Parole officers strive under crushing caseloads to protect public safety
By MEL HYMAN
It costs state taxpayers an average of $1,500 per year to supervise a parolee or probationer in the community — a real bargain compared to the $30,000 tab for putting them up for a year in a jail or prison.
But it’s only a bargain if the level of supervision is sufficiently intensive to keep the offender out of trouble and on the path to a more law-abiding future.
Caseloads sky high
Approximately 1,100 parole officers supervise 60,000 parolees in New York state. It’s a tough stretch to make those ends meet.
If you want the job done right, says senior parole officer Ross Aronson, don’t ask officers to keep tabs on more than 40 parolees at one time. But it’s not uncommon for one parole officer to have to ride herd on 80 to 90 parolees.
These sky-high caseloads heighten the dangers for both the parole officers and the public, say Aronson and PEF Executive Board Member Gary Stern, a parole revocations specialist in Rochester.
Parole Week faint praise
Gov. George Pataki, who has often tried to curtail or even abolish parole, recently joined in proclaiming National Parole Week in early July. But while such public recognitions are appreciated, they ring hollow to many parole officers who see the governor ignoring more meaningful ways to show his respect and appreciation.
“This is an extremely stressful job,” Aronson says. “We go into the same places as police officers, and deal with the same criminals. But we don’t get the same respect and benefits.”
For the second consecutive year, state legislators in both the Assembly and Senate have recognized the dangers and stress facing parole officers and passed a bill stating that a parole officer who becomes disabled due to a heart condition is entitled to a disability pension based on the presumption that the condition is work-related.
Pataki vetoes speak volumes
Last year, the governor vetoed the
“Parole Heart” bill, just as in 1996 he vetoed
a bill that would have given parole revocations
specialists, such as Stern, ‘peace officers’
status. PEF activists at the State Division of Parole have not given up hope. They went back to their state lawmakers and got them to pass both bills again this year. Now, the parole officers and revocations specialists again are waiting to see if Pataki will reconsider and finally “do the right thing.”
Time running out
“I’m 55,” Stern says. “It’s hard for me to go on running after people, the way I did 20 years ago. We have an aging group of parole officers.”
When he considers the fate of a co-worker, Stern feels lucky to have lasted this long.
A 46-year-old parole officer in Rochester, recently began to feel unwell and was scheduled to check into a hospital. But the officer delayed the hospitalization by one day, so that he could testify at a parole hearing.
He didn’t make it. “He was found passed out, and he died within a week,” Stern says.
“We deserve to be treated better,” he adds.
“In many ways, we’re no different than police officers. The state provides us with a bullet-resistant vest, a 9 mm Glock semi-automatic handgun, 30 rounds of ammunition, handcuffs, a police radio and pepper spray. But what we want most is an acknowledgement that we are crucial links in the law-enforcement process.”
Lowering caseloads and signing the Parole Heart and Peace Officer Designation bills into law would go further to send that message, than proclaiming every week “Parole Week,” say Stern and Aronson.es on Long Island and their affect on groundwater. The plan — which is being developed as a joint effort of DEC, DOH, the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, and Nassau and Suffolk counties — will be the basis for a statewide pesticide-management plan.
Key bills passed, awaiting Gov. Pataki’s signature
PEF has won significant
legislative victories this year, but it will all be for
nothing if Gov. George Pataki doesn’t sign them into
law.
So, e-mail the governor at gov.pataki@chamber.state.ny.us
or write to him at: Gov. George Pataki, State Capitol,
Albany, NY 12224, and tell him to sign the following
bills when he receives them:
Prior Service
Credit (S8129/A11416) —
Members of a public-retirement system can receive credit
for prior service if that service would have been
creditable in a public-retirement system.
The waiting period for receiving that credit is reduced
from five years after returning to public employment to
two years.
Tier Equity
(S8130/A11415) —
Early-retirement penalties for public employees in
pension Tiers 3 and 4 are reduced to the level of penalty
for early retirement under Tier 2.
The penalty for early retirement by employees in Tiers 3
and 4 has been as high as 38 percent, in contrast to the
maximum penalty in Tier 2 of 27 percent.
Veterans
Buyback (S8101/A11380) —
The cost to veterans, who are members of public
retirement systems, of buying up to three years of
retirement credit for military duty performed during
specified periods is reduced to 3 percent of current
salary for each year of service that is purchased.
Parole Heart
(S7369/A10821) —
Parole officers who become disabled by a heart condition
while employed as parole officers will be entitled to a
disability pension based on a presumption that the heart
condition is work related.
Death Benefits
(S8131/A11414) —
Certain death benefits will apply to all new members of a
public retirement system. Coverage will be by the most
advantageous death-benefit option.
Sharps Safety
Act (S4936/A7144B) —
Health-care facilities must use safer needles and sharp
instruments to prevent accidental spread of blood-borne
diseases.
Whistleblower
(S1453/A3089) —
Employers are barred from retaliating against health-care
employees who report unsafe health practices.