The confirmation hearing for Tommy Johnson, tapped to head the Hawaii Department of Public Safety (PSD), has exposed deeper problems with staffing, including the astonishing fact that the “average” adult correctional officer (ACO) works only seven months out of a year in terms of days on the job.

Johnson, previously PSD deputy director and now recommended by the Senate Committee on Public Safety for full approval, will have his work cut out for him at the helm. He’ll take charge of a system that is dysfunctional in nearly every way imaginable, with chronic, outlandish staffing issues, outdated, crumbling facilities, a shortage of beds for those sentenced to prison, and this overriding problem: a street-to-prison pipeline fed by current court and parole operations that perpetuate the overcrowded, out-of-control scenario.

The almost-too-bad-to-be-believed statistic about PSD staffing arises from ACOs’ combined access to vacation, sick leave and unpaid federal Family and Medical Leave. As a result, the remaining officers on duty work mandatory overtime — or call in sick. More than one-third of the 1,230 ACOs on duty have qualified for federal medical leave, and 300 positions remain vacant, though Johnson said he has already ramped up training.

Hawaii’s prison problem will require action on several fronts to improve this situation.

Job One for Johnson, if confirmed by the full Senate, will be to successfully build up the ACO recruitment program so that there is sufficient staff to end wasteful bleeding of public money on overtime and to provide the level of security necessary to ensure proper prison operations.

Just as urgent is the need to get on with the work of correcting the unsafe and overcrowded conditions that currently exist in Hawaii’s antiquated jails and prisons.

After a February visit to OCCC by members of the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission, it issued a report characterizing conditions in the jail’s infirmary as “inhumane.” Commissioners saw shipping containers in place for use as isolation cells for inmates who tested positive for COVID-19, or who refused a COVID test upon admission. No ACOs were stationed near the containers when the visit occurred, so the only way an inmate could communicate in an emergency was by banging on the wall or shouting.

A September overview report detailed overcrowding, “severe” safety and security concerns, a lack of programs and basic services, inadequate suicide/safety watch and more at Hawaii Community Correctional Center (HCCC) plus other pervasive problems at jails statewide.

Just last year, for instance, three ACOs on Hawaii island were convicted of violating the federal civil rights of an inmate after they brutally beat and kicked the man, then conspired to lie about the incident.

The problems continue to multiply, and it will not be possible to address them satisfactorily without building a new facility. Last year, however, the state House stripped $15 million from a budget proposal by then-Gov. David Ige to develop a detailed request for proposals for replacing OCCC, heeding arguments that the state should reform its cash bail system before building a new jail.

This year, Gov. Josh Green included $15 million for a first year and $10 million for a second year to begin phasing in a new OCCC. The budget proposal passed the Senate Ways and Means Committee and will go to conference committee.

At a January news conference, Green said, “The prison is going to have to be built in a way that does restorative justice and that we can afford, and it has to have these mental health care services. Otherwise, we’re just spinning our wheels. In my term we’re not going to spin our wheels.”

That commitment must be reinforced by PSD and by the Legislature, in supporting forward movement on reform and on OCCC. Each day that inmates languish in the current system also harms the state: Most inmates will eventually return into Hawaii’s communities, and are far less likely to be rehabilitated after their stint in a mismanaged system. Failing to make the needed reforms, and repairs, costs all of us.