Senator Dave Cortese’s Bill With the Goals of Increasing the Life Span of State Correctional Officers and Decreasing the Number of Inmates Who Reoffend Heads to Governor’s Desk
SACRAMENTO - Senator Dave Cortese’s (D-Silicon Valley) SB 551 bill, with the goals of improving the prison stress and safety levels for correctional officers, and the rehabilitative environment for inmates so they can return to their communities and not re-offend, today passed the Senate on concurrence and heads to the Governor’s desk.
About 85 percent of California prison inmates are released into our neighborhoods and re-offenses have been as high as 70 percent in California.
“My bill will prepare individuals for successful and safe reintegration into their communities by increasing access to educational and rehabilitative programs. It will also help decrease the early death rate of our state’s prison guards due to stress,” said Senator Dave Cortese.
The legislation promotes a safer environment for both correctional officers and those in custody by requiring a mission statement consistent with the principles of "normality" and "dynamic security" that emphasizes building professional, respectful relationships between correctional officers and the incarcerated population to identify and address problems before they escalate.
- Nationally the average life expectancy of a correctional officer is 59-years-old which is 16 years shorter than people who do not work in corrections.
- SB 551 puts into state code the principles of “Normality” and “Dynamic Security” with the goal of fostering a safer rehabilitative culture within the California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
- In 2023, Assembly Bill 1104 (Chapter 560, Statutes of 2023) stated that the purpose of incarceration is to provide rehabilitative services to incarcerated people so they can be successfully and safely reintegrated into the community.