Too Many Administrators, Too Few Guards Union Prez Says in Empire Page Interview

ALBANY, NY (08/30/2009)(readMedia)-- In an interview published today by the Empire Page, Donn Rowe, president of NYSCOPBA, the union that represents the state's prison guards, is concerned that recent cuts in the number of guards has not been matched by cuts in administrators.

"The micromanaging of the facilities by Building Two has inadvertently proven the point that the seven to ten layers of administration at each of the sixty-seven prisons could easily be done away with or at least consolidated," Rowe stated.

Rowe would like to see some of the money saved by reducing the number of Corrections Department administrators used to hiring more guards. "…Our one officer watching over sixty or more inmates is not watching them in their cells...He/she is watching them as they mingle about and that's a big difference and that is where we need 'extra' help."

Rowe, who was elected president of NYSCOPBA in July 2008, opposes closing more prisons on the grounds that the current system is still on average above 100 percent of capacity. "Currently, the maximum security prisons are operating at 124% capacity, the medium prisons are 96% capacity and the minimums are at 61% for an overall operating capacity of 102%," he explains.

The entire interview with Donn Rowe is available in the Improving New York section of The Empire Page.