Roberts: Private prison cut corners? I'm so shocked...

Operators of a private prison where inmates rioted last month disregarded “fundamental inmate management and security principles” and failed to properly train the staff, according to a report released Wednesday.

Or put another way, the riot was the result of lousy management and/or too many corners cut by prison operators who are in the business to make a profit.

Raise your hand if you’re surprised to learn that a private prison operator would forgo fundamental rules designed to ensure public safety in order to score a bigger profit.

Anyone?

Apparently Gov. Doug Ducey is, because he announced Wednesday that he’s ending the state’s contract with Management and Training Corporation, which operated the private prison near Kingman.

Then he announced his intention to hand the prison over to another private operator.

“This is about accountability,” he said in prepared remarks. “Our action should send a loud warning shot to all prison operators. Fail in your job, we will hold you accountable. Risk public safety, we will end your relationship with Arizona.”

What Ducey didn’t announce: a broader look into Arizona’s private prison industry, to consider whether it makes sense – morally, fiscally or as a matter of public safety -- to turn the incarceration of inmates into a profit-making venture.

To determine whether private prison operators are hiring on the cheap and operating on the margins in order to boost profitability.

A deeper look into what else may be hidden in private prisons from the prying eyes of overseers at the Arizona Department of Corrections.

It’s worth noting that the DOC investigation into the Kingman prison found many of the same deficiencies identified in 2010, after two murderers and an attempted murderer escaped and killed two people. (This, after an inmate's girlfriend tossed bolt cutters and pliers over a chain-link fence.)

One wonders how prison operators got away with business as usual for five years, if somebody from the state was actually watching.

Still, I’m not expecting any real consideration of whether private prisons are good public policy.

Private prisons are a sacred cow at the state Capitol. Well-connected industry lobbyists spread around campaign cash to ensure that their interests are paramount and their prisons are full -- or if not, that they're paid as if they were anyway.

Curiously, we have no idea whether we’re getting any real bang for our buck.

For years, DOC studies showed it cost more to incarcerate inmates in privately run medium security prisons than in similar state-run prisons. So in 2012, our leaders took the only logical path open to them.

They outlawed future cost-comparison studies, claiming they were bogus.

Meanwhile, the state is preparing to move forward with another $200 million private prison this fall.