Guards are at their end – “huge mess”: cry for help from prisons

Nothing works anymore! The tense situation in the prison system has in fact not changed, despite repeated protests from staff representatives. On the contrary, it is said that the large number of foreigners has worsened the situation. In some cases, prisons, especially in pre-trial detention areas, are said to be occupied by up to 90 percent of foreign suspects; in total there are about 52 percent – ​​and many of them also come from third countries, which causes various problems with their religious and cultural views.

The willingness of this group of people to use violence against employees is also considerable. This probably also explains the number of physical attacks. Last year there were 158 attacks in which prison guards were ultimately injured. The number of unreported cases is of course much higher. However, the situation did not improve from January to April 2024, when 64 cases had already been registered. In addition, there are people with mental health problems who have to be monitored 24 hours a day in so-called video detention rooms.

Criticism from civil servants usually falls on deaf ears
Since there will be no improvement in the number of prisoners in the near future, some superiors in the responsible ministry have thought of nothing other than increasing the legally regulated maximum number of prisoners per prison by 15 percent so that the statistics remain whitewashed. .

For senior judicial trade unionist Albin Simma, this was a more than fatal development: “The solution in this regard was to equate 100 with 115 percent. If it wasn’t so dramatic, people would laugh about it.” In addition to the still large staff shortage in the executive sector, there is also the wave of retirements, which has apparently taken politicians by surprise, otherwise they would have responded, say a majority of guards.

In addition, reconstruction of Austria’s largest prison, the infamous Vienna-Josefstadt prison, is now underway.

Overcrowded prisons and danger on the streets
Now prisoners have to be transferred, putting even more pressure on already overloaded prisons in other states. Especially when it comes to the safety of the officers. While police forces naturally use armored vehicles to transport serious criminals, prison guards often have to use old minibuses.

The decision makers in politics and government were apparently completely surprised by the fact that a restructuring would have consequences for services. You only work with emergency solutions. Simma sometimes seems resigned: “Now the workers of Josefstadt have to endure ten years of construction noise, dirt and emergency operations because of the failure of the politicians, just because no one could plan ahead, basically a huge mess.”

Meanwhile, the judicial staff eagerly awaits the big bang.

Life sentence in stone: “I would do it again”
“With this diploma I will not go to prison” – Johann Hadrbolec heard this sentence for decades. The doctor of law has dedicated his entire professional life to the criminal justice system. “I would do it again. This work covers many areas,” he says. Dr. Hadrbolec was head of a women’s prison, at the time in the infamous port of Stein (Lower Austria), where an uprising even broke out.

The reason: there were repeated political announcements about prison relief. There were z. B. Television, extended visiting rights, etc. were promised, but nothing happened. “People overlooked that prisoners don’t tolerate everything. I understood that. “One day they knocked on the bars with metal, threw mattresses into the courtyard and set them on fire,” the former prison director recalls. After all, everything that is common nowadays has been approved by the ministry.

The lawyer summarizes how important it was to offer the convicted men meaningful employment. “During my time we completed 25 internships, from chef to locksmith,” the former manager continues. There was even a choir. He does not believe in the idea of ​​abolishing prisons. The convicted must be held accountable. When asked whether there are actually more knife attacks today than twenty years ago, he answered yes.

One topic still concerns lawyers today: why there is only one prison for women. His guess: “Women are programmed for endurance, men for peak performance…”