'Justice' super agency threatens public safety
The governor's proposal to consolidate eight separate state agencies into a new super agency - the state Department of Justice - could endanger public safety, restrict legislative control and merge a watchdog agency with the very body it's meant to ride herd on.
"This proposal provides a smoke screen for drastic cuts in individual agencies that would not be approved by the Legislature if considered on their own merits," PEF representatives told lawmakers at a joint legislative hearing on the Executive Budget proposal in January.
PEF warned much of the touted $20 million in savings comes from food and energy-related efficiencies that could happen anyway. And other features that would contribute to the plan's short-term savings would open the door to much higher costs in the future.
What's more, the consolidation could result in serious administrative bottlenecks.
The new DOJ would boast a net gain of 604 employees, but that's mainly because of a new state prison expected to open in Seneca County in September.
Overall, DOJ would gain 885 new positions that would be offset by the abolition of 100 positions and the attrition of 181 positions.
Parole taking it on the chin
The attritions are expected to include 60 parole officers.
The governor claims they won't be needed because of his plans to restrict parole work-release programs.
But those positions should be used to improve public safety by reducing caseloads that are running as high as 120 per officer, according to PEF leaders at the state Division of Parole.
PEF leaders warned that cutting the number of parole officers to supervise felons released from prison just results in more parole violations and arrests.
"The cost of those increased arrests and incarcerations would far offset any savings achieved by administrative reorganization," PEF told lawmakers.
Pataki would also enact a "three-strikes-and-you're-out" provision for misdemeanor convictions, and decrease funding for probation and alternatives to incarceration - a plan sure to boost the criminal-justice workload and prison-inmate populations even further.
Mishmashed missions
Most of the other positions lost at the mishmash of
merged agencies would be administrative,
grant-management, and management-information-system
positions. You could be affected if you work at the
state:
· Department of Correctional Services (DOCS);
· Division of Parole (DOP);
· Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives
(DPCA);
· Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS);
· Division of state Police (DSP);
· Crime Victims Board (CVB);
· Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (OPDV);
or
· Commission of Correction (COC).
The Department of Correctional Services and Division of
Parole would become separate divisions within the new
department and COC would remain a separate entity within
DOJ.
The other agencies, as well as units within DOCS and DSP,
would be consolidated into three divisions and one bureau
- the Division of Community Supervision. That division
appears to contain most of DOP and DPCA, the Division of
Local Assistance, the Division of Technology and
Information Systems, and the Bureau of Administrative
Services.
The union is worried that the consolidation would
effectively shut out the Legislature's ability to oversee
agency operations through the budget process.
The proposal would give nearly total discretion to the
head of the new super agency, who could eliminate all
prison drug counselors, for instance, to hire more
corrections officers.
Parole officers
Letricia McCleary
Discovery Channel shines positive spotlight on tough job
NYS
parole officers gain national media coverage
By DENYCE DUNCAN
LACY
New York state Parole Officers gave TV viewers across the
country a close-up look at their difficult jobs, during a
one-hour documentary on the Discovery Channel on February
8.
Called "On the inside: a prison without bars,"
the program included interviews with parole officers
Letricia McCleary and Manuelita Clemente, and with PEF
President Roger Benson. Instead of criticizing parole,
the documentary took a positive view.
"Parole's mission is to safeguard the community
while helping an ex-offender be a law-abiding citizen in
society," McCleary told the interviewer. "I
think we do a pretty good job."
McCleary, Clemente and other parole officers were also
featured on the job supervising parolees, making surprise
visits, and actually arresting a suspected parole
violator.
The program also explored attacks on the parole system as
being too costly and too soft on criminals. For example,
Gov. George Pataki appeared in the documentary saying he
believes parole should be ended. But Benson told the
interviewer parole is a better and cheaper alternative to
incarceration for all but the most dangerous criminals.
"We can't put people in jail forever," Benson
said, "we just can't afford to do that. So, let's
bring them out. Let's supervise them strongly. Let's make
parole stronger, rather than weaker, and let's save
taxpayers a whole lot of money at the same time."
Even some of the parolees interviewed defended the
system, as helping them to avoid criminal activity after
their release from prison.
The program concluded with praise for a system that too
often comes under attack, stating: "In spite of its
many problems, parole remains the oldest and most
experienced system in guiding ex-offenders into a world
without bars. It is a system that is asked to do the most
demanding task of all: change human behavior, one parolee
at a time."