By Matthew Spina
Buffalo News
ALDEN, N.Y. — State inspectors in a recent report describe the Erie County penitentiary as a management-challenged prison where deputies abandon their posts, legitimate inmate grievances go nowhere, and would-be reforms move slowly.
Commission of Correction Chairman Thomas A. Beilein called some findings unsettling when his inspectors described their most recent tour of the Erie County Correctional Facility, from which inmate Ralph “Bucky” Phillips escaped in 2006, killing a state trooper during his months on the run.
The inspectors said they found serious problems in areas controlled by Teamsters-represented jail deputies, who generally guard inmates who have not been sentenced in overflow areas that take pressure off the Holding Center in downtown Buffalo.
Corrections officers represented by the Civil Service Employees Association generally guard sentenced inmates, the largest number of inmates at the facility in Alden, which usually holds more than 900 people a day.
The inspectors said they found Teamsters-represented deputies leaving posts that involve active supervision over presentenced inmates, a violation of the state’s basic standards.
The inspectors cited a serious break in the Teamsters chain of command.
Each union member is accountable to the supervisors represented by their respective union. While all of the personnel are accountable to the facility’s “chief” and “superintendent,” the correctional facility has been without a chief for more than a year. “The highest ranking authority at the correctional facility for deputies on the afternoon shift, night shift, weekends and holidays is a deputy sergeant,” the inspectors said in their report.
They concluded that there is a “lack of effective supervisory and administrative oversight and accountability” in housing areas supervised by deputies.
Beilein and the two other commissioners were given the report as they decided whether to let the correctional facility continue to exceed its rating by as many as 137 beds. The three commissioners granted the “variances” for another 60 days, but members said they will tell Sheriff Timothy B. Howard to address the problems before expecting another extension.
Without the variances, Erie County could be forced to board prisoners in other county jails, incurring costs of more than $100 a day for each inmate.
Neither Howard nor any of his top administrators returned a Buffalo News telephone message seeking comment. Howard and his staff have said they are being treated unfairly by the State Commission of Correction and the U.S. Justice Department as they focus on his jails, and also by The Buffalo News in its reporting on jail matters.
The commission has sued to force improvements at the Holding Center, while the Justice Department has filed a lawsuit over perceived constitutional violations at the Holding Center and Correctional Facility.
Copyright 2009 The Buffalo News