If you are aware of any State waste, please email webmaster@nyscopba.orgto report it.  Your report will be posted here once reviewed.

• Wende CF - each uniformed employee is required to have their uniform inspected 2x per year. This year there is a new twist each uniformed employee must sign an individual sheet of paper certifying their inspection. This covers roughly 550 uniformed employees. Then the information has to be transferred over to the master report. If the supervisor can't contact an individual due to long term absence, vacation etc. then a separate memorandum for each individual must be forwarded with the reason they were unable to do the uniform inspection. The additional cost of the paper and ink taken to perform this task is a new and unnecessary expense.
  
  
• Wyoming CF - continues to upgrade a farm that is scheduled to close; today it is installing a new computer system and printers. Inmate also receive idle pay
  
  
• Inmates need a co-payment for sick call; Inmates need a co-payment to see a Doctor or Dentist; Inmates need to pay for Medical trips and a fuel surcharge; Wind mills need to be put on State Facilities property to off set there electric bills the same way the Cell Phone Towers pay; No more disbursement forms for inmates, it is a waste of paper come up with a better system; LED light bulbs need to be used.  They make LED bulbs now for regular fixtures
  
  
• Elmira CF -farm is slated to be closed after it is purported to have made a profit. How could it not, a lot of land owners donate their hay just to get their fields mowed.
  
  
• Groveland CF- What about the portable restrooms being supplied while the existing bathrooms are being refurbished. I believe it is costing the state around  $1200.00 a week to rent  them. The inmates on these housing units are still housed there while there are plenty of empty beds in the facility. This project is supposed to take at least a year and a half. I believe this to be wasteful spending by the state because of the available beds at the jail and it appears that they don't want to upset the inmates by moving them to different housing units even though most would be within the jail and we could save this extra money over this extended period.
  
  
• Great Meadow-  Putting up a building in the parking lot at Great Meadow for inmate records, when right across the street there is available space. Building bleachers in the yard, after tearing the old ones down. When they could add 4 or 5 of those mushroom tables that are made by inmates in the same area as the bleachers. It would also take out the blind spot that was behind the bleachers.
  
  
• Willard DTC- sending inmates out to podiatrists to have toenails cut
  
  
• Mid Orange CF- Half a million for sidewalks @ Mid Orange that didn't need replacing. Also, why cant a few Mediums and minimums consolidate a few Superintendents or deps, (i.e.) 1 supt for Mid Orange and Otisville 1 Dep of Programs, Admin, steward etc, etc. Better yet, why doesn't the State eliminate (of course ...through attrition)a few assistant commissioners(Like the guy whose job is to tell us how much bleach to use) or wasteful posts at the academy or Building 2.  After reading the condensed DOCS Today I found it interesting that in one story the Commissioner is telling us that we must cut spending and on the next page they tell us about the new asst. commissioner of accreditation . PLEASE!!!!!
  
  
• Fishkill CF- we have several full time doctors on staff. Yet, every time an inmate needs to have a cut stitched, the inmate is sent to an outside hospital
  
  
• Sing Sing CF - I want to point out that Mayor Bloomberg handed down respectable raises to all law enforcement agencies like NYPD, NYC Corrections, even the fire Dept. got respectable raises, all got 4's and 5's annual, with the economy the way it is.  The mayor says as long as the cuts in those departments are being made to it full capacity, he feel these agencies are fundamental in maintaining a safe city.  What's really important and I truly feel is a waste is the state paying for inmates College degrees, and Masters degrees.  They should suspend these programs until further notice considering the budget crunch, but keep the GED, and Vocational programs, this should save a ton of money.
  
  
• Albion CF - What about the Family Reunion Program. At Albion, we the taxpayers have funded over $300,000 for the construction of two brand new modular homes that are completely furnished with everything from clean sheets to condoms,oh yeah, food is also supplied. I'm sure what goes on behind closed doors will be as wholesome as a Walt Disney Movie.How about charging a rental fee to the visitors for their two day adventure.
  
  
• Start making inmates pay for their supplies such as toilet paper, tooth brushes, tooth paste, soap, envelopes, & paper.  We all know how much inmates use and abuse this privilege for which we, the tax payers of New York pay for.
  
  
• Five Points CF - is currently having all of the cell doors replaced on the Special Treatment Program galleries.  The old doors are fine, they are actually better.  The new doors have an open area which the old ones did not.  Many, if not all officers agree that this makes no sense because of the amount of un-hygienic acts this unit has had in the past.  There has been fewer attempts lately because of the use of a feed up chute.  The feed up chute design will not operate effectively with the different design of the new doors.  This is only giving inmates a better opportunity to throw on an employee.  I don't know how much this is costing the state, but it is completely unnecessary
  
  
• How about shutting down all the escalators in state buildings. Keep the elevators maintained, which you have to do anyway, I think escalators are a big waste of resources. Especially on the state campus, where the buildings are old.
  
  
• Coxsackie CF - Why can an inmate get a pack of smokes almost 3 dollars cheaper than me??  How much could be generated if inmates paid state tax like everyone else does? whats wrong with charging .20 cents for a roll of toilet paper, toothbrush, paste, razor, etc, etc? Accreditation...  is that really needed?  between the cost of paint, floor wax, and overtime just to clean a prison for a week in my opinion is the biggest joke of the department..  how much was spent last year on that stupid piece of paper? is it really  necessary that all state facilities are done?
  
  
• Midstate CF - I do not believe that inmates should be allowed 24 hour recreation which includes 24 hour use of showers, television, and dorm rec areas. Midstate has a number of these so called "honor dorms" which as an 11-7 officer I find extremely wasteful. Besides the amount of water and the cost of the electricity used. Its simply bad judgment. Why do inmates need to shower and watch T.V at 3,4,5:00 in the morning. Cut the rec, cut the cost.
  
  
• Cayuga CF- Not sure how much it is costing the state but they are replacing the solid cell doors in SHU-200 with more open doors, supposedly because the solid doors did not allow for communication between officers and inmates. 
  
  
• Cape Vincent CF - New front end loader purchased while old one is still in use because it was in serviceable shape. New backhoe purchased while nothing wrong with the old one. Purportedly the backhoe was going to auction but DOT saw it and grabbed it up because it was in good condition.
  
  
• Full administrations at facilities that are literally across the street from each other. Riverview/Ogdensburg, Mid State/Marcy, Oneida/Mohawk, 4 Malone facilities, Fishkill/Downstate and the list goes on. Why not combine and downsize at the top?  How much will the state spend to investigate and or litigate the Gouverneur inmates having relationships with state shop/commissary civilians incident? Several years ago there was an officer posted to that location but the department abolished those positions.
  
  
• Wende CF - Why do civilians and administrators need to have air conditioning? Added big central air system to admin. building, big bucks, didn't have it for 30 years , why get one now? especially since those poor guys in  the mediums in s-block controls sweat all summer long.  spend the money where its needed.
  
  
• Took out the old trailers and are building new houses for FRP program. Cost is about $400,000. why?
  
  
• Sing Sing CF - Multiple construction projects for the Inmates such as running cable TV. Unnecessary medical trips by ambulance for minor injuries for Inmates. The heat is constantly running in the cell blocks, making it too hot and even causing some windows to be open in the winter. Lights left on in buildings that are not in use. We have a shortage of State Trip Vehicles yet the facility purchased new maintenance vehicles such as pick up trucks, dump trucks and heavy duty vehicles that sit parked and not in use. The paper waste is unimaginable such as brown paper bags for the package room and visit room, unnecessary paperwork and forms that really have no use. Start making Inmates pay a copay for medical and no longer give a discounted commissary. Enforce charging Inmates for damaging State Property. Ration out toiletries and if they go over the allotment they have to pay for it. Raise the fine schedule for the Tier Hearing system.
  
  
• Please see pages 5 & 7 of the "Centralization of the New York State University Police - Benefiting NYS & the Students of SUNY" report.  This study shows 274 unfilled NYSCOPBA positions that are supposed to be fill while SUNY continues to have a growing number of management position resulting in less safe campus communities.  Go to: www.nysup.org and look under the BREAKING NEWS section on the center of the home page.
  
  
• Why does the highest paid individual at each facility, (superintendent), have to get  a state vehicle for their use, as well as free gas at the taxpayers expense? why would you pave the weight yard, rebuild all dorm showers, and continue construction projects during this crisis?  is it a manufactured crisis or just bad management? closing a farm that just had new pavement done and new buildings built, something else is going on here. having superintendents and deputy supts. that are at facilities that are close enough to wave to each other. The hub concept should be implemented with one administration for the facilities within the hub, fat chance of that happening huh?
  
  
• Mid-State CF -  we are sending inmates to outside hospitals for sleep therapy.
  
  
• Southport CF - Everything the state sells in commissary should be sold for profit to pay for the program.  If you need a sick call, this needs to come out of your commissary money.  This will cut down on paying doctors for things that are a cry for attention. The law library is nothing but a joke.  You give prisoners access to law books, so they can in turn sue the state.  Whose bright idea was this?  And how many prisoners ask for the books because they can...let's be serious, how many of them honestly understand what they are reading or do they just want the books because it's their "right."  If you think you were wrongly accused or mistreated, you have the right to an attorney.  Use your commissary money to pay your lawyer. Southport is a SHU jail with too few programs to name.  Why do they pay a Deputy of Programs 90 grand a year? Free housing for Superintendents is a joke.  The state is paying these people six figures a year.  BUY YOUR OWN HOUSE!
  
  
• Groveland CF - Having 2 Captains at a prison with 1200 prisoners seems excessive. Even more so since this position was vacant since July until today and the jail ran fine. With Livingston within a stones throw away, Many administrative functions could be combined unless the Department and Governor are only playing “lip service” to budget cuts.
  
  
• NYC-DOCS - RIKERS ISLAND- Recently, Rikers Island has started taking personal shoes and sneakers of all their inmates, and replacing with nylon “lace-less” dock shoes. Also in the future, all personal clothing (what clothing you are arrested with is all you keep in Rikers) will be replaced with jump suits. Why not in New York State D.O.C.S.? Let’s think about this, Issue inmates 3 jump suits and remove the issue of green pants, shirts, sweatshirts, and white dress shirt. Alone this would be a savings, not to mention the countless hours of clothing repairs, alterations, and exchanges.
  
  

• Ulster CF - there is a new ford backhoe with a/c and stereo, and several new ford f-250s with V-10s.
  
  

  We Have three doctors on payroll making 6 figures only to diagnose and send them to the outside hospital?!?!?! Not alone if they have a heart attack they are mercy flighted to a hospital while my fellow officers are not provided Mercy flight.   - Inmates can sign up for sick call up to 3 to 4 times a week for medical treatment, imagine if we went to the doctors office that many times a week, we'd be broke from copay's alone, how about a copay system? - FRP?  How about a rental fee?? They would still pay for it if they really wanted.  Fees for the laundry, cookware, porters to clean it? - How about Attica's solid granite curbs on the inside walls?? They were not there before. - Tax on commissary?  What really don't they have that isn't already provided by the state?  Under the constitution, amendment 14, Sec. One states "involuntary servitude shall not exist within the United States unless it is punishment for a crime".

  Correctional Facilities - comprehensive overhaul of lighting systems - install motion/heat sensor activators, energy efficient bulbs. Timely action by maintenance on work orders for leaking faucets and toilets (wastes thousand of gallons of water).ALL state building offices which are vacant at the end of the workday and weekends - TURN THE LIGHTS OUT!Turn half  the spotlights off at the state capitol building and other notable structures around the state.Not only will this save millions in electrical bills, it will save fuel and be greener for our planet.

• I praise the president of Nyscopba and his defense of the 1st line correctional staff, it's about time the public was made aware of the realities inside our prisons and not the views of state administrators. Several facilities throughout the state are separated by nothing more than security fences yet we have dual administrations. Superintendents and their staffs must be consolidated. We have 6 figure salaries traveling the state explaining how to mop floors and dispose of trash. These are examples of areas to eliminate, not 1st line employees who do the job that keep the facilities safe and secure.
• Several years ago, the residential treatment program that was run by Father YOUNG, discontinued… the program was not effective. Inmates in this program were drinking and using drugs along with other illegal activities. This past year someone in Albany mandated that the work release inmates do a “treatment program” at a place called ELEANOR YOUNG. I don’t remember the amount of money that was being given to this program and is still being paid, but it was absurd to spend these funds on a program or rather a political favor to Father Young when it was called residential treatment or the Eleanor Young program. LETS STOP POLITICAL PATRONAGE ON THE BACKS OF OUR STATE EMPLOYEES!!!!!!!!
• Riverview CF -Was informed of facility buying a 153,000 dump truck with a 11 foot plow? No need for this.
• Camp Gabriels -Lieutenants are in the rotation to work overtime for Sergeant vacancies. In other words, Lieutenants in this jail have inserted themselves into the overtime book that covers any Sergeant shortages. But....if one of the Lieutenants bangs in. Sergeants are not considered capable of covering that job. In a facility (camp) that allows Sergeants to assume Watch Commanders duties.
• Wende CF - jail installed nice solar panel light system at wende rd. and genessee streets to light up the wende cf sign. rumored cost-$22,000.00. definitely not needed
• Oneida CF - How about the state buying a 30,000 + John Deer Mower that is covered and has both heat and AC
• Green Haven CF- State waste as covered by Poughkeepsie Journal Green Haven correctional paid over 24000 in late fees for failure to pay it's bills last year. This type of waste is tip of iceberg for this facility. Over many years of mismanagement and out right negligence  most vendors will not even ship to this facility. Commissary is sold at such a discounted rate that it does not even pay for the inmate porters who are employed in it's operation, all items should be sold with a additional charge designed to make the commissary become self sufficient. Taxes should be applied to all tobacco products if they are going to charge taxes to native Americans and break treaties why allow inmates to slide?. Corcraft has not shown an actual profit in how long? yet it is the highest paid job in most facilities.
• Elmira and Southport CF-  like many other facility locations are maybe 5 miles from each other. Why not one superintendent and one executive team for both facilities. We know 99.9% can be run by a LT.as Watch Commander and at best 1% we might need a CAPT..  Where are the cuts at the top
• Downstate CF - All new reception inmates and returned parole violators are allowed five postage free letters a week for their first thirty days at Downstate. Anything over the five a week and all letters after their 31st day are to have postage paid by the inmate.  This does not happen at Downstate.  The inmates never pay for their postage.  So who is paying for it?
• Otisville CF -  2 completely separate executive teams between Otisville and Mid-Orange, when the travel mileage between the facilities is only approx. 20 miles and at an approx. cost of $450K/executive team per year (5 employees)....go to http://timesunion.com/data/payroll/2008/ to look up the wages of all state employees.  Otisville built a retaining wall that cost almost Half a Million Dollars, when the old wall worked fine, and only held back ROCK...ROCK DON'T MOVE!  A beautiful brand new front end loader (2 years ago), that is very rarely used ($140K).  Pure salt is laid down for icy road conditions, but should be cut with sand (imagine the cost savings there...and the effects to the ecological "STATE GREEN" program).  The guy that gets a state vehicle and gas to show each and every facility how to use the new G-128 cleaner...this couldn't be put in an email?  What a waste that is.  State vehicle, fuel, and housing for THE highest paid person at each facility. And...how many printers waste paper by printing out the same information, and often irrelevant to a particular facility (state issued memos) from a printing unit that is literally on the other side of a wall from another printer receiving the same info at the same time? The time has come to make cuts where the true waste is...AT THE TOP!!!  The time has come to stop jeopardizing the safety and security of the people of NYS.
• Beacon CF - A doctor gets paid 6 figures (highest paid employee at our facility), yet she only works 28 hours a week. Monday through Thursday 7:30 to 2:30 and she is off Fridays. Why not raise the rent of facility housing to meet outside housing? The houses on Fishkill land can be rented for $1000 a month instead of $300 or $400 a month. If that is too expensive - move, since most of the people in there are the highest paid in the facility.
• Wyoming CF: Why did the state install solar panels on an outside building just to sit and not be used because of a lack of inspection by an outside agencies? The money spent on this project was a waste because it would take 14 years to recoup the money spent on installing these panels. Maybe we should be using the money for other things other than trying to light non essential buildings.
• Riverview CF - A heated greenhouse when we have no instructor for that program. A composte facility that requires state to buy tractor trailer loads of woodchips and composte goes nowhere but to fertilize the flowers in front of every dormitory every year. A new front end loader purchased when old one was in great shape. The list goes on not to mention a full administration that could be utilized at ogdensburg correctional in plain eyesight view. The list still goes on especially at the top like all nys facilities.
• The transporting of prisoners at their own request is a tremendous waste of state funds. It almost seems if DOCS is in the Taxi service business. In fact, prisoners can transfer to another prison faster than an officer.
• Has anybody thought about foiling how much the state spends on medication, you will not believe it.Let the tax payers and the elderly people see that. A inmate goes to sick call, they come out with a handfull of goodies.Sell this stuff in commissary. The bleachers in gmcf will cost the state $100,000, all they are used for is the gangs get to sit together. Alot of this work was passed in back budgets(so they say). But figure this out? They want to take your back raises
  
  
• Gowanda CF - Executive people living in state housing for a minimal fee for YEARS!!!!  Why??  It should be there to assist in there transition in transferring there. NOT!  to supplement there income,by not having to pay taxes or utilities.  Having an assistant dep. of programs. WHY!!  The state orders towns and villages to recycle. But, Gowanda is a huge facility and does the extreme minimum  to recycle. They could place a recycle dumpster outside the facility just like business's do and make money at it
• Shock Incarceration Inmates are allowed UNLIMITED white bread,  peanut butter and jelly at each meal in addition to their regular portions. At Lakeview they consume over sixty pounds per day of peanut butter alone. When they run out of the Sysco brand they use Peter Pan. Go out and price peanut butter!
• The Governor of New York flies to Iraq
• How about Governor Patterson and his political buddies from Long Island and Queens flying off to Iraq for a worthless trip to see the troops. That trip accomplishes nothing. The troops are just fine with the people that visit them now they certainly didn't need the Gov. of NY and his cronies. And the state certainly didn't need them to waste all the money that it took to send them.
• We have several correctional facilities that are close in proximty. Why not eliminated some of these deps of security , adminstration and program deps and consolidate them with other facilities, this would cut the cost in New York State.
• I am not sure I would have put in the one about the worthless trip to Iraq.  It may not be worthless to the troops over there.  I am an ex soldier and when you get visits by someone from your home state you take some pride in it.  Even though I don’t like Patterson  I think that posting makes us sound silly.
• Five Points CF - Plain and simple, why do we take care of our inmates so well when other states spend so much less.  Commit a crime get treated like a KING.   Do right thing in life get treated like a Inmate.   Misbehavior Reports for inmates should increase with everything else.   Tier 1's $5, Tier 2's $10, and Tier 3's $20, this would help reduce some of the violence the State seems not to know goes on.   Sick call's should be charged $5 , Outside trip's $10, and a percentage of the medical bill to covered by the inmates family.  They can't afford it get medical coverage insurance started for inmate care, which they have to make payments for; No pay no coverage.  Start up a accounting program and teach these inmates to live a life in the real world.  Stop the weight lifting, stop the how to grow pot classes.  We should let the public take a tour or make public and let see how much free goodies our lovely inmates get.
• Gov. Patterson is crying about how we need to cut back, but until we in security see significant cuts at the administrative level, we cannot accept any more unit closings and cuts affecting our safety and the safety of the inmates. Cuts to DSA and DSP positions would be a step in the right direction, most of those people spend most of their time re-writing FOM's that are pretty much the same as what they were when they started.  If NYS wants to get serious and show to us that they are really serious, then that is where they need to cut. If they are looking for "bang for the buck", then a few Dep's are going to have to bite the bullet.
• Beacon CF - Work has recently been completed on a new barn for the large calves to the tune of over 500,000 dollars. If the farms were slated to be closed, why did we or the state spend the money. I'm sure the idea to close all of the farms wasn't an overnight decision. I drive my personal vehicle to and from work. I pay the insurance, fuel costs, maintenance etc. Why does the Superintendent of any facility gets to use a state vehicle for work and leisure purposes. They should pay a rental fee to the state for the use of the vehicle. Many times we have 1 or 2 inmates going on a medical trip and we drive them in a 10 passenger van. Tell me where the savings is in that, we should be able to retrofit the Superintendents vehicle with a cage at a minimal cost to transport an inmate. We have more than half of our inmates kept on grounds because they have a medical to wear sneakers. They still get paid to sit around and not work. Make them pay for the roof over their head, the clothes on their backs and the food they eat if they can't or won't work. Lastly, we have a dentist who while on state time leaves the facility to go to church. Whatever happened to separation of church and state.
• Just to add to the comments of the new doors..  Each door cost the State of NY, $4000.00 each..  74 doors were placed at Five Points CF with more being placed at other SHU-200's.  The old doors here at Five Points CF were sold to a local scrap dealer, and a wopping $11.73 was received for each.  What a waste.... and a breach of security for the officers.
• As an active duty Marine I deployed to Afghanistan in Dec. 2001 and southern Philippines in 2003 for combat operations.  Marines (and I'm sure soldiers, sailors, and airmen) are taught the chain of command.  From your team leader all the way up to the Commander-In-Chief (the President).  No where in that chain is a state governor. Gov. Patterson wasted state dollars flying over to Iraq.  He has no business over there, especially when our state is in such a "financial crisis.
  
  
  
• Clinton CF- Not so much about waste but more about Albany stating that inmate numbers are way down.  If that's the case then why have we not lost one double bunk at Clinton.  I'm sure we are not the only jail in the state that still has inmates double bunked in dorms that weren't designed for the numbers they hold today.  The state wants to close jails because they claim we don't have the inmates we did 5 years ago.  THIS IS WHERE OUR UNION NEEDS TO INFORM THE PUBLIC about the hazards that we face everyday with these overly inflated numbers.
• Beacon CF - outside contractors are working in 60 bldg in beacon cf,there is a dumpster on site used for the demo and it is overfull and has been sitting on facility grounds for at least two months.I don't know what we the taxpayers pay for this but it's a waste of funds.Not to mention it's a correctional facility and there is debris inside that can clearly be used by inmates for the wrong purpose putting staff in harms way,but we know the state doesn't care about it's staff.
• Camp Pharsalia - Even though the State and/or DOCS has been trying to close Camp Pharslai since Jan. 2004 they continue to pour money into the facility.  They remodeled the key room and added a state of the art automated restricted key sytem.  Major repairs to dorm #2 that was closed, then never used after the repairs were made.  Repaving some of the parking areas that included excavating of the old material, and starting with a new base of crusher run to the finish top coat.  All of the paving work was done in Nov. 2008 and during some of the snowstorms and below freezing weather we were having at the time at the tune of $80,000 plus.  They also completely gutted and redone the mess hall from ceiling to floor and that project was recently completed in Dec. 2008.  these are just a few of the projects that come to mind.  Also the Supt. travels approximately 200 miles a day in a state vehicle, with state gas just so that he can live in state housing.  
• Sullivan CF -The vehicle fleet includes several new, excessively sized vehicles, such as the Chevy 5500 box truck, used soley for the purpose of transporting feed-up to the annex. (the old one sits in the parking lot.)The Superintendent has a chevy 1500 4wd pick up extended cab, with running boards and a soft tonneau cover. (Supposedly, our now mobile was originally received for the Supt., but it did not have the options package on it.) There is a massive camera/mic system being installed, which has been reworked several times and has a projected time frame of another 2-3 years, on top of the 2 1/2 already done. The roof was replaced 06/07, and has been leaking since. Like several other places Woodbourne/Sullivan could have a combined administration, or deps at one facility could become assistant deps (just like annexes have) and save 30k per dep. Inmate abuse of medical services needs to be regulated. Certain inmates have sick call 3-4 times a week. Sullivan now has a BHU program, that houses at max 60 inmates. The staff to inmate ratio for this unit is about 1:1 (this includes DOCS and Mental Health). Unfortunately this program is federally mandated. Perhaps the worst is the rec aid, who made just over $90,000 last year due to 873.5 hours of over time (as per the times union web page). This was over 33 1/2 hours of OT a PAYCHECK. Sullivans main pop that can rec is approx. 470 inmates, which less than half usually attend yard/gym rec. Games do NOT have to be supervised by a rec aid. The exec team also had 3 deps that received 7% raises from 07-08. I hope that goes before arbitration.
  
  
• The state contract for desk lights is currently being procured by a firm in Syracuse that sells computer equipment and the light costs $68.00 ea. Plus $5.00 for the bulb. This light is poorly designed, too dim, and easily broken. I’m certain the state can find a better product for a lower cost elsewhere.
• Clinton CF - When I first started we didn't have first deps, didn't have them back then, don't seem to need them now.  How about the free bus program for visitors. Anyone know what that costs the state per year ?
• Coxsackie CF -Our facility seems to have a four wheel drive truck for every member of maintenance.  Twice in the past I have been asked where to go to have a brand new 4x4 truck signed for.  There must be inmates in the state system that can refurbish old DOT vehicles and send them around to facilities.  Most times they are used only to go to the local hardware store or dunkin donuts.
• Clinton CF - has a lot of state houses, (around two dozen) they have all mostly fallen into disrepair.  One of the houses hasn't had anyone living in it in over two years, but they still heat it. A fuel truck fills up the tank every other week. Had a hot water faucet broke and running full force for over 12 hours before they called anyone to come in and fix it.  They have put a putting green in back of the Annex so that the horticulture inmates could learn to work with that type of grass (truck loads of gravel for a base).
  
  
• Adirondack CF -During the winter snow is melted off the ground where steamlines run from the powerhouse to B-Bulid. The temperture has been below zero all week how much Money was wasted this week?
• Wende CF- installed two large solar panels outside the facility on the corners of Wende Rd and Walden Ave.  The solar panels are used to light two light bulbs on the Wende Correctional Facility sign at this corner.  No vistors come at night and all employees know which corner to turn at.  This is a complete waste of taxpayer dollars.
  
  
• Hudson CF - the inmates are allowed  to take several loafs of bread  back to their housing units besides the bread given at the evening chow cost approx $18,000 per year. Also their is a hot water main break  a memo from the administration  to the inmates tells them to run the cold water ( ex: toilet, sinks ) so the hot water will go to the showers faster. I wounder what the water bill will be this year
• Sullivan CF - How about the six elegant love seats purchased from EHAN ALLEN FURNITUE  last summer for the F.R.P at Sullivan C.F., certainly futon's purchased at Wal-mart would have served the same purpose for a fraction of the cost.  And not to forget Sullivan's $12,000.00 floor machine replacing $20.00 mops, which was purchased to keep the corridor's clean but come to find out it doesn't fit through the doors and gates so it can only be used in one area.
  
  
  
• Cayuga C.F. - The cool aid the inmates drink (beverage base) cost $85 - $120 per case depending on flavor. Cayuga orders 3 cases a week. At the average cost of $110 per case for 52 weeks that's $17,000 times 72 facilities 1.2 million bucks for COOL AID. Give them water or 1 - 8oz mike per meal.
• Riverview C.F. - Civilian maintenance workers work a straight 7-3 shift any time after that is is mandatory 4 hours overtime pay for call in's. would'nt it be a cost saving measure to make a second shift at our facilities. Especially in the winter months when they have to be called in to plow snow or perform a 10 minute job for a water leak or plugged drain. This could be done by rotation to be fair to everyone. They have plenty of help if not to much on one shift.
• Eastern C.F. -  Hires extra service nurses 3-4 at a time, almost every day, mostly evening shifts. At a charge of approx $50+ an hour. One of the extra service nurses has been on the payroll for a few years now, do the math, 50+ an hour, 8 hours a day, 2 days per week, 52 weeks in a year. that's about 50k a year??? times 3-4 nurses per week?
• STATEWIDE: Telemed..what a unique concept, a device when used properly could be such a great tool. Especially for facilities that are far from medical care.  The whole idea is to cut down costs of sending inmates to hospitals for emergency care that is not necessary.  It's to get an opinion of a doctor who may decide the trip is not necessary and save the state money...However, costs!  it is charged by the minute.  now the policy says that even if a doctor is standing in the room with you and can assess the inmate to determine a trip to the er or not, you still have to telemed them.  It makes not sense, it sends a signal that our doctor on staff can't make the determination for the inmate to go to the hospital or not.  It is really expensive.  And to have to use it every time you need to decide if an inmate needs to go to the ER with or without a doctor present, is rediculous.  Even if they are having a heart attack, call for ambulance, get help, but start the telemed.  The system alone costs thousands and then it's like paying for toll phone calls, charged per minute, with a minimum of 4 minutes then the call hangs up.  If you forgot to hang up, the telemed will stay on for 4 hours before disconnecting.  Which is an improvement, because it wouldn't disconnect and we'd be charge indefinitely.  It's a waste to some extent. If a doctor is there, let them decide, if not then use it.  Don't use it every single time no matter what $$$$$.
  
  
• FISHKILL CF - HAS 27 NEW MICROSOFT COMPUTERS WITH FLAT PANEL SCREENS FOR THE GEN BUS CLASS THE GEN BUS TEACHER STATED THAT THE OLD ONES WERE FINE....WHAT A WASTE OF TAX PAYERS DOLLARS.
  
  
  
• Shawangunk CF - Recently a member of the administration at Wallkill CF contacted the Dep. of Security at Shawangunk CF in regards to the red revolving lights that are on Shawangunk's patrol vehicles, questioning why the vehicles had these lights.  The mobile patrol vehicles at Shawangunk have always had red emergency lights on them for emergency response, traffic control, and protecting the facility perimeter. Although this was explained to the Dep. the decision was made to remove perfectly operational red lights and replace them with brand new yellow revolving lights. Now the vehicles used to protect the security of the facility look no different then the vehicles used to plow the snow.
  
  
  
• Clinton CF- These bus tickets for inmates to go home or where ever they go, are a waste. Why can't the state transport inmates a few days ahead of parole date, closer to their home towns by the state buses. Then let the inmates family pick them up. 
• Shawangunk CF- If your talking of waste look no further than Shawangunk CF. There is a Kitchen being replaced that supposedly is 6 months behind schedule. I can only imagine what it's costing the state. It's not like the inmates are preparing every meal from scratch. I thought Cook Chill was supposed to save on un-necessary expenses? Also, is it really necessary to send 6 loafs of bread with every meal down to the blocks? Half of the inmates don't even eat the meal on many occasions some don't even take there ration of bread and whatever is left is dumped into the garbage so they can use the plastic bags to take the ice.  Why not send down 1 or 2 loafs of bread on days when unpopular meals are served and 3 or 4 when popular meals are. Commissioner Fischer asked us to "do more with less" why can't the inmates as well? After all WE ARE NOT THE BAD GUYS!
• Sullivan CF - Of all of the Maximum security Facilites I am familiar with, Sullivan is the only one that allows the inmates to have recreation until 11 P.m., instead of having them locked in and the lights off at 10 P.m. They are afforded showers from 8:30 - 10:45 P.m. and this occurs 7 days a week. They also get "work showers" throughout the day in addition to the evening showers. Of course they can also sign up for a showers from 4 - 4:45 P.m. All of this 365 days a year. Imagine the water and electricty useage consumed to keep the inmates happy. We have a ratio of about 1 aide to 100 inmates. What do we need so many rec aides for?
  
  
• Albion CF -  The State Facility Planning dept. should be held accountable and or the enginears that are stamping the plans for the FRP buildings at Albion. The tax payers paid for a sprinkler system on both buildings (approx. $29,000.00) and then find out that it is not needed. They could of installed smoke detectors at $25.00 each and saved alot of $$$$$$$. They found this out with the construction of the Wendy CF. FRP buildings. Doesn't OGS look at any of this stuff or are they to busy walking around the costruction site with there hands in there pockets. You talk about waste........ who ever heard of a Four hundred amp. service for a small ranch house, or  2 X 6 walls for a inclosed stair case that leads to the basement over kill at it's best,  it goes on and on and on.................
  
  
• Clinton CF - How about the brand new $1,000 stainless steel feed up cart that just arrived for the inmates housed in the useless 12 million dollar hospital. Nothing but the best for our inmates. What about playstations or Nintendo Wii for the Family Reunion Program Trailers. Oh don't worry Supt stated they would be installed this month in the ILC minutes.
• Wallkill CF - Wallkill's Family Reunion Site is being planned to move from it's current, WORKING location to one that will constructed right next to the front of the Facility at a cost of God knows how many dollars. It currently is only in the "planning stage" but we're told it will happen. After the State closed the dairy farm there seems to be some kind of unknown motive to move everything that was located to the north side of the property to the south regardless of cost or waste. Other State waste would be the $140 million dollars given to IBM to RETAIN jobs in the state, they've since laid off 672 approx. This years budget alone was reported to allocate $50 million for the same purpose all the while IBM is shipping whatever jobs they have left over seas. The Walkway Over the Hudson, from Highland to Poughkeepsie just had it's funding increased by millions of dollars more. My brother works for the DOT and he's talked to the Stell Workers on the job and they have said it will cost millions just to make it safe for them to begin the work. Is this something we really need to spend money on? Let's not forget Patterson's elaborate and exspensive furnishings for his office and home, the ridiculous percentage raises he gave to his personnell while asking for cut backs from the Unions. I hope to God that someone up there during the arbitration process brought these things to someone's attention. A former Superintendant has an office on grounds as a "Correctional Consultant" at what was once rumored to be at $100 a day. New FIBER OPTIC computer system being installed where just the connectors of these cables cost $150 a piece. Wallkill and Shwangunk C.F. are seperated by less than 1 mile why can we not share administrators? Have 1 Superintendant between the 2 jails. Continuous and on going construction. Walkill recently removed temporary outside bathrooms after over 6 months, no use and weekly service visits from the company. Any and all "emergency" medical trips have to go to Albany Med when there is St. Luke's Hospital much closer. Inmates are sent to outside hospitals for stiches while we have a Facility Doctor with Surgery background. Any "unscheduled medical trip" is deemed an EMERGENCY and so each case goes to Albany Med. regardless of the actuall illness. The inmate bathrooms are being renovated for the 2nd time in less then 6 years due to the fact the original renovation did not include the fresh air vents.
  
• Sullivan CF- Has a Captain and Assistant Dep. for the BHU program that holds a max. of 60 inmates. 3 Commissioner's came a few weeks back for an inspection and each had their own state vehicle instead of car pooling.
• Greene CF -  the farm has recently been closed.  The other day, along with the rest of the executive team and other union heads, we were waiting for the Supt. Berle to show up at a meeting about the state layoffs.  While we were waiting, the PEF union head asked DSA Graziano about the farm cats.  He stated that they had hired an outside contractor to come in on the 18th and trap the cats.  The cats would then be taken to be neutered and then returned to greene.  The facility will then construct a "cat hutch" for them.  This came directly from DSA Graziano.  I was flabbergasted that while the Supt wanted us to tell him what 3% of our staff we did not need, he was building cat houses, pathetic!
• DOCS decommissioned the prison farms inferring that this program does not help the inmates. Unfortunately DOCS did not realize that agriculture is the leading industry in NYS.I would have to assume that there are job opportunities out there for rehabbed inmates. Also it appears that by eliminating the livestock herds and equipment the State would save money. To the contrary, the live stock herds are going to SUNY schools that have to build barns and are currently housing the live stock at private farms at a per day cost. The great shell game again. If anyone has info on the other prison farms and the additional cost that the taxpayer is going to incur, please e-mail me at chickey@nyscopba.org.
• Talk about waste, who would close a jail built in 1989 and keep some of these small jails that are old and inefficient open?  I don't even have Lakeview ASAT on my list to transfer to.  I think this is a stupid decision by the state.  I know for a fact that Lakeview ASAT has replaced their roofs, windows, and has new fiberoptics run in the past 7 years.   Now they are going to close the doors and let it rot.  Stupid.  Not to mention the fact that it runs without an extra administration.  Oh I see, it makes too much sense to fill it up to capacity.
  
  
  
• Wyoming CF- 28 dorms two t.v.'s in a dorm with hbo, cinamax, showtime, mtv. full size refridgerators, hot pot, assive toasters,microwaves. "free" bus weekends twice a month from ny city late nights untill 3am unlimited use of showers, lights on till 3am can watch sporting events untill games end  into the morning hours state jeep for superintendent ( state fleet costs 86 million a year.) closed a profit making farm to now "buy" milk dorms heat is not regulated several festivals held yearly that require overtime free sick call system no charge for name brand drugs doctor appiontments on saturdays! 60 inmates to a dorm built for 50 this "temporary" idea has lasted 20 years taking full advantage of correction officers with out any additional compinsation a facility feild house only used for 4 months a year for inmates to have recreation in hired an electrical contractor from Batavia ny to re-place 4 foot long lights in all the dorms in the fall of 2007.
  
  
  
• Fishkill CF - Today an Inmate cut himself up with a razor, He was taken to the facility RMU. [Regional medical center] They did a telemed on him and determined that he would need stitches. The Dr. on call was told to come into the Facility to stitch this Inmate per the DSS. The Dr. stated send him to an outside hospital, I am not coming there. I have worked this medical building for 3 years now and have never seen a Dr. stitch anyone? We have several Drs. employed who always send the Inmates to outside hospitals for everything?? The cost is unbelievable. This building was built to cut down on Medical cost that are in the Millions, maybe more. They then hired a Sgt and extra Officers to escort this Inmate? Not a problem Inmate but a Depressed Inmate who gives no problems to anyone? We also have FIVE nurse administrators in this building along with an acting Dep of Health? We have numerous Drs. But they never treat an Inmate themselves, but we have Special Drs. that the state pays to come in from the outside to Really treat these Inmates? This is at a really large cost AGAIN! Talk about State Waste!! But they want to lay off the front line officers that run These prisons. They need to start at the top.   Fishkill has 5 Deps?? One is an assistant Dep? And another in an acting position? I am happy for the Officers making the overtime, But what's up with the Drs. making these out rages pay checks and doing nothing. I have never seen a Dr. on call EVER come in, It is send the Inmate to an outside hospital. I will end here with this is the biggest waste of taxpayers money That I have ever seen. Send this one to the governor.
  
  
  
• Cut or Reduce Family Reunion Programs; weekend Visits Only; Cut Festivals/Banquets (party tent rentals, porta potties & etc); increase commissary prices; cancel free envelopes; cancel free bus visits;cancel HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and Movie Rentals; cancel newspaper subscriptions, let them watch the news;cancel free school, law library and college (most of the honest, law abiding working class can't afford college for their kids, yet the state gives it away); charge a small copay for dental,eye glasses etc.; charge a fee for over the counter meds; charge fee for haircuts; enforce inmates to turn off their lights and fans when they leave their cells/cubes; why can't inmates eat leftovers?; why do they need new gymnasium floors?;Seriously, there is other ways and the state is just not getting it.
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  Ulster CF -  Its nice to see that during our 11:30 count all the civilian employees (doctors ,Nurses,and councilors.)doing laps when peoples jobs are on the line
  Greenhaven CF - Just recently, we had an inmate transported by helicopter from Putnum Hospital to Westchester Medical Center at the cost of $30,000.  Approx. 30 minutes by State van. We have received not one, but two brand new 750 Ford dump trucks, each with a plow when the 2001 plow truck we have works just fine. The State purchased two new Ford tractors with AC & heat for the inmates to mow and haul garbage. The annual bill for the free bus program is a whopping $1.3 million dollars in which the taxpayers pay for the transportation of the visitors so they can see their loved ones.
  How about the new Commisary commish guys, wow aint that a kick in the head! unnecessary capital projects still continue at Mid Orange, ie roofs that dont leak ,tree stump grinding, tree removal, tie line installation (Im pretty sure little old mocf is getting upwards of 25 state of the art HP pcs w/ printers and all the bells and whistles),inmate bathrooms, etc etc.Our program dep buys medicine for the kittys that inmates are allowed to care for and by the way we have approx. 150 inmates (out of a pop. of 670 )who dont have programs, not to mention that theres another 200 or so assigned as porters. Why is her job safe?oh ya since when do we keep the heat on after 4/15 I would love it if the public knew how much the state spends to keep our cons extra toasty.
• For the life of me I cannot understand why inmates are not required to pay some manner of fee for medical and dental services. Over the course of a month, in one block at Five Points we had one inmate get a hip replacement, one had rotator cuff surgery, another had a lazy eye surgically repaired, and none of them paid a single penny for it. This is outrageous. Not to mention the avalanche of FREE, top-of-the-line medication that gets doled out three or four times per day for everything from seasonal allergies to AIDS. In addition, inmates are afforded FREE, on-demand sick-call 24 hours per day. Why on earth is this tolerated by the taxpayers of New York? There are officers in the jail whose little children are waiting to have a surgery that isn't covered by our medical plan while convicted murderers, rapists, thieves and child molesters are chauffeured all over the state, to the best hospitals available, to have elective surgery at taxpayers expense. WAKE UP NEW YORK!!!!
• Ulster CF- large construction projects continue at Ulster. New flat roofs being installed on the infirmary and SHU. And after talking to O.G.S., they were amazed that the old roofs were in like new condition. The entire kitchen has been updated, new ovens, kettles, dishwashers, walls, ceilings, tile floors. Seems every maintenance civilian has a new vehicle, your choices of F-350s, F-250s, Chevys and Dodges, dump, stake, dual, whatever you need. As spring arrived at Ulster, so have the several new tractors to cut grass. A nice Kubota with a front loader and rear brush hog, 4x4. And a few John Deere front deck mowers, enclosed with heat.
• Woodbourne CF- Sending 19 inmates, 1 Sergeant & a minimum of 4 Officer's to Eastern NY CF for the debut of "Fischer's Follies".  This is a variety show put on by "R.T.A." (Rehabilitation Through the Arts) inmates & outside civilians.  This is happening on a WEDNESDAY...the day designated by the State as a "Non-Transportation" day (to save money).  The curtain will go up shortly after Eastern's pre-lunch count.  By time the encore is over & the curtain falls & Woodbourne packs up & returns home OVERTIME WILL OCCUR for the staff being forced to escort the cast of characters.  P.S. Does ANYONE else see the SECURITY RISKS involved here for this non-essential trip????
• NYSED/CEC  Albany NY- We have a Chief of Security that we only see a few times a month. Only when he is disciplining someone yet we have whole shifts that have no supervisor. Also, several members of our administration are beyond the retirement age with the time in service making 6 figure salaries. I have 13 provisional officers in jeopardy as well as many officers still on probation. Cut the waste not security.
• Albion CF - Are you also aware of the central air and flat screen television sets with games at the Albion CF modular homes
• Fishkill CF- We have a doctor at Fishkill who has hired his nephew. both make outrageous monies and do not put the time in for the amt earned. Who counts for them? the good old boy system is in place. The head of the RMU was let go at westchester medical due to salary and other issues several years ago. Why do people not on transfer lists and 
  forever it seems live in any kind of state housing? The taxpayers of NY should know who they are subsidizing, it is a disgrace. A complete outside audit of all state facilities should take place with extra care given to the RMU and administration.
• Hale Creek - Why does a superintendent who injured his leg practicing for the olympics[on state time ] have to make rounds in a club cadet 4 wheeler . that the facility doesnt even have a use for? or for that matter why does a facility need two club cadet zero turn mowers which have a price tag of nearly $13000.00 a piece sitting without anyone allowed to use them? Why does a maintenance supervisor need a brand new Ford f250 with a plow , which nobody is allowed to use?
• Gowanda CF - The state Just installed a Bus stop shelter for the inmates that leave the facility. Along with new cement and wood benches. Also the Huge flower gardens look nice that the inmates get to look at. It is also nice to know that while the public schools are getting funding cuts but the inmates GED and REC are not, infact the inmates that are in GED get paid to go as a regular program.
• Creedmoor Pyschatric Center- Workable swivel chairs used in the Safety & Security department have been removed and put out as garbage. This was brought to the attention of my dept head. As result those chairs have been replaced by stationery wooden chairs. These chairs where still useable, as result the officers who are posted at fixed posts are now subject to discomfort while working and have slowed work productivity in the dispatch office and other fixed posts.
• Sullivan CF - DSA has purchased a new desk for 4,000 dollars. Rumors are that he wasn't the only one to get a new desk at this price.
• Mohawk CF - they recently installed 13 ash trays throughout the facility at a cost of $6000.00. I know as well as everyone else that the inmates won't use them and will only throw there cigarette butts on the ground.
• Ulster CF- It goes on and on with the construction projects to a facility that's only 18 years old. Get this one...14 dorms and draft processing are having the inmate showers entirely redone, ceilings, floors, tile, plumbing, and.. HOLD ON TAXPAYERS....electronically controlled shower heads! I was told it is to save water.
• Lakeview Shock - A Correction Officers post is closed so the officer can pick up the Director of Shock Incarceration from the Buffalo Airport and then again to return her from Lakeview to the airport. Each time is about three hours round trip.
• Lakeview Annex - Lakeview Shock has two double-bunked overcrowded dorms, eighty inmates housed in units designed for fifty, as well as 10 fifty-four man dorms (designed for fifty), yet right next door is the annex which remains with a count of TEN inmates. All of the civilian kitchen staff from the annex was transferred to the shock side with no reductions. Ten feed-ups are transported to the annex via inmates for each meal. If an Annex inmate gets a visit they are picked up and transported to the Shock visit room by shock staff.
• Gouverneur CF - Why are they paving walkways and laying cement for new sidewalks. I thought the state was to save money. Doesn't seem like paving and laying cement is cost effective when the walkways and sidewalks are perfectly fine.
• Marcy CF - How about cost efficient vehicle to transport inmates to funeral trips and doctors appoinments because at 14 mpg that is the best those vans get.
• Greene CF - As you are aware DOCS has closed a number of Infirmaries including the one at Greene. Since that time overtime for inmate coverage at Albany Medical Center has exploded. There is now nowhere to send many of the less severely ill inmates due to the closures. As a result the state is paying large fees for hospital beds for inmates that would normally be housed in a facility infirmary. As usual piss poor prior planning on the state's part.
• Statewide - How about the tens of thousands of dollars wasted per facility for the endless array of inspections. Let's see the SHU audit, the yearly sanitation audit, all the various assistant commissioners visits, the hub superintendent visit, and lets not forget accreditation every three years per facility. Every time one of these happens it seems the checkbook opens up wide for cleaning. How about letting security staff actually work the inmates daily. We have approx. 70,000 janitors (inmates) The facilities should be spotless all the time. Maybe if they were actually worked daily the state would not have to waste all that money attempting to keep up appearances.
• Great Meadow CF -Great Meadows' entrance is in the process of being redone. Initially a few years ago, the entry walkway was a combination of brick and concrete but it didn't last. The combination of salt. back dragging tractors, and inmate snow removal techniques destroyed the brick and it is now in the process of being replaced. For a more esthetically pleasing look they are using uncemented paving blocks that normally run about $5 a piece or more at your local Home Depot. These blocks will undoubtedly be ripped up by the first back dragging tractor or "careful inmate" snow removal. They were given $20,000 to accomplish this task and are proud that they are doing it themselves for about $12,000 instead of using an outside contractor and keeping the rest. Speculation abounds as to where those monies will end up considering that they pay thousands every spring and fall to a local nursery for flowers instead of growing them themselves. Between this year's outrageously priced bleachers (estimated at over $400,000) and this nonsense instead of plain old concrete, I think the governor is wise to take money from our schools and elderly. After all, what's more important? Pleasing killers that use the bleachers for gang hierarchy or a pleasant view for their free bussed in relatives that come to see them?
• Livingston CF- What exactly do they do? Three Deputy Superintendents assigned to Livingston C.F. have "un"officially been removed from the position of Tier 3 Hearing Officer. For the past several months these duties have been left almost entirely to our one and only Captain, along with a few others being assigned to positions such as Food Service Administrator and Academic Supervisor. The reason for the "un"official change in assigning our Tier 3's was simple, our facility's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th highest paid employees couldn't be counted on to do the hearings correctly, or in many cases, at all! Far too often Tier 3 hearings were being lost on the grounds that they were not being started/completed within the department's guidelines. In addition to those hearings, were the countless others that were only conducted legally because last second "extentions" were provided to the Hearing Officer. So what is a Superintendent to do if he intends on moving on and moving up from Livingston C.F.? Exactly, he elects to pass the work off onto others rather than hold his immediate staff accountable for their actions, or in this case inactions. Now with a smaller pool of potential Hearing Officers to assign the same number of hearings to, the work load has become "overwhelming". With the Captain (who tiers the Misbehavior Reports) left almost alone with the burden of conducting Tier 3 hearings, what do you suppose happens? You guessed it! Suddenly a surge in the number of Tier 2 hearings, while the number of Tier 3's is dropped to a more manageable case load. Again, what exactly do they do? Why is it that the same people that can't be entrusted with carrying out basic portions of their positions are almost never seen without a coffee cup in hand? How many hours a day are required to be spent wandering aimlessly around an Administration building, always with just enough free time to spend telling yet another boring story to a captive audience of employees? Never mind, I believe I just answered my original question.
• Greene C.F. - How is it that the state is in severe finacial difficuties but they have the money to hire four new evening vocational instructors, when those positions have been vacant for over a year. Also why are we getting a new Superintendent.