When it comes to jobs that are difficult to perform, Corrections Department director ranks right alongside hockey referee and sanitation worker. It comes with little outside sympathy or support and it often means having to deal with society's refuse.
No wonder Lane McCotter grew weary of the job after 15 years as director in Texas, New Mexico and Utah. As he told reporters in his resignation announcement last week, the time had come to find someone with a "new energy level and new intensity" for the job.If McCotter has lost all energy and intensity, then by all means he should resign. But his accomplishments should not go unnoticed, and his recommendations for the future of prisons in Utah should be taken seriously.
McCotter's department has been plagued with scandals and other troubles in recent months. The escape of Keith Shepherd, a notorious bank robber, raised questions about security and led to finger-pointing between an ex-guard and administrators. The death of another inmate, blamed on a 16-hour confinement in a restraining chair, raised more concerns about prison procedures, but it was compounded exponentially by news that the psychiatrist who recommended the treatment had once had his medical license revoked for inappropriate conduct with male patients.
Each of these presented a high-profile challenge to McCotter's leadership and tended to blot out any other accomplishments within the department. Each was at least partially due to personnel problems, but the state should hardly expect anything less in a department where salaries and experience levels are low. Correctional officers tend to use the department as a starting point. After being trained, they move on to higher paying jobs in city or county law-enforcement agencies. Low salaries also invite a diminished level of competence.
McCotter has repeatedly addressed these issues with state lawmakers, with little effect. This year, the Legislature took a step toward remedying the problem by approving a budget of more than $200 million. But that only begins to address the burgeoning need for more prisons and better-trained personnel. McCotter estimates the state's prison population will continue to grow by about 500 inmates per year for several years. Utah's prison crisis is little noted or understood by many.
McCotter promises to greet the next director with a set of recommendations. Those concerns need serious attention. Despite losing his energy and zeal for the job, McCot-ter understands what the department needs in order to suc-ceed.
Despite a sentiment among many Utahns that criminals need to be locked away and forgotten about, the Department of Corrections is an area of state government that needs money and scrutiny. If nothing else, McCotter's resignation ought to serve as a warning of those needs.