PLATTSBURGH — Amid sweeping budget cuts, corrections union officials are questioning decisions to consolidate housing, close facilities and eliminate officer positions, citing safety as a major concern.

The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association and Department of Correctional Services have been at odds since the state agency announced the latest round of reductions.

Union representatives have publicly criticized the agency's action and have launched a statewide campaign to raise awareness to what they perceive as irresponsible cuts that endanger safety.

NYSCOPBA President Donn Rowe said the state has "one of the finest prison systems" in the nation but "when you claw at what actually works ... you're playing a risky game with safety.

"It diminishes the system, and that's our concern."

JOB REDUCTIONS
With another round of job eliminations coming through attrition, union representatives are also questioning why the administrative level isn't being cut more instead of another estimated 2,000 front-line positions dedicated to protecting safety.

"We think it's time they re-examine the administration (levels)," Rowe said. "They're going to worsen an already dangerous situation (with more front-line cuts)."

But, DOCS spokesperson Erik Kriss said those cuts and others are being made to help save the state money during these troubling financial times.

"The commissioner has been leaving vacant administrative positions both at facilities and in the central office ...We don't want to put it all on the front line. Everyone has to take a hit."

He said the administrative cuts through vacancies and facility closures, including four superintendents and nearly a dozen first-deputy vacancies, have already saved $3 million alone.

By percentage comparison, he said, the administrative cuts are higher than officer reductions.

ADMINISTRATIVE PAY
Rowe said officers are frustrated by the cuts when they "see the waste in the department" and an "unnecessary layer" of administration, with overlapping duties and responsibilities.

Union officials feel DOCS has too many administrative positions, both at correctional facilities and at its Albany headquarters.

At the Albany building, Rowe said, 557 of the 967 employees make more than $53,000 a year, which is the average pay of officers.

Six of the top-ranking administrative officials in Albany make more than $160,000, he said.

Kriss justifies that pay by saying the top positions account for a combined 240 years of experience, with each person having more than 30 years experience and responsible for maintaining the $3 billion-a-year agency.

"These are big jobs, and these people know this system inside and out," he said, adding that they're invaluable in making sure New York has "one of the safest prison systems in the nation."

OFFICERS
NYSCOPBA Northern Region Vice President Randy Page feels every current officer position is needed, especially since more inmates are now being held in fewer facilities.

"Every officer in every facility has a duty in order for the facility to run. They all have a certain function, and in order to reduce that number, you're reducing that function, and there's no one else to put it on.

"It doesn't make sense."

They said staff reductions end up resulting in a higher overtime payroll to make sure the job gets done appropriately.

CAPACITY
Rowe said the department "paints a picture of empty cells" to justify the closures and job reductions, but "that's just not the case."

About a decade ago, according to federal standards, New York prisons were at 130-percent capacity. By the same standard, Rowe said, facilities are now at 104 percent, with maximum-security prisons operating at 123 percent.

He feels the increasingly violent inmate population is being crammed into already crowded facilities to accommodate the closures, rather than reducing the number of double bunks and dorm populations to improve safety and reduce violence.

Kriss said the federal standard is essentially a bogus statistic because it compares the number of inmates solely to the number of general beds, without taking into account the many inmates who are out on work release, those hospitalized and in court and the prisoners in special housing.

"There's never a time when every inmate needs a general bed," he said, citing a recent daily figure that showed about 7,500 general-bed vacancies across the state.

The state has seen a 16-percent decrease in the inmate population since 1999, Kriss said, but the correction-officer population has decreased only 3.4 percent in that time.

DOUBLE BUNKS
As far as dorm double bunks, Kriss said, they're a commonly accepted practice in New York and across the nation and "almost every top bunk has been approved by the Commission of Corrections."

He said "there's no evidence that double bunking has led to an increased instance of violence," something Rowe acknowledged during a recent Editorial Board interview at the Press-Republican.

Most double-cell quarters, Kriss said, were constructed for that purpose, though Rowe feels the situation often leads to conflict because inmates don't want to share the small living space.

"The system is still running smoothly, and the officers are doing a tremendous job," Kriss said.

"It's a tough and dangerous job, no question about it, and we appreciate what they do," but that they're trained to handle situations that arise in full-capacity facilities.

"We all work for the same purpose and same agency ... but we have to answer to the taxpayers, as well."

E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at: avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com