UnHorn Backs Board Proposals on Jails;

Union Reaction Mixed
Horn Backs Board Proposals on Jails


Correction Commissioner Martin F. Horn April 17 defended the Board of Correction's proposed plans to decrease the space required to house inmates, require prisoners to wear uniforms, and permit officers to monitor their phone calls.

MARTIN F. HORN: 'Improves safety, security.' "We believe that the board's proposed standards will better enable us to maintain safety and security in an environment that also respects individual rights," Mr. Horn testified.

Unions' Objections

But the unions representing uniformed correction officers and multiple prisoner rights groups have objected to several of the proposed changes. The unions are concerned with the plan to amend and in some cases repeal regulations requiring the department to have employees fluent in Spanish available and guidelines specifying how much overtime officers can work. They also object to a plan decreasing the space required to house inmates.

"This is a safety issue," asserted Ronald W. Whitfield, president of the Correction Captains' Association. "Reducing the square footage will put a burden not only on the officers but also on the Captain."

RONALD W. WHITFIELD: Moves questionable. The union president noted that department staff has been reduced from 13,000 officers and other employees in 1993 to the present 8,500. "The balance of inmates is going up," he added.

The unions last week argued against changing the rules prohibiting an officer from working more than two consecutive shifts and mandating that they be afforded at least 10 hours off before returning to duty after working two consecutive tours.

Fatigue Factor

"If a person is fatigued, they are not as alert," Captain Whitfield said. "It also bears on the public; if they are tired and fatigued it can cause an accident on the highways."

Correction Officers' Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook also testified before the board against those changes. In a letter to the board before the hearing, he noted that many of the overtime rules were enacted following the jail riots that occurred in the 1980s.

"It was determined that Correction Officers were over-worked and the lack of sufficient rest they received between their shifts diminished their alertness and thus impeded their ability to perform their duties at optimal levels," the letter said. "The bottom line is that the proposed repeal of Section 1-03 is not good for the safety and security of the officers and not effective for providing the utmost care, custody, and control of inmates."

NORMAN SEABROOK: Shouldn't decrease space. Mr. Seabrook said COBA has a "very serious" problem with decreasing the space required for inmates from 60 square feet to 50 per inmate. That plan, he noted, would allow the department to add 10 inmates to each dormitory, which would in turn require one Correction Officer to oversee 120 inmates, up from 100.

'Rules Shackle Us'

Commissioner Horn told reporters that the move is a cost-cutting measure and maintained that it will not affect security. The current minimum standards date back to 1978. Those rules, he said, "shackle us in our attempt to run safe jails in ways no other jail in the state of New York is restrained."

He noted that the board currently allows the department to house groups of up to 60 sentenced inmates in 50-square-foot modular dormitories. "There is no evidence to demonstrate it is a problem," he testified. "The proposed change will allow us to continue to maximize the number of inmates in air-conditioned housing and also will enable us, as we move forward with our plan to reduce the capacity of the jail system to move greater numbers of inmates off Rikers Island."

Prisoner advocacy groups, however, have blasted the plan, contending that it violates inmates' rights and will create safety hazards in the jails.

Mr. Horn defended a key proponent of the drafted suggestions, noting that other jurisdictions already use less space to house inmates. "And I am aware of no evidence that it has been deleterious to good jail operation or the welfare of persons confined in our adjacent counties," he remarked.

The correction unions support the proposals to enable the department to monitor inmate phone calls and requiring that inmates wear uniforms. COBA suggested that sentenced inmates wear different colors than the other prisoners so that officers can recognize the higher-security risks. "This is particularly important in view of other proposed changes which will often permit sentenced and detainee inmates to be housed together," Mr. Seabrook testified.

Smuggling Concerns

Inmates clothing often has many seams and pockets, which makes it easier for them to sneak in contraband, Mr. Horn noted.

"Such clothing often includes small buttons, metal zippers and other articles that diminish our ability to properly search inmates utilizing walk-through magnetometers," he testified.

Sidney Schwartzbaum, who represents Deputy Wardens and other supervisors, said uniforms would reduce fighting among inmates over clothes and their ability to "fly their gang colors."

The board is expected to vote on the proposed changes, which have been reviewed by the city's Law Department, sometime after the public comment session, which is over at the end of May.