Tension is brewing at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, and it’s not because of the inmates at the ACI.
The union that represents the state’s correctional officers fired off a letter to Governor Dan McKee this week urging him to “appoint a permanent director of corrections and seek qualified candidates for the position from communities across the country.”
The interim director, Wayne T. Salisbury Jr., has been in place since Patricia Coyne-Fague stepped down in January 2023 for a job overseeing public works with Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.
In the letter, union president Richard Ferruccio wrote that officers and inmates are less safe under Salisbury’s leadership, pointing to an increase in assaults on officers and fights among inmates, a spike in drug use by inmates, and uncontrolled technology use by inmates that he claims allows them to coordinate gang violence.”
The Brotherhood has raised these safety concerns repeatedly with the acting leadership and have been repeatedly met with silence,” Ferruccio wrote. He wrote that there’s currently a shortage of 93 correctional officers.McKee’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The bigger picture: It’s unclear if McKee is seeking to remove the interim tag from Salisbury’s title, but that appointment would require Senate confirmation. The union is signaling that it will oppose such an appointment.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.