Inmates at one understaffed Mississippi prison claim that gangs rule the facility where three people were recently killed.
At Mississippi State Penitentiary, an all-male prison in Parchman, Mississippi, three inmates were killed by other prisoners over a three-day period, according to CBS News. Two other inmates, who have since been caught, escaped last week as the facility grappled with riots and unrest.
Inmates at the prison contend that gangs have a lot of the power and control at the facility. One lawsuit claims the “barbaric” conditions in the prison, nicknamed “Parchman Farm,” include open sewage, rodents, and abusive corrections officers.
Reporter Jerry Mitchell, who has spent years investigating Mississippi’s prisons, said that gangs are “in charge of where you sleep, where you eat, how much you get to eat.”
Mitchell also claimed that some of the prison’s towers that used to have guards now remain vacant given the lack of staffing.
Despite issues that the prison and other state facilities face, Mississippi has cut funding and staffing since 2014. The lack of a fully staffed facility has allowed gangs to get a foothold more easily.
“We are going to stop it. We have it under control as best we can,” said Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.
But in the state’s three major facilities, about half of the corrections positions are still unfilled. The starting salary for a guard, even one with a college degree, is only about $26,000. State police in Parchman said they have had to be called in to work 12-hour shifts because of the lack of guards.
