Parole title merger compro


By DEBORAH A. MILES The consolidation of facility parole


officer and counselor titles at the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to offender rehabilitation coordinator (ORC) continues to create frustration among the more than 850 PEF members in the combined title. PEF President Susan M. Kent said


members from numerous prisons she has visited said the title merger benefits no one. “The state had two separate jobs and


their names were self-explanatory. The counselor provided advice and guidance to someone in prison, and the facility parole officers readied the inmates for their release,” Kent said. “The state has created a one-size-fits- all title, and there is no consistency


By SHERRY HALBROOK PEF’s state parole officers jammed the


Bronx courtroom January 29 for the sentencing of parolee Jonathan Lee, who was convicted December 17, 2013, of attempted murder in the first degree and other offenses committed against parole officers when they took him into custody for violating his parole. Lee was sentenced to serve 40 years to


life in prison. “We are here to make a strong statement


of solidarity that we will respond to an attack on any of us as an attack on all of us. It will not be tolerated,” said state parole officer V. Antonio Perez, a PEF Executive Board member. Three parole officers were injured while


taking Lee into custody September 2, 2011. Lee, who shouted he would not be taken alive, struck senior parole officer Karen Gormley on the head with a gun. Lee then pointed the gun between her eyes and tried to shoot her. The gun did not fire because, during the


struggle, officer Jonathan Dumberger had managed to get his hand on it and move the slide mechanism on its top to a position that made the gun inoperable. In addition to Gormley and Dumberger,


parole officer William Rosenbeck was injured during the fight. Officers Mireya Nivar and Edgal Imafidon


were outside guarding the doors to make sure Lee did not escape. The officers are all PEF members. “If officer Dumberger had not been quick enough to prevent that gun from firing, this


Page 12—The Communicator March 2014


AFTERTHE SENTENCING – Parole OfficerTony Perez speaks to reporters after a judge sentenced a parolee in the Bronx.


health and safety issues. They also planned strategies to improve working conditions.


Statewide concerns Marc Smith, an ORC at Marcy


STRATEGIZING – PEF Secretary- Treasurer Carlos J. Garcia addresses concerns from parole officers about the titlemerger. —Photos by Paula Hennessy


within the more than 50 DOCCS facilities as to what is expected from this title.” Kent held a meeting in January at PEF


headquarters where 35 ORCs shared their concerns about job duties and


Correctional Facility, said the meeting stimulated conversation about the various problems associated with the title. “It was good to hear from members


who work at different facilities around the state. This merger has not been successful on the facility level, unlike what we feel is being portrayed in Albany. After meeting with numerous former facility parole officers, it is clear staff is not happy on the facility level and many mistakes are being made statewide. This applies to both parole and guidance- related work.


Parolee who tried to kill officers gets 40 yrs-life


Morales’ gun jammed after the first shot. Morales previously had been convicted of murdering someone and was on parole for that offense when he tried to kill Salters. Perez said the heightened danger is


because the state is now paroling a bigger proportion of the most violent felons. “The state has been emptying its prisons


of the less violent offenders and now it is determined to send even more dangerous inmates back into the communities of this state, and it’s our duty to protect those communities,” Perez said. Understaffing is another factor,


—Photo courtesy of News12.com


could have been a terrible tragedy,” said PEF President Susan M. Kent. “Thanks to his fast thinking and quick action in the midst of that struggle no one, not even the parolee, was killed.” “This is the second time in less than a


year that a parolee has been convicted and sentenced for trying to kill a parole officer,” Perez said. “Our job has always been dangerous and some of us have been murdered doing it, but this is the first time two parolees have been convicted within a year of trying to kill us.” The previous conviction and sentencing


Perez mentioned was that of Robert Morales who was sentenced in April 2013 to serve 40 years to life after walking into a state parole office in Brooklyn in April 2010 and shooting his parole officer, Sam Salters, at point-blank range. Salters was severely injured, but survived because he turned his head just as he was shot, and because


according to PEF Vice President Wayne Spence, who also is a parole officer. “We are now at 724 officers in the state.


We were at 1,500 officers 10 years ago,” Spence said. “Our courageous parole officers face


tremendous dangers as they work to keep New Yorkers safe,” Kent said. “Unfortunately, when parole officers are injured while performing their duties, they do not receive the same benefits as police officers. A bill, A05899/S04095, is pending in the state Legislature that would begin to correct that inequity, by giving parole officers continued salary and paid medical expenses when recovering from such injuries.” “While the legislation will not make


officers safer, it will ensure they are treated more fairly if they are injured on the job,” Spence said. “We need the support of all of our union


brothers and sisters to help convince state lawmakers to pass this long overdue bill.”


PEF Information Line: 1-800-553-2445


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