There are few professions that are inherently more stressful, grueling, and, indeed, dangerous, than that of a modern day prison guard.

The people employed by the Michigan Department of Corrections every day face a mixed bag of murderers, rapists and thieves. The inevitable result is terrible wear and tear on these workers with symptoms of alcoholism that can sometimes reach 20 percent of the work force — and that’s according to the MDOC itself.

One recent study found that nearly one in four of all MDOC workers met the criteria for post traumatic stress disorder while 47 percent screened positive for anxiety.

While we could go on and on about the hazards of working in Michigan prisons, here’s the point: these people earn whatever they make and no one should think otherwise.

So when MDOC recently announced substantial pay hikes for workers in the five Upper Peninsula prisons, where recruitment has been particularly challenging, we thought that was appropriate. Now, the department is considering expansion of the pay increases to all state prisons. To that, we say, “Capital idea. Just do it.”

According to reporting from The Mining Journal’s sister publication in Escanaba, The Daily Press, 36 state representatives and 10 state senators last week signed letters to MDOC Director Heidi Washington, urging the department to extend the higher starting pay to recruits at all 26 state prisons. The facilities collectively house about 33,000 incarcerated individuals, according to the MDOC.

The push comes after the department announced in late May new correctional officer recruits in the U.P. — Marquette Branch Prison, Baraga Correctional Facility, Alger Correctional Facility, Kinross Correctional Facility and Chippewa Correctional Facility — would receive salary increases worth roughly $10,000 annually. Under the department’s so-called Safe Prisons Initiative, new officer recruits will see their starting pay increase from $23.45 per hour to $28.24 per hour.

We wish they made more.

As regrettable as it is, our society needs prisons and people to run them. And those jobs will always be dangerous. Pay them the money and just be happy there are people willing to do this kind of work so the rest of us can live in relative security.