Lighten The Load ––– Division 236 Council leader Willis Toms calls on legislators to fund hiring of more parole officers to lessen excessive caseloads.
— Photo by Steve Chamberlain
Union speaks out against state budget cuts
PEF leader tells lawmakers to add, not cut, parole officers
By DENYCE DUNCAN LACY
Public safety will be improved and taxpayers will save money in the long run, if state lawmakers reject the governor’s proposed state budget cuts for the state Division of Parole.
That’s the message from PEF Division 236 Council Leader Willis Toms, testifying at a state-budget hearing in Albany on behalf of the 1,400 parole officers represented by the union.
Toms is calling on state lawmakers to restore the 27 parole-officer positions cut in the governor’s Executive Budget, warning that the officers are already severely understaffed.
“Parole is short-staffed, and short staffing is dangerous,” Toms says. “It is dangerous for the communities where parolees live, it’s dangerous for our parole officers, it’s dangerous for local police and it’s dangerous for parolees.
“The proposed budget has the potential, through the reduction of 27 positions, of adding nearly 2,000 cases to the caseloads of the remaining parole officers,” Toms continues. “The average caseload of our officers in New York City is almost 83 parolees. With caseloads as high as these, it is impossible to properly supervise and monitor parolees.”
And Toms warns that the problem will only worsen if proposed Rockefeller Drug Law reforms are enacted. As more inmates would be released under parole supervision, parole caseloads will also increase.
Toms says PEF is asking lawmakers to restore funding for the 27 positions and add funds to hire more officers to handle the higher caseloads. The union leader says effective parole supervision is a cost-effective criminal-justice strategy.
“It has been estimated that parole supervision costs approximately $3,500 per parolee annually and incarceration is estimated at more than $35,000 per inmate annually,” Toms says. “Preventing parolees from violating parole and returning to jail is safer for the public and is fiscally responsible. It is in all of our best interests to enhance parole supervision.”