Prison guards decry cuts
By LYDIA WHEELER
lwheeler@poststar.com
Friday, July 17, 2009 11:06 AM EDT
COMSTOCK -- Recent cuts to the state's prison system are expected to save taxpayers money, but correction officers said Thursday that their safety -- and public safety -- could be in jeopardy.
At a forum Thursday at the Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, members of the New York State Corrections Officers and Police Benevolent Association discussed cuts in staffing for correction officers, administrative costs and facility closings.
"NYSCOPBA understands that certain situations could mandate decrease in the correctional officer work force, but NYSCOPBA believes that it is more appropriate to first right-size the prison system before haphazardly cutting correctional officer titles," said Donn Rowe, president of NYSCOPBA.
The Department of Correctional Services recently closed three camps, including Mt. McGregor in Wilton, which eliminated 233 staff positions. On Oct. 1, the annex at the Washington County Correctional Facility in Comstock, along with five others across the state, is set to close, resulting in the elimination of another 325 staff positions.
Although the state's position is that a decline in prison population should result in a decline of staff, Rowe said the state's prison system is currently over capacity with minimum-security prisons at about 104 percent and maximum-security facilities at approximately 123 percent capacity.
And while correction officer positions are being cut, Rowe said the number of administrative positions has significantly grown within the Department of Correctional Services in recent years.
"There are currently more than 50 deputy superintendant positions within the Department of Correctional Services that were not budgeted for by the division budget, but were filled nonetheless," he said, saying that money could be utilized elsewhere.
DOCS spokesman Erik Kriss could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.
In a prepared essay to The Post-Star, Brian Fischer, DOCS commissioner, said the state's prisons aren't operating over capacity, and there are more than 5,000 vacant beds in the system.
Fischer said closing 48 housing units containing 1,900 general confinement beds in 21 medium- and minimum-security correctional facilities will save state taxpayers about $31 million dollars.
One way the closures were accommodated was by double-bunking prisoners in existing prisons.
"Of our double-cells, nearly three-quarters were designed, built and intended for double occupancy. The others were converted to double-occupancy with the approval of both SCOC (State Commission of Correction) and the courts," he said.
But correction officers said the extra beds are creating a more dangerous environment.
"Keep in mind that these medium-security facilities, which are over capacity, have no cells. Thirty-thousand of the state's inmates are never locked in," said Randy Page, NYSCOPBA vice president for the mid-Hudson region. "Each evening in these dorms, when the lights go out, there is one correction officer assigned to watch 60 inmates."
NYSCOPBA members also said DOCS has also cut programs that work toward rehabilitation and are now outsourcing to nonprofits, which send former inmates directly back into public without having been through any rehabilitative programs.
John Telisky, NYSCOPBA's executive board treasurer noted the uptick in gang activity in Glens Falls, and suggested the members came, "From here, 20 miles away."
Assemblymen Tony Jordan, R-Jackson, and Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, led the discussion.
Giglio said it's important to hold forums such as these so correction officers can tell their side of the story to the public.
"If they don't know then they won't stand with us when we demand change," he said.
Thursday's forum was one of many conversations Jordan said he will be having with the prison systems around the state.
