Wardens' Union Head Rips Frisking of Rikers Officers; Claims Contract Violation
By TOMMY HALLISSEY
The Department of Correction plans to continue to randomly pat-frisk jail officers despite protests from several unions after uniformed staff were frisked and asked to remove their shoes at Rikers Island Aug. 16.

SIDNEY SCHWARTZBAUM: Questions methods used.

Correction Department spokesman Stephen Morello said checks are designed to send a message to jail officers that contraband is not allowed in Rikers Island, and follow the firing of several officers for smuggling contraband to inmates. The New York Post reported in June that rookie Correction Officers August Durand and Michael Santiago were fired after smuggling in alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana to Lee Woods, who is awaiting trial for his role in the murder last year of Police Officer Russel Timoshenko.

Within Its Rights or 'Nonsense'?

Mr. Morello asserted the Correction Department had the right to pat-frisk its employees upon entering the facility and would do so again.

Assistant Deputy Wardens/Deputy Wardens' Association President Sidney Schwartzbaum blasted the exercise. "This is nonsense," he said in a phone interview. "Does that mean they can strip-search officers?" The union president said he suspected the Correction Department had one individual in mind, but decided to search all staff so as not to tip that person off.

"However, the old adage 'it's not what you do, but how you do it' rings true in this instance," Mr. Schwartzbaum wrote in an Op-Ed article that appears in this newspaper. "The method and means in undertaking this search initiative was amateurish at best, and quite possibly, a violation of employees' rights."

Currently, the Correction Department forces all staff to pass through a magnetometer after placing items in a bucket. "What was unprecedented was the pat-frisking of uniformed staff and dictating the removal of shoes without reasonable suspicion," he wrote. "Had the Department of Correction searched an individual with reasonable suspicion and not the random searching of groups of employees, I would not be outraged."

The pat-frisk of jail staff occurred only at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers and ceased after a visit by Mr. Schwartzbaum and Correction Officers Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook. A spokesman for Mr. Seabrook had no comment. Correction Captains Association President Ronald Whitfield said none of his Captains were frisked.

Waiting on Meeting

"It stopped that night because we got assurances that this would stop 'til we had a meeting with the administration," Mr. Schwartzbaum said in a phone interview, but added it is not clear when that meeting will be. "I'm waiting," he said.

"I don't understand why they didn't bring in the unions on this to join a united front to fight corruption," he said.

Mr. Morello said there was no agreement with any of the unions to temporarily halt searching correction officers. Mr. Schwartzbaum charged the practice violated both a departmental directive and the conditions of employment. "To randomly pat-frisk uniformed staff without cause of reasonable suspicion is most definitely a change of 'conditions of employment' and what we believe to be a mandatory subject of bargaining," Mr. Schwartzbaum wrote in the Op-Ed piece.

He expressed frustration over the random nature of the search, which was applied to an Assistant Deputy Warden. "The fact that the Tour Commander, the highest ranking person on duty on Aug. 16, was pat-frisked without cause is a disgrace and unacceptable," he wrote.

Some COs Steamed

Correction officers have been venting their anger on the Correction Rant and Rave message board ever since the incident. "Let us not forget along with the Pat frisk came the K9 search ... K9 search!!!!!!!!!," wrote one on the Web site. "Treated like common criminals ... Just like the kids we watch everyday." The officer went on to fault the unions, a common refrain on this topic. "AND ALL I WANTED TO FIND OUT ... IN THE EVENT THEY DO THIS AGAIN IN MY JAIL BEFORE I TAKE MATTERS INTO MY OWN HANDS, CAUSE I'LL BE DAMM [sic] IF ANOTHER OFFICER IS GOING TO PUT HIS HANDS ON ME OR HAVE SOME DOG SNIFF ME ... WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL STAND ON THIS DISGRACEFUL TREATMENT ..."

Mr. Schwartzbaum said his union was not going to sit by and noted the irony of pending litigation on inappropriate searches of inmates without reasonable suspicion. "I didn't agree to hand over my constitutional rights," he said Aug. 20.

In recent months, both tabloids have run stories on the firing of the COs for smuggling contraband to Mr. Woods at Rikers. Mr. Schwartzbaum acknowledged the problem by saying in a telephone interview, "Nobody wants to rid the agency of corruption more than us," but expressed doubts about whether the K-9 units used in the exercise were necessary. "There have always been corrupt individuals in every profession," Mr. Schwartzbaum said. "Does that mean you are going to pat-frisk judges?"