By Hector Flores
Nassau County Sheriff Edward Reilly made the decision to move the officers to other posts in the jail on July 3. In response to ShOA¹s claim, Reilly insisted that the redeployment created no new danger in the jail, and was simply a way for the sheriff¹s department to reduce overtime.
³All posts mandated to be filled by the New York State Commission of Correction are staffed on every shift, and posts not mandated by the New York State Commission of Correction are opened and closed as department needs dictate,² Reilly said. ³When a post is closed, officers are redeployed. Redeployment of staff from non-mandated posts is a vital tool that helps the department curtail some overtime.²
In response to the elimination of the post, ShOA officials decided to bring the issue to light by calling a news conference inside the State Supreme Court building in Mineola on July 12. John Duer, president of the union, called Reilly¹s decision to cut correction officers from the kitchen detail ³negligent.²
³Our facility is positioned directly inside a residential community, alongside a high school, senior housing and Little League baseball fields,² Duer said. ³We are outraged by the continued erosion of security posts and security measures in this facility. To remove trained correction officer security personnel from the kitchen areas, where inmates have access to knives, chopping tools and all sorts of metal cutting implements, is absurd.²
Duer explained that the union is fighting Reilly¹s actions by reaching out to the public and the press. He added that if Reilly failed to reinstate the officers to their detail, the union would be forced to file suit with the Public Employment Relations Board, a state labor regulatory body.
Reilly, however, is standing firm and, in a statement released to the Herald, he explained that although officers have been removed from the kitchen detail, the inmates and the facility are in the capable hands of civilian workers. ³I am confident in the abilities of my correction officers and my correction center civilian staff,² Reilly said. ³The jobs of a correction officer and of correctional center civilian employees are demanding, can be dangerous and thankless. Nevertheless, my staff continues to prove themselves. They are well-trained, dedicated and professional, and they perform a critical service for the residents of Nassau County.²
Jerry Laricchiuta, president of the Civil Service Employees Association Inc., which represents the civilian workers in the county jail, said that union members posted in the kitchen are trained to work with inmates, and have been doing so for 40 years. Laricchiuta explained that workers have radios with panic buttons, which alert correction officers to emergencies, and that there are at least two radios with this feature in the kitchen. ³If there is a problem, the alarm will go off, and within minutes five to 20 correction officers will be deployed to help,² Laricchiuta said.
Brian Sullivan, first vice president of ShOA, said that the panic button is not enough to ensure the safety of CSEA personnel among the 20 inmates in the kitchen. ³The panic button is not enough,² he said. ³A cook may not be able to get to the panic button, and if he does, the officers outside my not know what they are getting themselves into. For that reason you need an officer inside.²
Sullivan added that correction officers are trained to provide security, while civilian personnel are not. ³We provide the care, custody and control of inmates,² Sullivan said. ³While civilians can supervise work detail, they don¹t have the authority.²
Laricchiuta disagreed, saying that all CSEA workers are required to pass a 10-day training course at the Nassau County Sheriffs Training Academy in the correctional facility compound. There civilian workers learn about gang awareness, inmate searches and contraband control, inmate movements, supervision of inmates outside the facility, use of force, inmate discipline and crime scene evidence procedures, and other situations they may face at the jail.
³The Sheriff of Nassau County is very security-minded,² Laricchiuta said. ³He would not let security lapse. He has confidence in us and we have it in him.²
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
