As co-chair of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons, I'd like to welcome everyone to the Commission's third public hearing.

I'd also like to thank Washington University and the Law School, in particular, for hosting us. And special thanks to Margo Schlanger, a member of this Commission and a professor at the law school, for building enthusiasm for our work among her colleagues and students.

I'd also like to acknowledge the warm welcome that we've received from government officials, members of the corrections community, and leaders in St. Louis and throughout the state of Missouri.

Finally, I'd like to thank all of you gathered in this room. There are many ways to go about understanding and overcoming the challenges facing corrections today—and many, many individuals and organizations are engaged in that effort. For this Commission, it's crucial to have an audience in this room and throughout the country because one of our greatest ambitions is to encourage and inform public discussion about the most serious problems inside prisons and jails and how to solve them.

It can't be said too many times: In a given year, an estimated 13.5 million people spend time in jail or prison, and nearly all of them—95 percent—return to the community. In addition, hundreds of thousands of men and women work in our jails and prisons, returning home to their families and communities at the end of a shift. With numbers that large, it's impossible to say that what happens inside correctional facilities doesn't affect us all.

Too often, the issues of safety and abuse inside correctional facilities are viewed only from the perspective of those who are incarcerated. We forget about the people who work in these same facilities. And when we do look closely, what we're seeing is a vast, yet poorly understood workforce that shoulders tremendous responsibilities, many times without adequate leadership, training, or resources. These failures harm prisoners, put officers in jeopardy, and ultimately have an impact on our society.

Over the next two days, we'll all learn a great deal about corrections officers, their work, and conditions that put both staff and prisoners at risk. We'll hear from line officers and labor leaders, state corrections commissioners and researchers, former prisoners and others with direct experience of life behind bars.

Let me tell you about just a few of them.

Ronald Kaschak was an employee of the Mahoning County Jail near Youngstown, Ohio, with three years on the job when senior supervisors ordered him and other officers to beat an inmate as an act of revenge and then not to report the incident. His story starkly illustrates what compels officers to follow even inappropriate orders and also the need for good leadership.

Lou West will testify to the difficulty of working as a corrections officer even under good circumstances—in a facility where leadership is strong. In the St. Louis jail where Mr. West works, he supervises 67 people out in the open and feels called upon to be everything from a psychiatric aid to a father figure.

Echoing Lou West, Theodis Beck, who heads the North Carolina Department of Correction, will describe changes in the job of a corrections officer as the prison and jail population has expanded and grown more diverse and troubled—pointing out cultural differences between officers and inmates that can be as "wide as the Grand Canyon" and officers who must speak multiple languages, know gang signs and colors, understand an aging inmate population, and recognize suicidal behavior.

And as if those challenges weren't enough, Elaine Lord, former superintendent of Bedford Hills Prison in New York, will talk about the price of making a single mistake on the job—from serious injuries to the loss of a career—and the pressure that places on officers and managers.

As we hear from more and more witnesses, what may be most striking are the views they have in common.

Eddie Ellis, who spent 25 years in various New York prisons, will talk about an 'us vs. them' mentality and resulting code of silence that persists in correctional facilities today. And Kathleen Dennehy, Commissioner of Corrections in Massachusetts, will express concern about the same self-defeating dynamics and what she's doing to change them.

California labor leader Lance Corcoran who worked as a corrections officer and Patrick McManus, an expert in the use of force and a court-appointed monitor of facilities around the country will express some of the same worries: they include low pay and minimal training; a hostile work environment; and a glaring lack of appreciation and respect for the work of corrections officers.

As Commissioner Dennehy from Massachusetts will tell us, the field of corrections is growing more rapidly than any other sector of government. It continues to grow in the number of offenders, in the number of staff, and in the expense. We have to get it right. In their everyday work, the witnesses at this hearing are trying to do just that.

I want to turn now to Larry Crawford, Director of the Missouri Department of Corrections. Director Crawford, I want to thank you for welcoming us to Missouri, and for taking the time to briefly reflect on the challenges and opportunities in your state.