Members leaflet communities statewide
Parole rule changes spark safety issues

By DEBORAH A. MILES
Since the state Division of Parole (DOP) recently proposed changes in regulations, PEF members at the agency have been flooding communities across the state with leaflets explaining how the new rules could jeopardize public safety.

CREATING PUBLIC AWARENESS — Parole Officer Israel Cruz explains to a shopper at Westgate Plaza in Albany how new proposed parole regulations will diminish public safety. Cruz is one of many parole officers in PEF Division 236 who are distributing the leaflets across the state. — Photo by Deborah A. Miles

The changes include merit termination of sentences that would allow parolees to be discharged from the mandated terms of their court sentences. This allows the release of  non-violent offenders back into the community,  and often with consequences. 

“Many non-violent offenders try to do the right thing. But sometimes they turn violent,” said PEF Executive Board Member Richard Mata, a parole officer. “About a year and a half ago in Buffalo, a non-violent offender was released from parole supervision, went into a cocaine rage and ended up killing four people.”
 
Affecting public safety
The other proposed regulatory changes are presumptive releases that would allow the Department of Correctional Services to release inmates to parole without serving their full minimum sentences. Other changes would reduce the number of arrest warrants issued on parole violators, and change the definition of violent crime. 

Caseload sizes, according to Division 236 Council Leader Barry Fishbein, would increase from 40 parolees to as many as 80 per officer under the proposed regulations.

“We are worried how these new regulations will affect public safety,” Fishbein said. “We also realize the public isn’t informed on this issue. That’s why we are passing out leaflets throughout the state.”

Fishbein sent a letter to DOP objecting to the proposed rule changes, and the hasty way DOP has tried to implement them. Some of the new regulations were posted on the DOP Web site, but did not fulfill the requirements of the state Administrative Procedure Act. Fishbein asked that the changes be reposted and dated, with the Web address and a summary of the proposed changes published, as required by law, and followed by a 45-day public comment period.

The proposed regulatory changes are taking power away from the state Parole Board, according to Chandra Perry-Patterson, PEF Division 236 steward and an administrative preliminary hearing officer. She said administrative law judges now have added responsibilities, such as deciding the fate of parole violators without the Parole Board’s input.
 
Increasing caseloads
Senior parole officers, parole officers, revocation specialists and administrative law judges are overwhelmed with cases, according to Perry-Patterson.

 “Our caseloads are enormous,” she said. “With the controls and standards DOP has placed on our members, it’s difficult for us to do our jobs.”

Each case in the parole-violation process involves contacting the victim, witnesses, obtaining hospital and medical records, coordinating with the law-enforcement agency that made the arrest, and acquiring other pieces of pertinent documentation.

“All these things have to be in place and assembled for the violation hearing,” Perry-Patterson said. “If we don’t have all the elements in place, the parolee could have his warrant lifted and then go back out into the community and seek revenge on the victim, witness or arresting officer.”

The DOP has not officially said why it proposed the changes, and its new executive director, George Ellis III, declined to meet with PEF leaders to discuss the proposal. 

“The state is getting a lot of pressure from county and local jails to get parole violators out of their institutions,” Perry-Patterson said. “If DOP speeds up the process to get violators out, the state will have fewer violators to support.”

“The focus should be on public safety,” Fishbein said. “By trying to save a few cents now, it’s going to cost many times that in the long run, in money and in distress to new crime victims.”

Communicator Homepage March 04

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Court rules grievance denial
Battle for Middletown Psych Center
PEF rejects state’s contract offer
Take the contract pledge
Saving Camp McGregor
Shadow agencies undercutting trust
Parole rule changes spark concerns

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Nurses set Lobby Day for May 4
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