas a couple of new jail, and the place issues stand on the undertaking, by clicking on the arrow beneath: