The prison safety issues in North Carolina are representative of a larger, national issue. Federal prisons nationwide are understaffed and have been so for some time. However, the hiring freeze at the beginning of the Trump administration and emphasis on reducing the size of both the government and the budget has intensified the problem under the Trump administration. Since the staff sizes at many federal prisons has been reduced, many support workers have had to step in as guards. This has made many prisons more vulnerable to violence, including assaults on prison staff.
In North Carolina, prison safety issues have been coming up for some time, and many prisons are overcrowded in addition to being understaffed. Reform advocates also point to the fact that much of the staff is undertrained and lacks adequate equipment. In October, there was an inmate attack in Elizabeth City at the Pasquotank Correctional Institution that left 4 staffers dead. Earlier this year, there was a stabbing at Lanesboro Correctional Institution. Inmates and a corrections officer were injured.
Read more about prison safety in North Carolina here, and reforms being planned by lawmakers here.
Read about the issue in a national context here.