Jails around Maine are struggling to fill job openings for correctional officers, the front-line workers who do the messy but necessary work of supervising hundreds of pretrial offenders and low-level convicts. Administrators at jails in Cumberland and York counties, and at the Two Bridges Regional Jail, which serves Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties, along with facilities in Somerset County and Kennebec County, say fewer people are applying to work in their secure facilities, eschewing positions that often require inconvenient hours in a challenging environment. The problem is most acute in York County, where 10 vacancies mean the remaining 66 corrections officers must work mandatory overtime to fill the ranks – leading some to resent their jobs and seek other employment, said York County Sheriff William King Jr., whose office operates the jail. Jon Simonds of North Waterboro has his daughter Kaitlyn pin his new badge on his uniform at the York County Jail on Friday. Simonds, 60, said the job as a corrections officer is the first he’s had in a decade that offered benefits. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer Search photos available for purchase: Photo Store → “It’s a vicious cycle, because people are being ordered in and they feel like their home life is being affected,” King said. “They start working, they wear a uniform, and then think ‘Gee, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is looking for people.’ (Nearby) I have Pratt & Whitney. There’s a firearms company that’s starting to get people. I’ve lost people to local police departments.” The story is the… [Read full story]
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