Berkeley magistrate worried about understaffing at Eastern Regional Jail; Sandy responds

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A powder keg. That’s how Berkeley County Magistrate Darrell Shull is describing the understaffing at the Eastern Regional Jail in Martinsburg.

Darrell Shull (Facebook)

“We have a tremendous team of correctional officers out there and extraordinary work is being done by a handful of officers but the ‘check engine’ light is on for the Eastern Regional Jail (ERJ) right now. We can’t ignore that ‘check engine’ light,” Shull said during an appearance on Panhandle Live on MetroNews affiliate WEPM in Martinsburg Tuesday.

According to Shull, there are just under 600 inmates at the jail along with another 200 inmates at the Department of Corrections facility right next door. Shull said those inmates are guarded by six officers or less each night.

Criminal cases are surging in Berkeley County causing the increase in jail population. Shull said the area’s position on the I-81 corridor positions it near major population areas and brings in crime.

“This year over last year 27% more felonies filed in Berkeley County, 29% more misdemeanors filed,” he said.

Shull said he’s concerned that low staff numbers will create dangerous situations in terms of keeping drugs out of the jail or in the event of a violent event within the jail walls.

“There have been postings on social media from inmates talking about the conditions and I can’t disagree with the conditions,” Shull said. “There’s not sufficient staff to clear meal boxes out of cells. So there’s, in some cells, containers of partially full food sitting and rotting in a corner.”

Shull said representatives from the governor’s office as well as Chief Justice Evan Jenkins have toured the facility in recent weeks.

The ERJ competes with neighboring states and wealthier counties like Loudoun County, Va. that can afford to pay their correctional officers $20,000 to $30,000 more a year, according to Shull.

“Statewide 80% of open correctional officer positions are filled but it’s reported to me that at the Eastern Regional Jail here in Martinsburg that 40% are filled,” he said.

Jeff Sandy

W.Va. Homeland Security Secretary Jeff Sandy released a statement to MetroNews Tuesday on the shortage, “This has been a two-edged sword over the past two years. One side is the fact that COVID-19 has hindered recruiting. The other side is the fact that Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia have all increased their salaries since West Virginia raised its correctional pay. In fact, Virginia provided all of their corrections officers a $3,000 bonus.”

“West Virginia had been 50th in the nation in correctional officer salaries in 2017. The governor secured pay increases through the Legislature that raised West Virginia to 39th in the nation in 2018. Today, West Virginia is 38th, but we are competing with Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.”

VIEW: Full statement and graphs from Sandy





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