March 15, 2012
Volume 29, Issue 1
"Got an idea for a PeaceKeeper article?"
Click on the link below to submit your topic or article.
E-mail Nichol Gomez at CCPOA.org
December 29, 2011
Volume 28, Issue 4
"Got an idea for a PeaceKeeper article?"
Click on the link below to submit your topic or article.
E-mail Nichol Gomez at CCPOA.org
September 29, 2011
Volume 28, Issue 3
"Got an idea for a PeaceKeeper article?"
Click on the link below to submit your topic or article.
E-mail Nichol Gomez at CCPOA.org
October 8, 2010
Volume 27, Special Election Issue
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June 30, 2010
DJJ’s Right-Sizing Rollercoaster
Fasten your seatbelts, you're in for a bumpy ride!
By Don Benegas, Supervising Field Rep, CCPOA Southern Office
As any Bargaining Unit Six employee in CDCR's Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) will tell you, the experience of enduring DJJ's down-sizing -- an action that management insists on calling “right-sizing” to describe the structural, operational, and economic overhaul of the entire Department -- truly has been a test of patience for most of the past year, and especially in the face of other uncertainties. The following is provided as an update to CCPOA's negotiations with the state on the status of right-sizing in DJJ.
Although the ever-present rumor mill on this topic seemed to peak around the early months of 2009 regarding the fate of DJJ, it was not until last August that CCPOA finally received official notices describing several major policy decisions, most notably right-sizing and an institution closure that both the Department of Personnel Administration and DJJ management began to implement in the ensuing weeks and months, all with serious implications falling on CCPOA's membership.
In conjunction with the state's official notice last year regarding DJJ's decision to “re-purpose” (read: close) the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility, DJJ management had previously hinted that it would carry out new right-sizing initiatives at the five remaining facilities -- PRESTON, CHAD, O.H. CLOSE, VENTURA, and SYCRCC -- relating to BU6 reductions in security supervision and treatment team staffing patterns, as well as counselor workload increases.
In addition, two precursors had emerged to create the conditions that made right-sizing an increasingly attractive decision for DJJ's leadership. First, the mounting financial and political costs of prolonged litigation in the Farrell v. Cate lawsuit, coupled with growing public criticism over the annual budgetary costs associated with operating DJJ, became significant and inescapable realities within DJJ.
Second, the state Legislature's reaction to public demands for DJJ's accountability of its out-of-control annual spending on the ward population in DJJ resulted in an ultimatum: Either rein in costs quickly by reducing the current level of funding from $250,000 per ward per year to an acceptable amount, or risk virtual elimination of DJJ through public policy reforms. So, DJJ management chose the former option, which hastened the move to expedite implementation of the state's right-sizing initiative.
A separate note that added to the situation for DJJ last summer was the major inmate riot at CIM -- which is located next door to the Stark facility in Chino -- that caused havoc on CIM's Reception Center West facility with the near total destruction of several housing units, rendering it uninhabitable as a secure correctional housing environment.
Soon thereafter, and either willingly or unwillingly (depending on whom you ask), DJJ was called upon to consider relinquishing its operation of Stark, thereby facilitating CIM's immediate need to house hundreds of its temporarily displaced inmates at the facility. So, with DJJ's announcement to close Stark last August, the state's right-sizing plan gained momentum within DJJ.
The Stark closure and right-sizing decisions led to hundreds of BU6 staff receiving the designation “surplus employee,” which in turn made them subject to involuntary job transfers and the very real possibility of layoffs. However, the adoption of a stopgap measure, whereby the vast majority of surplus DJJ staff were offered and accepted “comparable” BU6 job vacancies in CDCR's Adult Division (upon completion of a transitional academy) proved to be helpful. In fact, the comparable jobs option had a collective effect on our members, as they were able to avoid layoffs that may have otherwise occurred. Since then, and with layoffs largely a resolved issue in DJJ for now, CCPOA has shifted its focus to the remaining matters of safety, security, staffing, and workload that remain unsettled between CCPOA and the state.
With the above events in mind, it might be somewhat of a surprise to those who remain working for DJJ that the impact negotiations between CCPOA and the state (both DPA and DJJ management) that began last October, are not yet concluded. Although numerous bargaining sessions have occurred, the parties have not yet reached anything close to an agreement on the issues and concerns that separate us. While there are several reasons why our bargaining table on this subject remains ongoing and unresolved, the most prevalent issue has been dilatory conduct on the part of DPA by refusing to respond timely to the union with their dates of availability to conduct negotiations. This recurring behavior on the state's part has led to many unnecessary delays and a protracted negotiations process, to say the least.
In fact, the process has been much like a bumpy roller coaster ride -- without the usual frivolity and excitement. For example, each of the five remaining DJJ facilities are currently in various stages of implementing lodge and living unit closures or consolidations. Reports from our local chapter representatives, as well as our field representatives, also indicate that local DJJ managers at the institution level are making other operational and/or staffing changes that do not appear related to right-sizing at all -- at least to the extent that justifications for such changes cannot be found in DJJ's right-sizing “business rules” document.
Seeing these conditions unfold without the benefit of local negotiations to discuss and resolve site-specific issues, CCPOA has objected and argued many times with the state over these unilateral moves -- meaning prior to the conclusions of negotiations -- that undermine the integrity of the impact-bargaining process.
As has been the union's experience many times in the past, statewide negotiations tables involving the implementation of new programs of this nature and scope are best handled and resolved through local negotiations, which are then codified as part of a master agreement. To that end, CCPOA has repeatedly advocated to permit local negotiations to proceed in the same manner as we have done in the past; however, our efforts to maximize union representation at the local chapter level have so far fallen on deaf ears with the state of California, and DPA in particular. As one would expect, the state has not provided any reasonable rationale for its refusal to delegate the right-sizing implementation to the locals.
This right-sizing roller coaster ride with the state isn't over -- and it promises to remain a bumpy one. Worse, if the state gets its way with the safety and security flaws we have identified in its business rules document -- and in spite of our serious concerns with unsafe staffing and unrealistic workload demands -- it is very possible the ride could prove to be a dangerous one for our members in DJJ. While we are hopeful we'll reach an amicable accord with the state, we will remain steadfast in refusing to compromise the safety and security of our members in the process.
For now, the fight continues.
December 1, 2009
FROM THE EDITOR
FROM THE EDITOR 
Just a day before Thanksgiving, I received an email from Diane, a member and parole agent out of Region III. She wanted me to know that she enjoys reading my From the Editor columns. "You help inspire," she wrote. I couldn't have been more pleased to read those words.
It's all any writer could ever hope to hear from a reader. Believe me, it means as much as the paycheck in the envelope.
But, truly, if I do inspire, it's only because I've been inspired - by you. All of you. All of the professional peace officers of the world who take a new vow every work day, every shift, to protect the good people of the world from the bad people of the world. On the streets, in correctional facilities, on the highways and byways. There is just no finer call to glory - save for our selfless, brave soldiers protecting our freedoms from points all over the globe - than to put your precious life on the line to ensure the safety of perfect strangers. Every day of your career.
We really cannot thank you enough.
And it got me to thinking about inspiration - in all its many forms. At this, perhaps the most inspirational time of the year, take a few minutes to look around your little piece of the world and think about what inspires you. Your family? That's an easy one. Your job? Your coworkers? The quiet, calming aura that welcomes you as you step into a house of worship? A long, lazy drive in the country on your day off?
How about a warming sunrise? Or a glowing sunset? The peace that radiates from a sleeping, cooing baby in warm jammies? The good, charitable work of others? Carving a golden-hued 16 lb. turkey as the hungry, loving eyes of your family watch from their places at the dinner table? Or maybe the unmatched glow that takes over your living room as you turn off all the lights in the house - except the 700 tiny colored lights on your holiday tree?
Life is short. Embrace the moments that inspire you and you may find you're an inspiration to others. And no matter how negative the vibes are around you on a given day, don't lose sight of the important role you play in our society.
Especially now, as we struggle to grasp the breaking news of four Washington police officers shot to death, ambushed as they gathered to share coffee before a morning shift. That is the kind of moment that simply must catch your breath and nearly stop your heart from beating if you are a peace officer in any area of law enforcement. The bravery of those four and their horrific and untimely end inspires me to feel even more respect for the job they did, and to feel gratitude for all I have - thanks to them and others like them.
Please enjoy this end-of-year issue of PEACEKEEPER, with its several stories of inspiring community service joyfully displayed by our members all over the state.
As always, I raise my glass to your good health and safety; I tip my hat to your dedication and selflessness.
December 1, 2009
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
From the President... 
by Mike Jimenez, CCPOA State President
"The service you do for others is the rent you pay for the time you spend on earth."
- Mohammed Ali
Service is a word that means many things. It can mean the service you receive when you order a meal at a restaurant, or it can mean that you served your country in the Armed Forces. It can even mean the opening salvo of a tennis volley or the cups, saucers, and utensils for high tea.
In the context of the quote from boxing champ Mohammed Ali, service obviously means the performance of work for the benefit of others with no expectation of personal profit. But there is also the service you provide to either a private corporate entity or agency of government for which there is an expectation of payment.
Most of us understand the differences among the many meanings of the word service. However, within the offices of California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, there does seem to be some confusion as to the definition of service. Someone in those Capitol offices has sold the idea that all services are to be provided without any expectation of compensation - even public service provided to the citizens of California by putting oneself in harm's way for the benefit of others, namely, working in California's correctional facilities.
So, in order to help provide some clarification and definition to the folks in the governor's administration, CCPOA (along with other employee associations) went to Superior Court in Alameda County to correct the assertion by Schwarzenegger that CCPOA members should happily provide involuntary service (work) for free.
CCPOA maintains that failing to pay our members for time worked in exchange for furlough days is a clear violation of the law. At the time of this writing, the Superior Court judge has taken the matter under submission and will eventually rule in a written opinion.
When it comes to providing service to others with no expectation of personal profit, the generosity of the men and women of the correctional profession never ceases to amaze me. Throughout the state of California, our members continue to donate both their time and their money to support worthy causes in their neighborhoods. Even now, in these very tight fiscal times, the humanitarian efforts of correctional peace officers have not diminished. In this issue of PEACEKEEPER, we focus a bit on all the things our members are doing to make life better in their communities.
Whether it's a Battle of the Badges boxing exhibition to raise funds for numerous charities, or a Letters to Santa golf tournament to raise monies for the purchase of holiday gifts for less fortunate children, our members are there and go above and beyond the call of duty.
The CCPOA State Board of Directors also budgets for year-round contributions to numerous public service charities throughout the state, such as: the Make-a-Wish Foundation, People Reaching Out, Parents of Murdered Children, and Women Escaping a Violent Environment (WEAVE).
Service to others for compensation is an everyday expectation of both employers and the workforce. It is a thread of free enterprise and the foundation of the American dream. Service to others with no expectation of ever being compensated is beyond the mundane - it is noble. It is the rent that is paid not only for our time spent here on earth but, moreover, for eternity.
Please take a moment to pray for the safety of those who place themselves in harm's way for the benefit of their fellow man over this holiday season. Whether it is our soldiers in foreign lands or our members within the battlefields of California's prisons, their service protects our freedoms and safety at the risk of their own lives - and that, too, is noble.
Happy holidays to all of our members, staff and friends. May the many blessings of the season create lasting memories for you and your family. And may every man and woman serving in the world's ongoing conflicts and every correctional peace officer working a shift on a tier or on the mean streets of parole return home safe to their loved ones.
Take care and God bless.
December 1, 2009
COVER STORY: Yes, California, There Is A Santa Claus
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Yes, California, There Is A Santa Claus
O.H. Close Chapter's Long-Running Letters To Santa Program Brings The Miracle Of The Holiday Season To Those In Need
by Lance Corcoran, CCPOA Chief Communications Officer
The holiday season can be a magical time - and, on occasion, it can be a time of miracles. For many, the holidays are meant for celebrating family traditions, giving thanks for life's many blessings, and sharing those blessings with those less fortunate.
When it comes to Christmas miracles, one CCPOA member, now retired, quietly began a giving tradition in the Stockton area about 14 years ago - a generous endeavor that has carried on and gains momentum to this day.
All those years ago, Joe Ponce, then a youth correctional officer working in the Central Security unit of the California Youth Authority complex in Stockton, became aware of a few local families in need of a little help at Christmas time. Going into his own pockets for funds, Joe found out what the needs were for those families and provided the gifts and holiday food to help them celebrate a Merry Christmas.
As word spread of Joe's Santa Claus-like generosity, there was a feeling among many CCPOA members that this grand effort should be nurtured and encouraged to grow.
And so, as the story goes, a tradition began in the form of the Letters to Santa Golf Tournament, an event designed to raise the money needed to fund the gift-giving project. Spearheaded by Joe Ponce, Raul Pacheco, and the late Patti Padmore, who were all members of CCPOA's O.H. Close Chapter, the Letters to Santa program provides toys, clothing and food to about 50 low-income families in the Stockton area.
The golf tournament and the cause always held a special place in the heart of longtime member Patti Padmore, who passed away in 2007 after a long battle with cancer. She really believed in the magic of the Letters to Santa project. Each year, she would race around the golf course, making sure that everything was just perfect. Now, the continued success of the project is seen as a sort of tribute to her legacy.
"Patti would be so happy to see that the tradition is being kept alive and continues to help kids," said her friend and colleague, L.C. Collins. "That was what Patti always stood for - helping kids, both on and off the job."
During the golf tournament this year, held on November 9, longtime supporter and CCPOA member Richard Bee told the story of Allison Snyder, a senior at Stockton's Bear Creek High School, who last year put together a toy drive at the school in support of the Letters to Santa program.
"When we went out to deliver the gifts, we wrapped the Bear Creek toys in red for girls and blue for boys. As you can imagine, sometimes when we would show up at a designated house, the neighborhood children noticed what was going on and would come over to see if maybe Santa had something for them as well," said Bee. "Well, the amazing thing was, throughout the day, we never ran out of toys in the bag. It was almost magical," he added with a smile.
This year's tournament was a huge success with a full field of 144 golfers enjoying a beautiful fall day at the Brookside Country Club in Stockton. CCPOA members from O.H. Close and the NCYC complex, as well as members from DVI, CMF, Folsom, and CSP-Sacramento, either sponsored holes or sent players for the tournament. In fact, Folsom sent three foursomes, and CMF C.O. Roger Parsad helped to provide prizes for the charity raffle. 
In addition to CCPOA's event sponsorship, the Correctional Peace Officers Foundation, Crime Victims United, and local investment management firm Valley Financial Services provided funding and foursomes for the tournament. A special thanks to Lindsay Randolph and Valley Financial for their years-long support of the Letters to Santa project.
O.H. Close Chapter President Brian Gibbons was on hand to make sure everything came off without a hitch, and longtime volunteers Lisa Gamble and Chris Espinosa were there to make sure Brian survived the day. Longtime CCPOA members Bob Roe and Angelo Haro were in charge of the barbecue, and served up the best hot dogs and hot links at any Letters to Santa golf tournament anywhere that day! On the Vegas hole, Sheryl Straub kept things lively, and, as they say, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!"
All of these wonderful volunteers - and so many others - work hard to make this event a success year after year, and they do it out of the goodness of their hearts, on their own time, with no compensation.
The Letters to Santa event and the work of our dedicated volunteers is a testament to the positive effect and commitment to service that the men and women of our profession have within their communities. Given the day-to-day grind of the correctional profession, the inherent negativity within the walls, the lack of respect that many experience in their jobs, it is inspiring to see our members rise above it all and work to make things better for others.
In 1897, a New York Sun editorial writer named Francis P. Church responded in print to a letter from an 8-year-old girl named Virginia, who asked the question, "Is there a Santa Claus?"
Church responded, in part, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias..."
For many families in the Stockton area, there truly is a Santa Claus - a Santa Claus who exists because of the love, generosity, and devoted efforts of our correctional family.
And that, my friends, is a Christmas miracle.
December 1, 2009
RESPONSE TIME
RESPONSE TIME
Starting in early Spring 2008, I submitted transfer packets for a lateral transfer from Corcoran State Prison to Sierra Conservation Center, due to my mother's diagnosis with colon cancer. After over a year and two interviews I did successfully transfer in July 2009.
Upon my transfer, I emailed the following letter to both chief deputy wardens at Corcoran, with the intention it be published in the IST Bulletin. Well, it wasn't. Although somewhat dated, perhaps the PEACEKEEPER could publish it? After 15 and one-half years at Corcoran State Prison, I can think of no better way to express my appreciation to everyone there.
Thank you.
Lt. John Kavanaugh, SCC
Editor's Note - We're happy to print this letter for you, Lt. Kavanaugh. Thanks for writing.
To all staff at CSP-Corcoran:
This Letter of Appreciation is submitted upon my lateral transfer from Corcoran State Prison to Sierra Conservation Center. This memo is written to publicize not only my appreciation of all those I have come to work with on Facility 3A, but more so my appreciation of all Corcoran staff.
This transfer is only because of the necessity of my elderly family. Although originally from the Jamestown area, I have established deep roots in our local community. My roots also run deep here at our institution. Fifteen years of my state service here have been more than memorial. In retrospect, I have only the most positive recollections of my interactions with my fellow employees. Before my transfer, I was anticipating many more.
I would be remiss to only acknowledge the names of those fellow employees whom I have grown close to. I have admiration for the officers, sergeants, the classification staff, and my fellow lieutenants who I have interacted with every workday. To the supervising cooks, maintenance staff, office assistants, and secretaries who may not garner the celebrity as those in uniform, you have my high regard, for without your dedication and hard work, my job would have been much more difficult.
To our medical and mental health staff, I recognize your tireless efforts are not because of court mandates but because of your genuine compassion. There may have been times it seemed not so, but I have always had the utmost respect, esteem, and reverence for our captains, our associate wardens, and the executive staff. I anticipate sharing with others at Sierra the prudence I have gleaned from our managers.
The few words on this paper will surely fade with time. The laughs, the sweat, the burdens and concerns that we have shared while working together will always be in my heart.
Lt. J. Kavanaugh
July 6, 2009
I am looking for a few good men and women who walk the toughest beat in the state to step up and participate in the Western States Police and Fire Games.
We are forming a football team out of the CDCR complex in the Stockton area. If you are interested, please email me at Largolfer1@aol.com, and I will provide you with the proper contact numbers. The dates for the the 2010 Games are July 24 - 31 in Reno, Nevada, where the host hotel will be The Silver Legacy.
To CCPOA female members: We are looking for some of our younger athletes to join with our seasoned veterans of the basketball court to come out and show LAPD and LASO that you can walk the toughest beat in the state on the hardwood, too! If you'd like more information, please email me as soon as possible. We also welcome you to participate in individual events, if that's more to your liking.
In addition, we have added a new event for all you MMA fans. It is called submission grappling. You can actually submit your opponent; there is no punching or kicking allowed. (There is also a women's division.) This event was a huge success this past year, held in Big John McCarthy studios. Come on out and test your skills. Let's see how tough you really are.
So, get in shape and join us for the 2010 Western States Police and Fire Games. I look forward to seeing you there!
L.C. Collins
December 1, 2009
VICTIMS OF SUCCESS
Victims of Success 
by Correctional Sgt. Kevin Raymond
CCPOA has enjoyed a great deal of success over the last 26 years of collective bargaining-culminating with the 2001-2006 Memorandum of Understanding. This success didn't come easy and at times was stagnant for years. But, eventually, forward momentum was regained. The problem with such success is it becomes an expectation. Anything less is considered a complete and utter failure.
Storied sports franchises suffer from the same effect. Fans of the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Bruins expect to win the championship every year; anything less is unacceptable. While fans of the Cincinnati Bengals, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Stars would generally feel good about simply having a winning season every now and then, it's all in the individual's perspective.
Much was made of the aforementioned 2001 MOU by the media and certain members of the state Legislature. Terms like "egregious" and "sweetheart deal" were thrown about to the point of nauseam. So much so, in fact, that when 2006 finally arrived it was pay back time. The Department of Personnel Administration, under the direction of the governor's office, decided it was time to take back the milk money the big bad Prison Guards Union took from them on the playground in 2001. Of course, no mention was ever made of the California Highway Patrol contract, which was and continues to be just a little sweeter.
I would like to make an analogy but before I do, the disclaimer-I am in no way, shape or form comparing the trials and tribulations suffered by our brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces to Unit Six members not having an MOU and living with three furlough days.
That said, our members are a microcosm of this society as a whole. Following the World Trade Center attacks in 2001 (coincidentally when CCPOA was at the MOU bargaining table), Americans were outraged and ready to make anybody even remotely responsible pay for this atrocity. Public support was firmly behind any military action deemed necessary. The problem was America appears to have a short memory, and in this instant gratification society in which we live, results just don't come quickly enough.
Ironically, this was a revelation by Osama Bin Laden following events in Somalia. His take? America will never sustain any action that causes American blood to be spilled for any length of time. I believe he gravely underestimates the resolve of the people of this country, as he hides away in mountain caves one smart bomb away from meeting his maker.
Although no one wants our military in harm's way, it becomes a necessary evil from time to time. But I will not debate the righteousness of any ongoing national skirmishes here. That's for another day.
Back to the task at hand. As members of this society, we tend to want the same instant gratification. As a whole, we don't look back at all we have accomplished, and if we do it's "Okay, that's all well and good, but what have you done for me lately?" The 2001 MOU doesn't satisfy, the Pay Arb I decision doesn't do it. This current stagnant position in which we're mired is viewed as failure. And the detractors commonly referred to as haters have come out of the woodwork with their own agendas.
Have the last three years been stagnant? Sure, but have they been a failure? No, I don't believe they have. Failure would mean you had the opportunity to succeed at some point in time and failed to achieve the goal. Now, this does not deter those among us well trained in the art of gazing into crystal balls and seeing the future: If CCPOA hadn't done this or that we would be respected by the governor and have a sweetheart deal from the state right about now.
Interestingly, there's that short memory again. This onslaught from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't begin in 2006 with the expiration of our MOU. It began almost immediately following his swearing-in ceremony. Do you remember 2004 when they forced us back to the table to sacrifice over $100 million in savings to the state? Do you remember the shell game they played with the Law Enforcement Methodology in 2005, which gave birth to Pay Arb I? Do you remember the initial package that left certain classes behind? Do you remember the take-it-all-or-leave-it package from 2007?
You see, this labor war was not something we asked for. It was forced on us like it or not. Much like the war on terror, to do nothing would have been the biggest mistake. Alas, much like the society we come from, the war has taken its toll. Too many people want to count the losses and cut and run before the task at hand is finished. The tactics and direction of the Association during this offensive unleashed by the governor can and will be debated for years to come.
Opinions will always be bantered about and portrayed as truth. All I know is, it is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.
As for what those crystal balls might project had we not irritated the governor's sensibilities, what about the other 20 bargaining units that left us out in the cold all alone as they climbed between the sheets with Schwarzenegger? Where are they now? Are they enjoying sweetheart deals as you read this? Not hardly. In fact, SEIU made a deal with the benevolent one only to have him-wait for it-renege on his word YET AGAIN.
We could have rolled over and signed a deal in 2006 that left parole agents and counselors behind, but we refused. We could have signed off on their Last, Best Final Offer (LBFO) in 2007, but we refused. We could have offered a deal that saved the state $1.2 billion-oh, wait a minute, we did, only to get a sound "not interested." We could have played nice and counted on the governor's kindness to throw a few scraps our way as if we were a mutt in the yard.
I don't use a crystal ball, I prefer tarot cards. And according to my readings, none of it mattered. This scenario was pre-determined by the governor's personal agendas-agendas that don't include any amount of respect for Bargaining Unit Six members. But they do include a major push toward privatization-not that moving in that direction has anything to do with the amount of money he has taken from them.
After all, he doesn't bow down to special interests, he's said so himself. And if you can't believe the governor then I suppose you can't even believe an inmate these days.
So have the last three years been a failure? No. We were just ahead of the curve on what this governor is really all about. He will be gone in a little over a year and we will move forward with the next governor. Future CCPOA members will have the benefit of what are now relatively new members in the next round of stagnation telling them, "You think this is bad? You should have been around from 2006 to 2010!"
We really are victims of our success-victims of all we have accomplished over the years. We have come to expect success at every turn. We refuse to let an occasional winning record pass for real success. We will settle for nothing less than championship status, that's our nature. It defines who we are, as a people, as individuals, as a profession.
You see, we may not have been at war for thousands of years. We may indeed find the spilling of young, American blood distasteful. But there is no substitute for American honor and resiliency.
The same can and should be said of our members.
Correctional Sergeant Kevin Raymond has been a CCPOA member since 1990, and is currently chairman of CCPOA's Prison Review Committee.
December 1, 2009
The Value of a Skelly Hearing
by Leanne M. Kent, CCPOA Staff Legal Counsel, West Sacramento
Recently, an article appearing in another corrections employee publication stated that Skelly hearings are a waste of time. To the contrary, CCPOA statistics show that participating in the Skelly process has value for our members...
December 1, 2009
Benefit Trust: Pennies from Heaven
Benefit Trust: Pennies from Heaven 
Just When You Need It Most, CCPOA Legal Plan Will Help You Save Money
by Crystal C. Virtue, Esq., Executive Vice President, Caldwell Legal
Back in the 18th century, Ben Franklin coined the phrase, "A penny saved is a penny earned." Those wise words were never truer than they are right now.
The CCPOA Benefit Trust Fund is all about helping you hold on to your hard-earned money. In order to help you weather these tough times, the Trust has made sure you have access to one of the best group legal plans anywhere—the CCPOA Family Legal Plan—administered by Caldwell Legal.
The CCPOA Family Legal Plan is provided automatically to CCPOA members. Think about that. No monthly fee and it's loaded with free and low-cost benefits that will save you money if you take the time to use them. How significant are these savings? Take a look at the following examples.
Free Personal Federal and State Tax Return Preparation. How much did you pay to have your taxes prepared last year? That's money you don't have to spend this year. Just call the Tax Hotline at (800) 924-3091. After you complete and return the tax organizer, their tax professionals will prepare your personal federal and state income tax forms and mail them back to you at no charge. That's good through April 1 of each year and includes all 50 states. They'll even give you some free tax advice, too.
Free Will with a Children's Trust. Even if you are struggling financially, it's vital to your minor children that you have a will prepared naming a guardian for them in the event something happens to you. And if you don't take the time to do it before something happens, the state will name a guardian for you. When have you ever wanted the state to make that kind of decision for you? A will with a children's trust can cost up to $1,000. With the CCPOA Legal Plan, you can get one for free.
Free Uncontested Divorce. You can save thousands of dollars if you have all the details worked out between you and your spouse or domestic partner. Your Caldwell Legal Service Office attorney can prepare dissolution forms free-of-charge when neither party is represented by counsel and all issues are agreed to without the aid of counsel. The filing and/or preparation of documents affecting the division of pensions are referred at a reduced fee. (California residents only.)
Free Unlimited Telephone Consultation, Third-Party Calls, and Letters. Are you having trouble with your landlord or getting a warrant enforced? Do you have questions about credit issues, a contractor doing work on your home, or a Small Claims Court issue? Talk to your Caldwell Legal Service Office attorney about these and many other matters. Your LSO attorney will discuss the legal issues with you and make calls and write letters as needed. For this service, most attorney firms would charge $200, $300, or even $400 an hour. For most people, just consulting with an attorney is so expensive that they can't afford to get the justice they deserve. With the CCPOA Legal Plan, this service is free for members.
Free Mortgage Meltdown Survival Guide and Help with Mortgage Issues. The Caldwell Mortgage Meltdown Survival Guide gives you the big picture, while your Legal Service Office attorney gives you the individual guidance you need to make your way through a mortgage mess. Find out what your options are in this fast moving area of the law. Give us a call before you hand over thousands of dollars to one of those expensive negotiation companies that are popping up everywhere.
Free Contract & Document Review. Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a contract dispute and then realized you misunderstood the terms of the agreement? Problems like this can be huge and hugely expensive, but you can avoid them if you have your LSO attorney explain any confusing contract terms to you. Ten pages each document, simple matters.
Free Advance Health Care Directives HIPPA Release. An Advance Health Care Directive gives you the power to decide ahead of time the type of medical care you want to receive. It allows you to name an agent who will be responsible for making sure your wishes are followed.
The use and disclosure of confidential health information is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPPA. A HIPPA Release allows health care professionals to disclose your health care information to your appointed agent. It works well with an Advance Health Care Directive so your agent is allowed access to your health care records when needed to make the most informed choice possible. These important legal documents are now available upon request—both to the member and to his or her spouse or registered domestic partner—free of charge.
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"Time is money." More wise words from Ben Franklin. So don't waste a single minute. Call Caldwell Legal at (800) 222-3035, and start saving your money today.
December 1, 2009
An All-Star Performance
An All-Star Performance
The NKSP Basketball Team Takes a Gold Medal at the Western States Police and Fire Games
by L.C. Collins, Director WSPFG
North Kern State Prison could grab the attention of an NBA scout. I wonder if the Department and the fellow officers and staff at NKSP know of the athletic talent walking around their institution.
The North Kern basketball team has once again demonstrated a very high level of play in winning the Western States Police and Fire Games Division I basketball championship. The team was awarded the Gold Medal after defeating some very competitive teams representing athletes from around the western United States - thanks to the leadership of team captain Officer J. Henry and fellow players Officers R. Earnest, C. Haggins, R. Price, E. Jackson, M. Martin, D. Akins, J. Perkins, R. Wood, and J.R. Walker.
For years, the North Kern basketball team members have demonstrated to other law enforcement agencies that they not only walk the toughest beat in the state, but they are also the toughest on the hardwood floors. They've beat out favored agencies such as LAPD - a team some thought was unbeatable, and they've taken down other formidable basketball giants over the years, such as Oakland PD, Orange County, Portland Fire Dept., San Jose PD, and San Francisco FD.
And in the spirit of true sportsmanship, the North Kern State Prison basketball team has always maintained the grace of a good winner - something the facility and the Department should be very proud of. This team should be congratulated and encouraged to continue to represent the profession in the Western States Police and Fire Games.
I would like to thank them all for their participation - and I would like to challenge them to bring their athletic abilities to the World Games.
I think if they play at the level that they are all capable of, the NKSP basketball team should have no trouble bringing home a medal. The next World Games competition will be in New York in August 2011. I hope to see them there.
Again, thanks to all the team members for a job well done. Congratulations!
If you like HOOPS - we're looking for you!
Get out your whistle and lace up your tennies! The ELK GROVE POLICE ACTIVITIES LEAGUE is looking for officers to serve as youth basketball coaches for their upcoming season.
We know that many of CCPOA's fine officers live in and around the city of Elk Grove and we would love to have you join us in this worthwhile endeavor. The Police Activities League, which is running in conjunction with the NBA's Sacramento Kings Jr. Kings program, is set to begin play in mid-January and will run for approximately 10 weeks.
This is a co-ed league with two divisions: 4th-6th graders and 7th-9th graders. The time commitment is two (2) one-hour practices per week at local elementary schools, and one (1) two-hour game commitment on Saturdays at Albiani Middle School.
Playoffs will consist of one local playoff game and a championship game to be played at Arco Arena - the home of the Sacramento Kings - prior to a Kings game that night.
Also, a Q & A session with the Kings coaching staff and players, and a ticket to the April 10 Kings game against the Dallas Mavericks (after our championship games) will be included for the participants.
We have secured many practice locations around the city, and coaching assignments and practice schedules will be made with flexibility and officer convenience in mind. You do not have to live in the city limits to participate.
Take advantage of this opportunity to be a mentor and sports coach to the youth of Elk Grove. You don't have to be John Wooden (or even know who that is*) to be a good coach and make a positive impact on a child's life. Other coaches will be provided on a volunteer basis and you may not even have to be a head coach.
If you are interested, we'd sure like to hear from you. Please contact Elk Grove PD Officer Manuel Saenz (msaenz@elkgrovepd.org) as soon as possible.
* John Wooden is the legendary former UCLA basketball coach. He recently celebrated his 99th birthday.
December 1, 2009
The Paper Chase: Helping You Take the Stress Out of Tax Time
The Paper Chase: Helping You Take the Stress Out of Tax Time
by Juston Montano
Just like that, we're at the end of another year. And we all know what that means: tax time. It's that time of year when we gather all our tax information for the dreaded filing of the income tax return. Before your anxiety level goes up, maybe I can help by providing some useful information that might take some of the stress out of filing your taxes...
December 1, 2009
Home Sweet Home: Protecting Your Credit and Your Financial Future in a Mortgage Meltdown
Home Sweet Home: Protecting Your Credit and Your Financial Future in a Mortgage Meltdown 
by Jeffrey Malkasian
The mortgage crisis that our country is experiencing has hit California harder than other areas. Many honest, hardworking members in our communities are trapped with crippling mortgage payments on homes that are worth less than what they owe on them.
But foreclosure is not the only - or even the best - available option. Consider a short sale instead. Though not exactly a positive option, its negative impact on your financial stability may be far less than what a foreclosure will do for your credit future. Before you settle on the idea of foreclosure, let's briefly compare the two.
Losing your home to foreclosure due to inability to keep up with your monthly mortgage payments is one of life's most unpleasant experiences.
It is also an event that keeps on affecting you long after your home is gone - by devastating your credit score.
Regrettably, most people cannot be 100 percent sure they will remain safe from foreclosure because they can't foresee the future. Unexpected occurrences such as serious illness, a major accident, divorce or job loss can happen to anyone. It's a good idea to understand the available alternatives should the worst occur.
Simply put, the inevitable result of a foreclosure is the lender taking back your house. Not only will you lose your home, but the lender can get a judgment against you for the arrearages you owe on it plus his or her costs for the foreclosure action. And if that isn't enough, your credit report will be in terminal condition for many years to come, worsening an already bad financial situation and making it very difficult to obtain any other kind of credit. There really is no upside to foreclosure. It should be avoided at all costs.
A short sale is a situation where you work with your lender to sell your home for less than the value of the loan. In these cases, the lender forgives the balance of the loan. If you have a $300,000 loan, for example, but can only sell the home for $225,000, your lender would write off the $75,000 difference.
A short sale is a popular option for homeowners mired down with financial problems. The biggest problem you will face is getting your lender to agree to a short sale. Experts advise pursuing this option the minute you realize that you are falling behind in your payments and most likely won't be able to catch up. The longer you wait and the greater the amount you are in arrears, the less likely your lender will ever be willing to discuss a short sale.
While a short sale is still an unfortunate situation, it is much less damaging - for you and your bank - than a foreclosure.
Though it will have a negative effect on your credit score - frequently lowering it by as much as 200 points - it is something that can be repaired more quickly than the black mark of a foreclosure, especially if you manage to retain one or two credit cards and keep them current.
There are many advantages to a short sale, including:
- avoiding the long-lasting damage of having a foreclosure on your credit report;
- receiving forgiveness on an unrealistic amount of debt - without declaring bankruptcy;
- there are no tax implications for the forgiven debt (this is a recent development, so take advantage of it!);
- reducing the stress on your family from struggling against a massive monthly mortgage payment; and
- a second chance - the opportunity to start over and rebuild your life.
But why would your lender agree to write off such a large sum of money? Banks are in the business of lending money - not managing property or selling real estate. In the long run, selling the home at a loss is much more cost effective for the bank than foreclosing on the property.
And prior to the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act passed at the end of 2007, the IRS treated the amount of debt a homeowner was forgiven in a short sale as income. As a result, people already in a bad situation were also horrifically penalized on their tax returns. Recognizing the unfairness of this situation, Congress passed legislation amending this area of the tax code. Up to $2 million can be forgiven in this way without tax implications.
Qualifying for a Short Sale
To qualify for a short sale, most lenders will require that the homeowner be at least one month behind on the mortgage payment; the home must be listed for sale; and a qualified buyer must be available. You may also be eligible for a short sale if your income has been significantly reduced since you received your home loan and you have little or no savings.
Above all else: Get Professional Advice
The single biggest reason a short sale succeeds is a qualified real estate agent. If you are considering a short sale, you will need the support and advice of a qualified accountant and a real estate agent - one with lots of short sale experience who will help broker a deal with your lender and negotiate the details of a short sale.
If you find you are struggling to make your monthly mortgage payments, don't hesitate to get some advice. There may be other opportunities available to help you. An experienced, professional accounting and bookkeeping firm will look at your financial situation as a whole, and will be able to provide reliable advice that will save you money and improve your tax position.
You work hard for your money. Don't allow a shaky economic situation to worsen. Get the help you need - and deserve - to save that home sweet home.
Jeffrey Malkasian is the founder of Malkasian Accountancy in Sacramento, a family-owned business since 1979 specializing in tax preparation and bookkeeping services.
December 1, 2009
The Wishing Place Where Dreams Come True - With Hope, Strength and Joy
The Wishing Place Where Dreams Come True - With Hope, Strength and Joy
Photos by Nichol Gomez-Pryde, CCPOA Communications Division
In 1980, Chris, a 7-year-old Arizona boy being treated for leukemia dreamed of one day becoming a police officer. When his condition worsened, a family friend, who just happened to be a U.S. Customs officer, contacted public safety officials to help him plan a special day for the boy and to help grant his wish.
They went all out - a tour of the city in a police helicopter, a custom-made uniform, and a proficiency test on a special battery-operated motorcycle so Chris could earn wings to pin on his uniform. Not only that, Chris was sworn in as the first honorary Department of Public Safety patrolman in Arizona state history.
Though Chris passed away a couple of days later, he had realized his lifelong dream of becoming a police officer - thanks to the compassion of people in a position to make the dream a reality.
If they could do it for one child, they could do it for others, they thought. And just like that, the Make-A-Wish Foundation was born. And today, more than 186,000 granted wishes later, the Foundation continues its mission "to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy."
In November 2008, CCPOA made a donation to the Sacramento chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help them build an exciting new place where the children can find peace and hope.
And on November 2 of this year, the Wishing Place celebrated its grand opening, and CCPOA was there with other supporters and volunteers to tour the special place where wishes are made and dreams come true.
December 1, 2009
And in This Corner… Battle of the Badges
And in This Corner... Battle of the Badges A Knockout of a Charity Even
by Lance Corcoran, CCPOA Communications Director
On a cool, crisp October evening at Raley Field in West Sacramento, law enforcement officers and firefighters from across Northern California came together to heat up the ring at the 2009 Battle of the Badges, a charity boxing event benefiting the Firefighters Burn Institute, Sacramento Sheriff's Department Toy Project, and the Sacramento Fallen Officers Resource Fund administered by CSP-Sacramento.
Sponsored by Montes Entertainment, No Limit Fighting, and CCPOA, the event featured 24 adult fighters - 18 of them correctional peace officers.
In the first bout of the night, 39-year-old heavyweight Raymond "Sugar Ray" Cancel from CSP-Sacramento took on 35-year-old Ken Amodo from DVI. Both fighters were heavy hitters, with Cancel taking two standing-eight counts and Amodo getting knocked down in the 3rd round. Ultimately, Amodo won the fight with a unanimous decision.
Next up was Mule Creek State Prison's Kelly McKinnon - one of four female fighters - against a firefighter from Clarksburg. McKinnon made quick work of the firefighter, with the referee stopping the fight in the 1st round.
Fighting in the sixth bout of the night, Anthony "El Gallo" Chacon from CSP-Sacramento and Daniel Gehm from CMF-Vacaville were well matched. Chacon caught an overhand right punch from Gehm and was knocked down in the 1st round. After a standing-eight count, Chacon appeared ready to continue boxing but the referee chose to stop the fight, unleashing an uproar of "Boo!"from the crowd of more than 500 boxing fans.
In the second female fight of the night, Nina Nunez from CMF was up against Julie "The J Cat" Williams from San Quentin. Williams showed great boxing fundamentals and scored with both jabs and power punches. Nunez fought back hard, but in the second round the referee stopped the bout and declared Williams the winner.
In a great battle of heavyweights, David Cummings from DVI and Christopher McElroy from CMF fought their hearts out, with Cummings winning by decision. Eric Brazil and Robert Cordray, both of Mule Creek, scored three-round decisions over their opponents from the Sacramento Police Department and the Compliance Investigations Unit respectively, to lead up to a brief intermission in the action.
After the break, one of the most anticipated fights of the night pitted Cris "Heavy Hands" Garrison from CSP-Sacramento against "Slick" Rick Turner from the California Highway Patrol. In the first round Garrison pounded away, nearly knocking Slick Rick through the ropes. Turner was able to regain control and the referee eventually stopped the fight in the 2nd round, the victory this time going to the CHP.
Abraham Sacay of CSP-Sacramento, and Arturo "El Tigere" Serrato, DVI, were up next, as Serrato entered the ring to the music of a live Mariachi band. The two correctional officers fought hard for three rounds, with Sacay scoring the victory by decision. Antonio "Rocket" Rodriguez, CSP-Sacramento, and Shaun Dean, Folsom, also fought for three rounds before Rodriguez got the victory by decision. Larry "Pitbull" Fernandez from CSP-Solano scored a decision over a Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy, bringing us to the main event of the night.
The two heavyweights entered the ring: Larry "Psycho" Ward from CMF, and James "Lights Out" Dorris, representing the Folsom Police Department. Lights Out turned out to be an appropriate moniker for Dorris because that is exactly what Psycho had in store for him. Both fighters charged to the center of the ring; Dorris scored a punch that briefly - very briefly - slowed Ward's assault, then Ward bounced back, unleashing a barrage of blows that put the lights out for Lights Out.
Battle of the Badges 2009 was a great success. All fighters emerged from their bouts with only a few aches and pains, no serious injuries, and ready to fight another day. The real winners of this popular event are the families who will benefit from the services of the Firefighters Burn Institute, the Sacramento Sheriff's Toy Project, and the Sacramento Fallen Officers Resource Fund.
Event promoter and host Israel Montes Jr. - himself a two-time boxing gold medalist at the Western States Police and Fire Games - offered his appreciation for everyone who made this sixth annual Battle such a success. "I just want to thank all of our event sponsors, the competitors, friends and fans, and especially our volunteers," Montes told the crowd.
Israel and his brother, Luis Montes, along with event co-hosts Shawn Correa and No Limit Fighting, put on a terrific event. When asked about a seventh annual Battle, Israel said with a laugh, "I always say that this will be the last one." After a brief pause, Israel added, "Look out for next year!"
So if you're itching for a fight, there's no time like now to hit the gym and start training for the next Battle of the Badges - it'll be here before you know it. And if you're interested in participating as a competitor or a volunteer, contact Israel Montes Jr. by emailing izzynation@frontiernet.net.
December 1, 2009
Serving Justice
Serving Justice
In February 2009 a dozen horses were abandoned at Del Puerto Canyon Ranch near Modesto. One of those was Justice, a 28-year-old Arabian gelding, who would now need very specialized care.
Thankfully, the good folks at A Chance for Bliss Animal Sanctuary in Penryn, California, came to his rescue, and Justice joined the many other residents, mostly canine and equine, who receive love and care, rest and respect, for the rest of their days.
CCPOA heard about Justice through one of the sanctuary's supporters—who also happens to be a correctional officer—and stepped up to help. Now Justice and CCPOA are "Spotlighted" on the sanctuary's website.
"Such specialized care would not be possible without such generous support and we couldn't be more grateful," reads the website. "We are privileged to know many correctional officers throughout California and are truly honored by their support."
Check out the story, and see the transformation of this beautiful animal whose life will now be happier and healthier, thanks to the support of many individuals and organizations like CCPOA.
December 1, 2009
Taking Care of the Community
Taking Care of the Community
Since the Association's earliest days, CCPOA has made commitment to community a top priority, and through the organization's individual chapters, the members contribute their time and money to many local causes, reaching out to support others in their communities.
Recently, the CCPOA Folsom Chapter received some positive press when the chapter presented a contribution check to the nearby Folsom High School Marching Band and Color Guard.
It all started when Folsom High School student Jessica Lawson discussed the budget cuts that had impacted the marching band with her parents - both Folsom correctional officers and active CCPOA members. They suggested she contact the chapter officials and attend a couple of chapter meetings to see if they could help with fundraising.
Explaining Folsom's charitable contributions policy, Chapter President Scott Lamphere said, "Basically, if someone asks, and if we have the funds, we try to support any worthwhile cause," adding, "But this year, we really wanted to give to the community."
After Jessica attended the chapter meetings, she asked the chapter if they could somehow assist her marching band, requesting a donation of $250, which was the usual contribution limit set by the Folsom Chapter board.
However, in a surprising turn, the board approved a check for $1,000 - by far the largest amount ever given to a single charitable organization.
"Though we have a set limit of $250 for donations, we felt this was different in light of the budget cuts, so we wanted to help as much as we could without breaking the bank," Lamphere stated.
Since taking the helm of the Folsom Chapter in January 2007, Lamphere says the chapter has contributed between $8,000 and $10,000 to local charitable causes - and plans to continue such participation in the future.
Other groups the Folsom Chapter has assisted include the Cub Scouts, Little League, softball and rugby teams, the Lyons Club, and Folsom Parks and Recreation.
The activity the Folsom Chapter is most proud to support is the Shriners Hospital for Kids - a cause they assist annually. "Officer K. Bacchi has taken up this cause and has done a great job supporting them. We've just tried to be there to support her," said Lamphere.
Kudos to Lamphere and the entire Folsom Chapter for setting such a great example of positive, charitable support - especially in these tough economic times.
December 1, 2009
Step Up for Downs Syndrome
Taking Care of the Community
Since the Association's earliest days, CCPOA has made commitment to community a top priority, and through the organization's individual chapters, the members contribute their time and money to many local causes, reaching out to support others in their communities.
Recently, the CCPOA Folsom Chapter received some positive press when the chapter presented a contribution check to the nearby Folsom High School Marching Band and Color Guard.
It all started when Folsom High School student Jessica Lawson discussed the budget cuts that had impacted the marching band with her parents - both Folsom correctional officers and active CCPOA members. They suggested she contact the chapter officials and attend a couple of chapter meetings to see if they could help with fundraising.
Explaining Folsom's charitable contributions policy, Chapter President Scott Lamphere said, "Basically, if someone asks, and if we have the funds, we try to support any worthwhile cause," adding, "But this year, we really wanted to give to the community."
After Jessica attended the chapter meetings, she asked the chapter if they could somehow assist her marching band, requesting a donation of $250, which was the usual contribution limit set by the Folsom Chapter board.
However, in a surprising turn, the board approved a check for $1,000 - by far the largest amount ever given to a single charitable organization.
"Though we have a set limit of $250 for donations, we felt this was different in light of the budget cuts, so we wanted to help as much as we could without breaking the bank," Lamphere stated.
Since taking the helm of the Folsom Chapter in January 2007, Lamphere says the chapter has contributed between $8,000 and $10,000 to local charitable causes - and plans to continue such participation in the future.
Other groups the Folsom Chapter has assisted include the Cub Scouts, Little League, softball and rugby teams, the Lyons Club, and Folsom Parks and Recreation.
The activity the Folsom Chapter is most proud to support is the Shriners Hospital for Kids - a cause they assist annually. "Officer K. Bacchi has taken up this cause and has done a great job supporting them. We've just tried to be there to support her," said Lamphere.
Kudos to Lamphere and the entire Folsom Chapter for setting such a great example of positive, charitable support - especially in these tough economic times.
December 1, 2009
California Pens
California Pens
Information about incidents and assaults across California. This information is available in the PeaceKeeper each month, and is updated as-received online as well. You can also read about nationwide correctional issues and news in CCPOA's online news blog.
September 1, 2009
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
"Emergencies have always been necessary to progress. It was darkness which produced the lamp. It was fog that produced the compass. It was hunger that drove us to exploration. And it took a depression to teach us the real value of a job."
Victor Hugo, French novelist and poet, (1802-1885)
Webster's Dictionary defines the word morale as: a moral or mental condition with respect to cheerfulness, confidence, zeal, etc. Hmmm . . . "cheerfulness, confidence, and zeal" are not exactly the words I hear commonly used when one speaks of working in a prison or in law enforcement on today's streets. Generally the words used are far more negative-and who can blame those who have sworn to protect the public for being a little less than cheerful. Budget cuts, the threat of mass inmate releases, modifications to parole supervision, closures in the DJJ, and increased severity in adverse actions have truly damaged an already historically low morale.
When I first started as a correctional officer some 23 years ago, I remember staff lamenting that morale had never been lower. If asked today, most staff would say the same thing. Now, I am never sure just how low morale can go but I do believe the correctional peace officers of today have a point. I remember when a manager sort of off-handedly remarked to a bunch of us fish that "your morale is in your paycheck." At the time, I thought the statement was incredibly shallow and shortsighted and I still feel the same way; however, I have to admit that a pay cut of 15 percent due to furlough days has had a profound effect on my morale. Truth be told, I am finding it hard to maintain my normally sunny demeanor.
What is sad is that many of us really wouldn't mind doing our part, given the reality of the economy in California. What is insulting is the disparate application of the use of furloughs to save minimal money while forcing correctional peace officers to literally work for free.
As everyone is aware, the Golden Boys, aka the California Highway Patrol, have been exempted from furloughs. Okay, I know, get over it, the CHP will always be treated differently-they are, after all, the governor's taxpayer-funded personal protectors. Nevertheless, when the CHP dispatchers were recently exempted from furloughs as essential public safety but correctional peace officers were not, I had to scratch my head.
Be assured that CCPOA continues to fight for our members in every legal venue possible, and we feel confident that we will eventually win furlough compensation for the members of Bargaining Unit Six. And, as we continue to pursue a win for our members in court, the comments and perspectives of many may be aiding our cause.
Recently, during his Senate confirmation hearing, CDCR Undersecretary Scott Kernan acknowledged that the furlough plan is essentially a long-term, deferred liability that will cost taxpayers more in the long run.
And, Sen. Darrell Steinberg recently wrote in a letter to the governor: "The evidence shows that the policy (meaning furloughs) is costing the state money and further hurting the economy . . . California will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in our general fund at state tax agencies . . . The furlough policy has become a penny saved, a dollar lost approach . . ."
Certainly we value our jobs. We make a difference here in California by protecting the public from the people no one else could handle.
If the state wants the prison system to be more efficient and effective, fine. CCPOA has produced numerous suggestions and plans to do just that and all were met with both a deaf ear and a blind eye.
As individuals we have a role in the effects of our zeal for our work place. We also have a role in the determination of our own morale. In accepting these responsibilities, we need and respect leaders who have the courage to tell us when things are tough, that we will have to sacrifice and that these difficulties may last for awhile. Leadership requires in these instances that the boss be consistent in the application of cost-cutting measures. It requires that there be a sense of purpose toward a common goal and that the goal be attainable.
We have yet to see these qualities in this administration-so, as the old CDCR saying goes: Expect the beatings to continue until morale improves.
Until next time, God bless and have a safe shift.
September 1, 2009
COVER STORY: The Perfect Storm Part II The Principles of Direct Supervision and Rehabilitation
by Correctional Sgt. Kevin Raymond
In my previous article, The Perfect Storm: Returning CDCR to National Prominence (Vol. 26, #4 July 2009), I attempted to detail some of the problems imbedded within the culture of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as it exists today. One of the major fixes to the CDCR dysfunction noted in the article was a complete change to the mindset of everyone in CDCR–from the top down to the bottom. And one of the ways to begin this process may well be with the principles of direct supervision, as set forth by the National Institute of Corrections (www.nicic.org).
The NIC is an agency within the federal Bureau of Prisons. Its 16-member advisory board, headed up by a director appointed by the U.S. attorney general, provides training, technical assistance, information services, and policy/program development assistance to federal, state, and local corrections agencies, according to their website. The NIC has established eight basic principles of direct supervision and 24 additional principles for housing unit staff. (See boxed lists.)
First, though, I must admit that I am one of the individuals in need of a change to the aforementioned mindset. Having spent my entire career in adult corrections under the current "warehouse 'em" philosophy, the first time I read the principles I was, shall we say, dubious of their content at best. My first reaction to the NIC's principles relating to housing units was that they sounded a little too warm and fuzzy for my tastes.
But as I read them and considered the possible consequences of putting them in place, they began to make sense. It's not about being warm and fuzzy, but when enacted properly with unwavering support from an administration of equal mindset, the principles allow for the correctional officer to actually run his or her unit. The principles dictate that staff must know the inmate population and what is transpiring on their turf. You'll note that under these principles the prison belongs to the staff not the inmates–a novel idea.
However, before the principles of direct supervision can effectively be put into play, a few very important things must transpire. Management, supervisors, and line staff all must be willing to admit that what we are doing now is a huge failure. California's recidivism rate makes this abundantly clear. And all must be willing to embrace the change in the mindset. More important, there has to be a reduction in the inmate population without a commensurate reduction in staffing levels.
Though the principles of direct supervision mandate that the ratio of inmates to housing unit officers should never exceed 64 to one, it's no coincidence that the prototypical 180 degree housing unit has 64 cells. In fact, these units were designed with these principles in mind. So first and foremost there must be a drop in the inmate population, new construction–or both–to allow for the proper ratio. Although, we may soon see a reduction in the inmate population due to the recent population cap ordered by the federal three-judge panel, or by one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ill-conceived prisoner release programs.
There can be a direct correlation between the principles of direct supervision and inmate rehabilitation. These principles allow for correctional staff to control and dictate the daily routines of our prisons, making rehabilitation possible. Human nature, on the other hand, dictates that if there is a void in leadership or direction, the strongest of the group or a rogue group itself will step in and fill that void.
History has proven this time and time again. (Case in point: the August 8 inmate riot at California Institution for Men in Chino that damaged seven housing units and displaced more than 1,100 inmates.) By stretching our staff so thin with severe overcrowding, the void has been created for gangs and other unsavory characters to gain power over weaker individuals.
By creating the opportunity for staff to regain control within our system there will be a natural move toward real rehabilitation. Although, to achieve the goal in its entirety there must be viable, valuable programs to assist in the transformation. Proven educational, vocational, and life-skill programs must be established.
It is time for the state to determine if they want to have actual rehabilitation or not, as a simple agency name change was clearly not the answer. To rehabilitate or not to rehabilitate–that really is the question. Rehabilitation is not a bad concept, nor is it a new concept. But it is a concept that cannot be realized nor can it thrive in overcrowded conditions, with low staffing ratios, and without the core change in the mindset.
As an example, I offer CDCR's Division of Juvenile Justice's attempt to create a better mousetrap. The first step was to find a system that actually works. DJJ settled on the well-known Missouri model. In fact, it was probably a good choice, as the state of Missouri has enormous success in rehabilitating their youthful offenders. However, and keep in mind I am winging the numbers here, Missouri places 50 wards in each facility while employing 300 staff members at each one. That's a pretty decent ratio even by our DJJ standards. There is no void in their system, it simply isn't allowed.
Armed with this information and the success of the Missouri model, CDCR began planning a DJJ prototypical facility with a group of their own experts. As representatives of the Prison Review Committee, CCPOA Legislative Affairs Director Stephen Walker and I were invited to the planning sessions as observers–much to the chagrin of certain CDCR staff.
The first decision made by this group of experts was to house hundreds of wards, compared to Missouri's 50, at each facility with less staff. Placing hundreds of wards in each facility will do nothing more than keep the current system in place and allow the dominant individuals and groups to rule. Not a good plan. While the newly-designed prototypical facility was nothing short of spectacular–and by spectacular I mean spectacularly expensive–if such facilities are actually ever built they will be destined to fail due to the intended large population driven by the lack of a change to the current mindset.
The point is DJJ didn't end up with the Missouri model, as it was far too expensive and rich in staff. They ended up with the California-Missouri model instead. They chose to modify the model based solely on fiscal considerations. They made the conscious decision to once again opt for the illusion of rehabilitation over actual rehabilitation. The success of the Missouri model comes from the ratio of staff to wards, and the interaction between the two–not from the recreation room complete with foosball and billiards tables, or Olympic-size swimming pools.
I cannot offer an example tied to CDCR's Adult Division, as there are none. The adult side of the house has been reducing actual inmate programs for years, settling on a few time-honored favorites, such as substance abuse training. While these programs may have a place in the overall rehabilitation model, I question a measurable return on such a huge investment as stand-alone programs and again refer to CDCR's recidivism rate.
The principles of direct supervision provide for personal growth among rank and file as well as supervisory staff, and ensure proper training of both line staff and supervisors. The principles ensure that first-line supervisors are making required contact with and providing quality training to subordinate staff. When viewing the basic principles of direct supervision you'd be hard pressed to find one that a competent correctional professional would disagree with. Sound policies and training could go a long way in returning CDCR to its place as a national and worldwide example in corrections.
The bottom line is quite simple–prison overcrowding is a killer to any real inmate rehabilitation. As well, the current conditions in CDCR's institutions provide for inmates to do nothing more than scheme and plot their illegal activities and disruptions. It is time for both a change in conditions and a change in attitudes. And the principles of direct supervision are critical tools in a corrections toolbox that, unfortunately, currently sits unopened.
Kevin Raymond has been a CCPOA member since 1990, and is currently chairman of CCPOA's Prison Review Committee.
September 1, 2009
Prison Officers: Cuts Have Created Unsafe Conditions
by Joseph G. Cote, Staff Writer
(June 29, 2009. Reprinted by Permission, The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H. All Rights Reserved, NashuaTelegraph.com)
State corrections officers say budget cuts that led to layoff notices for 32 prison guards have created a powder keg inside the state's already overcrowded and understaffed prisons.
Lt. Paul Cascio, chief of the psychiatric unit at the State Prison for Men in Concord, said in an interview last week that he is afraid someone-an inmate or guard-will be seriously injured if more supervision is not provided.
"We know what's going to happen. It will be just a matter of time," said Cascio, who is also the president of the Department of Corrections' officers' chapter of the State Employees' Association of New Hampshire. "We feel it's only a matter of time until something really serious happens, and we think it's unnecessary to put people at risk."
The situation has arisen as the state wrestles with a budget deficit, which led to cutbacks in the Department of Corrections budget. As part of that, officials plan to close the Lakes Region Facility in Laconia, which holds roughly 200 minimum-security inmates, in July.
That is expected to save the state $10 million over the next two years.
Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn admitted last week that the closing of the Lakes Region Facility will create crowded conditions at the Concord and Berlin prisons, where most inmates will move, but denied that it will be unsafe.
"I certainly would disagree that it's an unsafe condition," Wrenn said. "There's always risk no matter what you do. We think that the risks that we have are being well managed and that the inmates are being cared for in an appropriate fashion."
Corrections officials initially thought the closing of the Lakes Region Facility in Laconia, which is scheduled to be shuttered at the end of this month, would result in 80 layoffs, according to corrections spokesperson Jeff Lyons. Last-minute changes to the state budget moved money from the department's overtime fund to reduce the layoffs. Combined with normal retirements and attrition, plus 81 transfers and reassignments, the number of layoffs was reduced to 32, Lyons said. Those layoff notices were issued June 18.*
Wrenn said the positions cut at the Concord and Berlin prisons plus the women's prison in Goffstown, will be replaced by many of the officers from the Lakes Region Facility once it closes at the end of the month. That, combined with the new funding approved by the legislature last week, and continued adjustments should alleviate some staffing difficulties, he said.
In addition, the prisoners being transferred to the Berlin prison are low-risk inmates who have completed all court- and state-ordered treatment programs and are approaching the end of their sentences, Lyons said.
"We still maintain our basic staffing levels even with the cuts, and adjustments can be made to accommodate a specific security need," he said in an email.
Cascio and other corrections officers say that the department is still understaffed and had around 100 unfilled positions before more recent news of layoffs. Already the assaults and escapes are adding up, officers said, and more weapons are being found within the prison walls and more contraband is being smuggled in.
Ed Hager, the canteen supervisor at the Concord prison, said that in a little more than a week there has been an attempted stabbing that lead to a serious assault, two beatings resulting in serious injuries, and two inmates walking away from the Transitional Work Center in Concord.
Hager, who is also the president of the civilian employees' chapter of the SEA, supervises eight to 10 inmates who work at the canteen, a sort of commissary for inmates inside the prison. He said they are usually tight-lipped about what goes on there but some have remarked on the conditions.
"A lot of them just worry. A lot of them will say, ‘You know, this is getting scary,'" Hager said. "The inmates feel it. Tension's high. It's gotten pretty bad."
Overcrowding and smaller meals have added to the tension, Cascio said.
"That creates what we call in corrections a recipe for disaster," Cascio said. "People are working a lot of shifts. There's an exorbitant amount of overtime."
Cascio said some officers have resorted to calling in sick just to get a day off. Sgt. Dave Wilson has worked for the DOC for 18 years, the last year of which he has supervised a housing unit at the Lakes Region Facility. He has also worked at the prisons in Berlin and Concord and stays in touch with officers there. He is also a steward for the officers' SEA chapter.
"It's just not a safe environment anymore, for inmates or staff," Wilson said. "Historically, the department waits until there's a big incident and they go on a big hiring spree. Unfortunately, it's probably going to take someone getting hurt."
Wilson said shifts used to consist of officers overseeing one prison block at a time. Staffing cuts have forced officers to go to "roving patrols" of two or three officers patrolling several blocks, he said.
"That's what we're lacking, officer presence," Wilson said. "The inmates get a lot of time when they're not observed because we just don't have the staff. I have never seen it this bad."
The last hiring spree, Wilson said, was in 2003, after three prisoners escaped from the prison in Concord. Staffing levels are down almost 20 percent since then, according to SEA spokesperson Liz Iacobucci.
Cascio said he and other union officials recognize that a corrections system is expensive and that the state is in a unique funding dilemma.
The union's bargaining team offered a number of concessions that it says would meet the legislature's funding priorities. Those concessions include a voluntary leave-without-pay program, a one-year wage freeze, a restructuring of employee benefits and rewriting of the wage scale.
The passage of the budget last week also allows the department to go forward with its plan for a Division of Community Corrections, Lyon said.
That program will aim to provide more support to offenders when they leave prison by placing correctional counselors and case managers in district offices around the state to "provide guidance and direction for offenders about program and treatment needs, et cetera, to help keep them from returning to prison," he said.
Both sides said they recognize the pressures one another are under and want to work together moving forward. "I like the commissioner. I think he has some good ideas," Cascio said. "It's not a personality-bashing contest. This is really about the issues.
Some of these ideas are really, really good. We just want to see a timeline and plan for implementation. We're all in this together."
Wrenn said the uncertainty of the situation in recent months is what puts some people on edge.
"There's just a lot of misinformation that has come out from various sources," Wrenn said. "It's a lot of the unknown. In a system like ours, you don't like that unknown. You want to know exactly what will happen."
(*Editor's Note - The Lakes Region Facility in Laconia officially closed on June 30, 2009, according to the Corrections website. A Telegraph business article published July 1, 2009, stated $36.5 million in federal stimulus funds "avoided hundreds of layoffs in the state's prison, public safety and judicial programs," according to the director of the Office of Economic Stimulus, and included $13 million to the Northern N.H. Correctional Facility in Berlin to help pay for additional staff as the prison received more than 100 inmates from the closure of the Laconia facility.)
September 1, 2009
Mount Gleason Fire: Inmates Prayed, Prepared for Death in L.A. Wildfire
by Allen G. Breed, AP National Writer
(Used with Permission of The Associated Press; Copyright © Sept. 6, 2009. All Rights Reserved.)
LOS ANGELES, CA - As he reached the door of the chow hall, Henry Navarro looked to his right and uttered an expletive. Then he looked to his left and spat out an even stronger one.
Many of the inmate firefighters at Mount Gleason Conservation Camp had been training for just this scenario for years. But nothing could have prepared them for the gantlet of fire they must now run.
The chow hall was supposed to be the "safety zone" for the more than five dozen people at the station. But it and every other building in the ridgetop camp were now engulfed in flames.
And their leaders - Capt. Ted Hall and Foreman Arnie Quinones - were somewhere out there in the inferno. The order was given to make a run for the crew carriers.
As a swamper, essentially the senior inmate, David Clary had a radio and rode up front with the foreman. When everyone was in the small buses, he made a head count. Meanwhile, the foremen were checking in with each other over the radios. Someone tried calling for Hall.
"Supe 16?" the radio barked. Silence. "Supe 16?" the call went out again and again. The men heard nothing except the pounding of their own hearts and the ferocious roar of seemingly insatiable fire.
Mount Gleason, or Camp 16, is located north of Los Angeles, outside the city of Palmdale. A cluster of about a dozen buildings perched at 5,500 feet on a ridge deep in the Angeles National Forest, it is one of six inmate fire camps in Los Angeles County run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Opened in 1979, it is on the site of a former Nike anti-aircraft missile installation, LA-04, one of more than a dozen such batteries built to defend the "City of Angels" from nuclear attack. Visitors can still see the sealed remains of empty missile silos.
Camp 16 housed 105 inmate firefighters and provided six fire crews in a partnership between corrections and the County of Los Angeles Fire Department. The camp's emblem is a snarling wolf, and its members call themselves "the wolfpack."
Capt. Tedmund "Ted" Hall, 47, had been with the fire department 28 years, the last eight of them in these wilderness camps. Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 34, joined in 1998, and had been supervising and training inmates at Camp 16 for nearly four years.
Much of the year, the inmate crews haul sandbags to protect against winter floods, clear recreational trails and perform any other necessary routine maintenance. During fire season, they help clear flammable brush and establish breaks to halt advancing flames.
Normally, inmates are paid up to $3.90 a day for their labor, depending on the position. But prisoners working the fire lines in an emergency receive an additional $1 an hour.
Shortly after the so-called Station Fire began on Aug. 26, about half of the camp's inmates were evacuated. The 55 who remained were trained in wildfire suppression.
But for whatever reason, the U.S. Forest Service ordered the wolfpack to stand down. Banished from the front lines, the men continued to fortify their camp against the fire's inevitable onslaught.
In addition to Hall, Quinones and the inmates, there were three other foremen, two five-person LA County engine companies, two corrections officers, and a visiting facility captain with no firefighting training at the camp that day.
On Aug. 29, the crews had just finished eating a Sunday dinner of salad, turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy when the fire appeared in a drainage area at the southwest edge of camp around 4:45 p.m. Within minutes, the officers decided the blaze had reached a "trigger point."
With a buffer of about 75 feet between the dining hall and the nearest building, it was considered the camp's Alamo. Hall ordered the crews to wait there, and he and Quinones jumped into the "supe truck" - the large, red 4x4 pickup - and raced down to meet the fire.
Firing a flare pistol into the brush below the camp, the two men attempted to set back fires in hopes they would burn down to the main conflagration and deprive it of fuel.
Around 5 p.m., Hall and Quinones radioed that they were heading back to the safety zone. They never showed. Outside, the smoke had turned broad day into darkest midnight. The panicked inmates watched through the windows as the flames worked their way behind them on both sides.
The LA County officers' quarters - or "BOQ" as the inmates call them - were the first to catch fire. The blaze then flashed across the weightlifting area to the left of the kitchen and began chewing into the roof of the cinderblock dormitory where the inmates slept. The flames had jumped from the ground to the treetops, what is called a "crown fire." The conflagration was creating its own weather.
What appeared to be little dust devils were swirling everywhere. Clary, 41, looked on in rapt fascination as wood chips spun into the air and ignited. Inmate Christopher Buttner, 37, saw the flames leap over the top of the chow hall from both sides and meet overhead, their color changing from a wild yellow to a ravenous red. Their safety zone had become an oven.
The building started to fill with thick, acrid smoke. Then the flames began erupting from beneath the eaves. By now, Buttner was certain the fire had consumed most of the oxygen outside the building. Some people lay down on the floor to get below the smoke, while others began shaking open their emergency rescue shelters.
Made of a reflective material, these emergency tents are a last resort when a position is about to be overrun. Some firefighters ghoulishly refer to the bags as "the foil shake and bake." Navarro, 28, who had only been at the camp for two months, began to wonder if they would make it. It looked like hell outside. He began to pray.
With their captain absent, Crew 5 Foreman Kevin Taylor assumed command. He headed for the door. "Get ready to leave," he shouted. "I'm going to get the crew carrier."
Miraculously, the fire began to lift slightly. Another foreman, Andrew Cardullo, lined the men up and began marching them outside single file, their shelters tucked under their arms. Just as the last inmate went through the door, the roof collapsed.
When no one could raise Hall and Quinones, the decision was made to drive around the camp and search for them. When that failed, the crews looked for a safe spot to wait out the firestorm. They found a place toward the back of the camp that had no buildings and had already been burned over. They parked and waited for the smoke to clear.
Searchers later found Hall's vehicle in a canyon 800 feet below the camp. The men had apparently driven off the road in a left-hand curve and plunged over the side. The inmates would not say whether it appeared the crash or the fire had killed the men. They also refused to divulge Hall's last transmission, citing the ongoing investigation.
That night, the inmates were taken to the Prado camp in Chino. During the drive, they reflected on the two who were lost. Clary had worked under Hall and Quinones for two years. Everything he knows about fires and fighting them, he owes to them. Now, he believes, he owes them his life.
Buttner was angry. He couldn't help thinking that if they had been allowed to stay on the fire lines, none of this would have happened.
When the fire was over, all that remained of Camp 16 was the visitors' bathroom.
Although the Station Fire is the largest in Los Angeles County history, Hall and Quinones are the only fatalities. Hall left behind a wife and two grown sons; Quinones' wife, Loressa, is about to deliver their first child.
At the Chino camp, the prisoners and their keepers talked about their fallen leaders and prayed for their families. Then they did something that guards and inmates don't normally do - they hugged.
Four days later, they were back on the fire lines.
From the Chapter President...
In a telephone interview following the Mt. Gleason fire, CCPOA Camps Chapter President Dennis Pierre had these comments:
"Inmates are the backbone of the fire camp program. They go into places where the truck, planes, and helicopter can't reach - and they do it for a dollar an hour. We save the state a fortune in firefighting costs.
"Mt. Gleason was one of the oldest fire camps in the state. This is the first fire camp we've lost to fire in the 25 years I've been doing this.
"Embers were flying, the wind was blowing; we had extremely dry conditions and the camp structures were made of wood. I don't think there was any more they could have done to save the camp.
"There has been talk of rebuilding the camp, but we'll see. We've heard that CDCR does not want to rebuild and that L.A. County does.
"We have also received a list of fire camps that the state has proposed to shut down. While some consolidation may be necessary, eliminating essential fire camp services will ultimately threaten the safety of California residents."
September 1, 2009
Furlough Frustration
Compiled by Nichol Gomez-Pryde, CCPOA Communications Division 
Responses by Jo Anne Billhimer, CCPOA Supervising Field Rep, West Sacramento
I am the wife of a correctional officer in Lancaster, which, as you know, is a Level IV prison.
It seems that the governor is also trying to change the status of corrections officers to a security-guard-like status, which I find extremely offensive. He wants to change the laws to make many felony crimes misdemeanors so that criminals will serve out their time in county.
In addition to the 5 percent of pay in furloughs the governor was initially taking, it's now going up to 15 percent and possibly 20 percent by October.
It takes four months of training to become a correctional officer. Not every person is cut out for this job; many quit within their first year. That's a big indicator of how stressful this job can be and how dangerous it is.
Every day my husband is around 150 prisoners in the open with one other officer on the floor with him. Riots can break out at any moment and officers have to be prepared and put their lives on the line. Many prisoners have infectious diseases, such as hepatitis C, staph, AIDS, etc. Many of the prisoners are sociopaths. They can smile in your face one day and try to stab you to death the next because the Mexican Mafia has a standing order to get back on officers. My husband can only carry a baton and Mace.
It seems at every opportunity the governor is trying to starve out our families, while he comes and goes from Los Angeles on his private jet. He is completely out of touch with the working man.
My husband loves his job and he has always wanted to work in law enforcement, but was discouraged by his family and peers because it is dangerous. I know that my husband enjoys his job and he has to be able to do what makes him happy. Life is too short to be in some dead-end job that you can't stand going to every day.
Sounds like prison, doesn't it?
- Name withheld by request
Currently at Calipatria State Prison, we are so short-staffed that the gate is frozen at the end of each shift. If you refuse the overtime, or refuse to go to the position you are being frozen for, you will receive an LOI. So you go to the position and a week later you have a scheduled doctor's appointment, and Calipatria is rolling your overtime the week earlier to straight pay.
I worked 10 overtimes last month at the beginning of the month, and at the end of the month I had a week's vacation. Calipatria is rolling five of my overtimes to straight pay. How is this legal? And how can we ever use a furlough day when we are being frozen over for overtime? We're not going to take any time off because they turn it to straight pay.
- M. Peters
Calipatria State Prison
Response: In the 2009-2010 Budget Act, the state Legislature enacted Government Code Section 19844.1, which makes it law that no burned leave credits may count toward time worked. This has the effect of flattening overtime earned in the same work period as the burning of leave credits. Unfortunately, the law does not recognize the difference between mandated and voluntary overtime. So, until the Legislature sees the error of its ways and changes the law, overtime hours will continue to be flattened by the burning of leave credits.
- Jo Anne Billhimer
CCPOA Supervising Field Rep, West Sacramento
As officers, why are we on a four-week pay period or 28 day period with no contract? We should be on a weekly basis, which is fair labor law. Since the Legislature added code 19844.1 that says any leave credits I use do not count as time worked to calculate overtime, we are being treated unfairly. The supervisors are on a weekly basis–why not officers?
- North Kern C.O.
Response: It is CCPOA's position that the implementation of a 7K program must be negotiated. The state argues that it may unilaterally impose a 7K program. CCPOA has filed a lawsuit challenging the state's position and insisting that the state revert to paying Bargaining Unit Six staff (in the absence of an MOU) pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act. We will keep our members updated on our progress through the courts.
- Jo Anne Billhimer
CCPOA Supervising Field Rep, West Sacramento
My husband has been a C.O. for a year, so I am sure you know the frustration and concern I am facing. He left a job of 20 years to pursue this new career and to make a better life for his family. We lived in a small community where everyone knew everyone and it was a great place to raise a family. That was how it was when we were growing up as kids. It has now become a scary place to live; the gangs are taking over and the schools are not a safe place anymore.
We decided that after he graduated from the Academy, we would move our family to a better community with great schools. We have two kids, one in high school, so this move was an important one. Then we were hit with the furlough days that now have us struggling to make ends meet, pretty much living paycheck to paycheck, and some months that paycheck is gone before it's in the bank.
Maybe all those people sitting on their high horses in Sacramento need to come and spend a little time in the prison and work the beats these COs do and then tell us we don't need them or they don't deserve the pay they get.
What's it going to take to make them see the light?
- Stacie Johnson
As long as CDCR lets non-peace officers lateral over from other departments and agencies–i.e., school teachers, vocational instructors, Department of Resources and many others–to its management ranks, the department will continue to run in a very wasteful way.
The department is so top heavy with people who should not be there. You will not find plumbers and school teachers with five years in state service running the CHP; nor will you find a 55-year-old coming out of their academy to be officers.
These people in management are a joke–no custody experience or peace officer training. That is why the department is headed toward the toilet. As with every state agency, it is sad that none of these clowns will get fired like they should, but the cutbacks will be on the men and women who keep the department running in a safe way.
I recommend a separate commission from a POST-certified department to review every manager from the rank of captain on up, just to see how much waste there is. I don't think any rank and file would be surprised of the outcome.
- Mike Stevens
Retired C.O., Folsom State Prison
September 1, 2009
Postcards From The Edge
As the Schwarzenegger administration's furlough program drags on and on, impacting our members deeper and deeper, emotions spill over into emails and letters sent to CCPOA headquarters. Among many of these, our members have included letters they've sent to the governor or other state leaders, hoping to enlighten them to the realities behind what may someday be known as the ill-fated furlough fiasco of 2009. Here, we share some of those thoughts.
Dear Governor,
I am a correctional officer for the state of California.
Every day that I walk onto the yard I wonder how many fights and stabbings there will be that day. My job is not only to protect you, but also to protect them from each other. Each day that I am able to walk off the yard and go home, I thank the Lord that I was not a victim of their hatred to authority, as so many of them have nothing to lose if they were to assault or kill staff.
I don't have one of those dream jobs. I don't do it for the glory - there is none. I never get a thank you. But I swore an oath to protect you, your family and property. I don't have a patrol car, and I don't make the state money by handing out tickets. My job, though, is equally important to the preservation of life.
Why, at a time when state workers keep getting pay cuts by furlough days, are there departments not getting furloughed, and some, like CHP, getting pay raises? When an administration decides to hand out furloughs to state workers, why pick and choose those departments you like better than others and give them less or no pay cuts? Give everyone who gets a paycheck from the state the same pay cuts. We have to be working 24/7 and since most of us can't take our furloughs we just end up working for free. I also have bills, a mortgage, and a family to support. Why do we as state workers have to suffer by taking pay cuts because the governor and his administration cannot do their job and manage the state's money?
Why is it that inmates keep getting more free programs added to their schedule, while state workers can't make their house payments and put food on their tables? I don't have a clue why this administration told the Supreme Court that furloughs are not creating a financial hardship on state workers when, clearly, they are.
And why is it that if I were to stop being a law-abiding citizen and instead raped and killed I would have excellent free medical treatment, free dental, free surgeries, free MRIs, and more? Plus, I could get that college degree I never could afford, and I could take yoga and play games. Right now I don't even have the money to drive down to the park and unwind with my family.
Recently, I was talking to an inmate who was paroling and he said he'll be back in a month or two because he loves prison. We are doing something wrong!
Sign me,
A devoted correctional officer
To CCPOA,
I am at a loss as what to do. I sit by each day and read the news that our governor is taking yet more money away from some employees in this state, while leaving some departments untouched. I sent the following letter to the governor knowing full well that he may never read it or that it may never do any good. However, if it enlightens, makes anyone feel better, releases some stress, then so be it. I have said my 2-cents worth.
Governor,
I realize this must be a daunting task to be battling the budget. However, how do you think it is fair to cut some state employee wages while leaving others intact or giving some a wage increase? What appears to be an abuse of power in the eyes of many is leaving many families with few options in terms of financial stability. You may not agree with the politics of CCPOA, but I believe you have never worked the toughest beat in the state.
I am not trying to be disrespectful in any way. However, rather than take away funds from the men and women who work in the depths of hell on a day to day basis, why not take away more of the benefits and luxuries that the inmates are given on a daily basis. There is such waste in terms of inmate benefits that it is a disgrace to the hungry and medically untreated children in the state of California. What a slap in the face to the victims of the inmates who violated or murdered some member of their families.
I am proud to be the wife of a correctional officer of 20 years. I have witnessed my husband's near death from disease from an inmate. I saw the assault upon him that left us wondering if he had contracted HIV. And yet, he reports to work with pride knowing that he has to work for free three days out of the month. It is a sick feeling knowing that each day he may not return to his family. That is just one life in the thousands of lives who work this beat.
I am also proud to say that I am a teacher in Delano and I see so many students struggle to get to school and at times arrive hungry.
Please take into consideration that if we are going to make cuts, then make them fairly across the state.
- L. Montejano
Tulare, California
Dear Governor,
I am one of your nonvalued (prison) state workers. First, let me tell you that I was raised to have a great work ethic, to always give 110 percent of myself, and to only miss work when it would actually cost my employer if I attended.
I believe that the majority of state workers are like me and truly care. I also understand that in tough times when there is not enough money tough decisions must be made.
We had already faced a bad economy and then the furloughs hit. We had sunk our life savings into a lot on which to build our dream home - then lost it. Yes, tough times call for tough decisions.
What makes it harder to swallow is that we are not all being treated equally. CHP is obviously valued, as you have chosen to make them exempt from the furloughs. You are not affected, your children do not attend public school, you will always be able to send them to the best private colleges, and you will always see the best doctors. Governor, you do not understand what the average state worker is going through. You may not need your pay, but we rely on ours.
We understand that cuts must be made; ask every department to condense jobs. Cut extra pay differentials offered to every classification - just give us back our money. Cut inmate programs - they had their chance. Do not blow our children's future by cutting their education. How many other areas of waste are there in other departments that can be eliminated to save money?
Governor, I am willing to do my part. I will work harder and smarter. Freeze wages, but do not take the money we were already promised.
I do not understand how it could possibly help the economy when we cannot afford to meet our obligations. It will surely have a negative effect on California's economy when we begin to lose our cars, when our homes are foreclosed, when we fire our gardeners and daycare providers, cut our grocery bills, and stop giving money at church.
- Martha Johnson
Taxpayer and state worker
September 1, 2009
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
Are you feeling a bit left out lately? Are your coworkers talking about CCPOA projects you haven't seen yet? Did you miss out on a:
- timebook or wall calendar?
- PEACEKEEPER newsletter?
- chapter election ballot?
- convention notice?
- special mailing?
If so, it may be because CCPOA does not have your current address and you've been placed in a suspended mailing status.
Also, we may not have your current institution or job classification correct in our database. Have you moved lately? Recently married? Have you changed your institution and/or job classification? What about your beneficiary designation? Is that up to date?
Remember, CCPOA and the state do not exchange address information. So if you move and provide your personnel department with your change of address, CCPOA does not receive the information from them - and vice versa.
Also, we don't share a database with the CCPOA Benefit Trust Fund, so if you need to get updated information to the membership department at headquarters, you must also contact the Trust as well. Call your Benefit Trust Fund at (800) IN UNIT 6, or (916) 779-6300.
CCPOA wants to make sure you stay informed. If others at your institution have received items you haven't, call CCPOA headquarters today at (800) 821-6443 and confirm your information with Rob Harvey or Linda Dabb in the Membership Department.
Don't be left out in the dark. Especially in today's stressful world, make sure you are taking care of business.
September 1, 2009
COMMENTARY: Prime Real Estate? San Quentin Offers More Than Oceanfront Views
by Donald Fredericks 
For the last 60 years, there has been a continuous effort on the part of California's real estate community and the Legislature to close the venerable San Quentin State Prison. Though they have visions of Bay Area coastal propriety in mind, those visions are somewhat clouded by the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) mindset of those who do not want to be saddled with a Death Row, let alone any other prison. Do not forget that the state is currently spending millions of dollars to build a new and modern Death Row already under construction.
Let's look at the realities behind the closure of San Quentin. There are few pieces of state property in California that have as much history as San Quentin. It has been in operation longer than the Capitol building in Sacramento. The institution was there long before Alcatraz was built in the Bay. And, like Alcatraz, there is only one logical place to transfer the San Quentin ownership papers and that is the California State Parks Agency, where it can be operated as a state tourist attraction of national, even global interest. This would keep it state property to fund and maintain.
However, unlike Alcatraz, San Quentin is the bastille by the Bay, not surrounded by it. Without any major modifications, the facility could be turned into a true historical tourist attraction, providing much needed revenue.
I would start with eight, one-hour public tours at $20 per ticket. The execution chamber, home to more than 500 state-ordered executions, and the North Segregation condemned housing tour would likely be very popular. There could also be walking tours of the gun rails, housing units, industries, maintenance, and the dining hall with its painted walls, where Johnny Cash and other celebrities entertained inmates over the years.
Other tours could include the Adjustment Center, hospital, churches, education, dungeon, and receiving and release, to name a few. I am sure the line would be long for the opportunity to sleep over in the Adjustment Center - the area of the famed San Quentin Six escape attempt of 1971 that took the lives of three correctional officers. I'll bet it would be a sellout at about $300 per person - what some people now pay for a single night's room in a nearby San Francisco hotel.
Outside the walls of San Quentin lie many other areas with their own historical importance: the warden's residence, the warden's office, the firehouse, In Service Training, the waterfront, the school house, the ranch, and staff residencies - all with stories to tell. Each building on the prison grounds has some historical significance, and all are being fully maintained to serve the public as a continuing operational prison. In doing so, it continues to generate even more historical moments for California.
Let's not forget that San Quentin already has a Smithsonian-like museum, operated by its own museum association, near the East Gate.
There are two memorials at San Quentin, each proudly honoring the fallen officers who gave their lives in service to the state. Thousands of historical documents remain in safekeeping, and there is even a Boot Hill cemetery where only the remains and apparitions of inmates long past now reside. And, the institution's full-service restaurant could easily meet the nutritional needs of tourist after tourist.
Once upon a time, when I was the chapter president at San Quentin, I brought in CalOSHA for the first-ever inspection of a state prison. As a result of its findings, more than $100 million was spent in renovations to remove asbestos and improve the prison to modern standards. Should the closure of San Quentin ever come to fruition, this is just another reason why this facility is ready to become a revenue-producing tourist attraction.
But, Gov. Schwarzenegger, if you need it, here is another reason to keep San Quentin alive as part of the state parks agency. The move would create a lot of jobs for displaced and retired employees who could work at this newest tourist attraction, an opportunity to tell their stories of the impressive history of this facility. Many active employees could be transferred to the state parks system employee roster to finish out their careers in state service.
Governor, the citizens of California have already paid to build, maintain, and support the operation of this historical institution by the bay, and they deserve to be able to view the history they helped create. Californians deserve to learn the facts on how San Quentin State Prison has protected public safety for so many years, and crime victims have the right to see how justice was served on those criminals who so disrupted and injured their lives forever.
Don Fredericks is a retired correctional sergeant who served as CCPOA's chapter president of San Quentin State Prison in 1986 and 1987, and served as supervisory vice president on CCPOA's executive council from 1995 through 2001.
September 1, 2009
TO YOUR HEALTH: A Positive Attitude Can Help
The Holman Group
It's very easy to feel down or negative, fearful or even hopeless when we think about all the challenges currently facing our world-and, in particular, your profession.
However, now more than ever before, maintaining a positive mental attitude is extremely crucial.
There's an old story about two families who move to the same town. Both families stop at the same gas station on their way into town and ask the attendant the same question: What are the people like in your community?
The wise gas station attendant answers this question with a question of his own, "What were the people like in your old town?"
The first family describes the people in their last town as being cold, mean-spirited, and unfriendly. The gas station attendant says that, unfortunately, he believes this family will find the people in their new community much the same.
The second family describes the people in their last town as warm and friendly, kind and caring. This family adds that they were sad to leave their old friends and their old home, but the father received a great promotion so they decided to move and are hoping to make new friends in this new town.
Again, the wise attendant says that he believes this family will find the people in their new community much the same as in their old town-kind and caring, warm and friendly.
The moral of the story is that our thoughts and attitudes are extremely powerful, and whether you view a situation as hopeful or dismal can-and will-determine how the situation turns out. In other words, we generally reap what we sow and we get what we expect.
To keep your attitude upbeat and positive during challenging times, remember these tips:
- Count your blessings-Focus on what is working rather than what isn't working in your life.
- Be aware of what you fill your mind with-As they say, Garbage in, garbage out. Take a break from watching the news and reading the newspaper. They too often are filled with sensational and negative stories. Instead, read something you find inspirational, uplifting or fun. Find a comedy channel on the radio for the drive home from work.
- Spend more time with the friends and coworkers who are routinely positive and optimistic about life, and reduce the time you spend with those who only see the worst in others and their surroundings. They will only bring you down.
If you find that you are having a tough time harnessing your positive attitude, call The Holman Group for assistance.
CCPOA has established a contract with The Holman Group to provide confidential assistance for MO6 and SO6 sergeants and lieutenants and their family members. This is a 10-session counseling benefit sponsored by CCPOA and has nothing to do with the state-sponsored Employee Assistance Program.
To use the Holman benefit, call (800) 321-2843 to find a licensed counselor near your home. The Holman Group is here to help with the big and little problems in life. We can help you and your family develop a positive outlook on life so you can better enjoy the journey!
Visit our website at www.holmangroup.com [opens in a new window], enter the user name, holmangroup, and the password, CCP2693.
September 1, 2009
SHIFT CHANGE: Ride for Justice
by Linden Lilly, CDCR Transportation Officer
On one of the hottest days of the year, June 27, about 200 CCPOA members and other motorcycle riders from around the state converged on CCPOA headquarters for the inaugural Ride for Justice rally. The black and silver Harleys and other rides seemed to pull into the parking lot in groups of 20 or more...
On one of the hottest days of the year, June 27, about 200 CCPOA members and other motorcycle riders from around the state converged on CCPOA headquarters for the inaugural Ride for Justice rally. The black and silver Harleys and other rides seemed to pull into the parking lot in groups of 20 or more. Once there, the riders enjoyed live music, barbecued tri-tip sandwiches, and fun with friends and coworkers–all in the name of community support of victims.
The mission of the Ride for Justice was to gather some great prizes–including a stellar, shiny new Harley Davidson motorcycle and a sleek, black leather Harley jacket–and sell raffle tickets to raise funds to benefit children who have been victims of violent crimes.
The time had come for our law enforcement family to no longer just be a "State Prison" Caltrans highway sign, but to become a beacon of light in a dark and confusing time for these youth who greatly need our hope and our help. And with the generosity of many people within CCPOA, CDCR, the California Sheriff's Association, the Law Enforcement Chaplaincy, and so many others, the Ride for Justice was a great success.
In total, the inaugural Ride for Justice project raised nearly $20,000 through the sale of raffle tickets. The benefactors will include:
- the Firefighters Burn Institute Kids Camp,
- the Child Abuse Prevention Center,
- the surviving children of slain CMF Officer Lo,
- the two young children of injured Transportation Officer John Smiley,
- 4-year-old Angelo Mendoza from Bakersfield, better known as Baby Angel, who was brutally attacked by his father in a suspected drug-induced rage in April 2009,
- and Steufon Mackey, the 15-year-old Stockton boy who while standing near the window in his bedroom in March 2009 was hit by a stray bullet that came from a drive-by shooting two miles away.
Many thanks to all who participated and supported the event; to all who freely gave of their time and from their hearts.
For more information on the Ride for Justice or its benefactors email me atletmeevoly@aol.com or visit the website at www.therideforjustice.com.
Other Ride For Justice raffle winners:
Harley Davidson leather jacket
H. Stephens
Harley Davidson dart cabinet
Clemente Muriel
Harley Davidson horseshoe set
F. Jacquez/PBSP
QUOTE:
"I'm just taken aback, it's pretty amazing," CRC Lt. Brian Davis said about winning the beautiful 2009 Harley Davidson Street Glide. Sliding onto the seat of his new bike, Davis admitted he hasn't been on a street bike in about 10 years, but said he and his family have quads and they go out to the desert to ride quite a bit. With a big smile, Davis said he has a friend who just bought the same bike for considerably more than Davis did - the price of a raffle ticket! - quickly adding his buddy was nice enough to lend Davis the trailer to pick up his prize. In the photo, Davis receives a congratulatory handshake from Harley Davidson of Sacramento manager, Debbi, as he takes ownership of his grand prize.
September 1, 2009
California Pens
California Pens
Information about incidents and assaults across California. This information is available in the PeaceKeeper each month, and is updated as-received online as well. You can also read about nationwide correctional issues and news in CCPOA's online news blog.
July 1, 2009
FROM THE EDITOR
Admittedly, I'm not very good at math, never have been. Numbers are just not my strong point. I've always been much better with words.
Still, even I understand the formulation of certain mathematical statements now and again. Such as something I recently read in USA TODAY. Did you know that 15 million U.S. homeowners currently owe more than their homes are worth? That kind of statement is simple and shocking. That I can grasp...perhaps because I am one of those 15 million. Evidently, if it hits close to home it's easier for me to understand.
Which brings me to you. The dire situation facing all state workers right now - especially our membership - is unbelievably shaky and unfamiliar enough to cause some level of anxiety in the most confident among you. Granted, I haven't been told I'm being furloughed two or maybe three times a month, and I haven't been handed a layoff notice, so I can't in all fairness say I know exactly how you feel. But I have a long history with the men and women of CCPOA, and I do sympathize, greatly. More important, I think I can spot a formula of sorts for some of the unfairness that's been thrust upon you.
In other words, something wicked this way comes.
You see, even though I'm no math wizard, I can recognize long division when I see it - and I do see it. I believe the state's budget battle goes deeper than finding the billions of dollars needed to keep the state rolling along. It may have begun that way, but day after day, as this governor, his administration, and the state Legislature play their back-and-forth budget games - and this year is especially grim - they are slowly dividing this union, one frustrated, furloughed member at a time. And you've got to know that suits some of them just fine.
Don't give them the satisfaction. It sounds simple on paper, much harder to achieve - especially when you're looking at late fees or foreclosure notices - but don't let them divide you. When back-to-back newspaper articles cite conflicting levels of CCPOA's alleged power over the warriors in the Capitol, don't give it a second thought. If the doomsday articles and attention-grabbing headlines bring you down, don't read them. You know what you do is important, vital work to the mission of law enforcement in California. Don't buy the messages the critics put out there. Don't let them make you doubt your union.
As the players battle over budget revenues and spending cuts, it seems like the very real problems of state workers and their families fade from sight, like a budget bottom line written in invisible ink. That might be true at the Capitol, but not here at CCPOA. As the news reports get worse and the days without a budget linger on and on and on and on, tempers flare, emotions erupt, accusations fly, and fingers will point. Try to remember that CCPOA is working feverishly to swat away the crap that's being flung at its members. We hear your cries of disgust and frustration and are taking the necessary steps to right the enormous wrongs being done to California's valued correctional peace officers. Unfortunately, these wounds don't heal overnight.
In the meantime, don't let this administration and its budget shenanigans change the dynamic of your profession, of this union. Now is not the time to cut and run. Instead, circle the wagons and stand together. Remember, one small ant obviously can't do much alone, but a whole group of ants working together could move an unattended lawn chair if they had to.
That's math that even I can understand.
July 1, 2009
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
by Chuck Alexander, Acting CCPOA President
While CCPOA recognizes the fiscal realities facing California, the slash and burn tactics that have gotten us to this point can’t continue. With that in mind, according to a recent poll, one place California should not be making cuts is to those who work the toughest beat.
Many people have said that prisons need to be cut before education and social services for law abiding taxpayers. But when asked if they support the early release of prisoners or the elimination of parole supervision, the answer is a resounding NO!
Californians support the elimination of administrative waste, such as the $580,000 that the CDCR has paid for an office in San Diego that has been vacant for four years. However, 70 percent of those recently polled oppose cutting the pay and benefits of correctional officers, and nearly 80 percent oppose the layoff of our members who protect their public safety.
Additionally, 80 percent oppose the elimination of parole supervision–regardless of the type of crimes committed. The fact is that less than 20 percent of convicted felons are sentenced to state prison. Therefore, there are very few individuals who make it to prison who are what some refer to as "non-violent," "non-serious" offenders. In fact, the offenders who actually get sent to prison are hard-core criminals who have shown they are a threat to society. If hardened criminals are released early–without supervision or support–crime will increase and lives will be lost.
Californians are also disgusted with the high cost of inmate health care. California currently spends about $14,000 a year providing medical care for each prison inmate. That’s nearly twice the national average. In the view of nearly 90 percent of those polled, California should cap medical expenses for prisoners at MediCal levels. This alone would save the state an estimated $1 billion.
And, the state could save $5 billion by postponing the AB 900 prison construction and parole programs not currently in place, and save another $50 million by discontinuing furlough days in state prisons, eliminating the need to pay overtime to the remaining officers covering the shifts. Also, nearly $30 million could be saved by filling the estimated 500 to 1,000 current correctional officer vacancies.
If we are going to return California to a strong and solvent state, the message is clear: Cut the fat not the muscle. CCPOA will continue to let our elected leaders know what our citizens want. Protecting public safety is the number one purpose of government. Our prisons and our members are vital to that mission and we will not let anyone forget the hard work our correctional officers and parole agents do on a daily basis.
July 1, 2009
COVER STORY: The Perfect Storm - Returning CDCR to National Prominence - Before There is Nothing Lef
by Correctional Sgt., Kevin Raymond
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation constantly operates in crisis mode. In recent years, massive budget cuts, lawsuits and settlements have driven the agency to the brink of the abyss. Over the years, these key external-and internal-forces have become the main factors for the agency transcending from a national model of corrections to an ugly, dysfunctional stepsister in the law enforcement world. The term normal operation seems to have lost all meaning.
The glaringly obvious problems within CDCR include the overcrowding of all institutions, the aforementioned mandates established by the courts concerning numerous lawsuits, and inadequate funding to provide the basic services expected of CDCR by the governor's office, the California Legislature and the public at large. Complex as they may sound, these are not the only concerns. They are simply the tip of the iceberg.
To correct these and other inadequacies and thereby returning CDCR to a state of national prominence will be no easy task. First and foremost there must be a retooled mindset of the entire agency, from the top to the bottom. It is imperative for CDCR executives to chart this new dawn of operations through strong and unwavering leadership. Without a strong change in leadership, CDCR is destined to spiral further downward.
The demise of CDCR did not occur over night, and just as well cannot quickly be rescued from implosion. There are many theories as to how it arrived at this point. Being a paramilitary organization, and due to the nature of corrections, an emphasis is always placed on custody operations-and rightfully so.
There are many who share the viewpoint that the downward transition began when the agency removed the obvious separation from the ranks, i.e. the change of uniform insignia of lieutenants and above. Obviously, the change in uniforms and insignia can't be the root of all evil; it's much deeper than that. But it may have been a small mitigating factor nonetheless. After all, there does seem to be a frustration and a loss of pride within all ranks, some of which surely can be attributed to the constant beatings and belittlement of the profession from the mainstream media and among the political elite.
This frustration and lack of ownership in the job may be the biggest shortcomings in CDCR as it exists today. CDCR is not in the business of manufacturing any tangible item. Inmates parole and, for the most part, return over and over again. Therefore, at the end of the day, staff do not have the pride that comes with seeing any real difference they may have made. This culture establishes a low sense of accomplishment with no real ownership to the job.
* * * * *
While pride in the profession may be at an all-time low, individual pride among CDCR staff is not. However, the mandated furlough days, the constant threat of layoffs, and a second class rating among other law enforcement agencies does nothing but exacerbate the problem. Attacks on the profession come from the media, the governor's office, the Legislature, and sometimes even the public we serve.
Years ago there was a greater sense of pride from being assigned to walk the tiers of Folsom, San Quentin, DVI, Corcoran etc. This was before the alleged gladiator fights, the green wall, the code of silence, or any other catchy phrase that played out so well in the newspapers-all of which in some minds painted every CDCR employee with the broad brush of being no better than the felons convicted and sentenced to prison.
There are those who incorrectly blame this decline of pride in the profession on a new breed of officer. The reality is this supposed new breed of officer is no different than those who joined the Department in the past. Common sense dictates that with the advancements in training and equipment, new staff should be better equipped than the officers who preceded them. Supervision and a lack of consistent, sound departmental policies are far more likely culprits.
In the not-so-distant past, officers were free to-and expected to-run their individual units or tiers. Daily duties included knowing the inmates assigned to the area and stemming the flow of contraband into their individual areas of responsibility, as well as into the prison itself. As time passed, this expectation, though still there, has become far more difficult to achieve as staff are burdened with the effects of overcrowding and the additional court-mandated documentation of inmate services.
Additionally, supervisors are burdened with duties that do not allow them to spend the time needed with subordinate staff for training and direction. Also, many of today's supervisors had little time and experience themselves in the Department when they chose to promote.
This is not to suggest that these supervisors are inadequate. However, senior staff with a vast wealth of experience are not likely to step up and accept promotional opportunities.
One of the major reasons for this is that if they do promote they are subject to the loss of a portion of their Educational Incentive Pay, Senior Peace Officer Differential, and their Post and Bid assignment. When a senior staff member does accept a promotion, he or she stands to lose money and end up with an undesirable shift and RDO's after years of service, while gaining more responsibility and a heavier workload. Senior staff are far more likely to accept positions as Correctional Counselors or Parole Agents because the monetary and shift loses are arguably negligible. In most cases, this senior wealth of knowledge and experience remains at the officer level.
(By comparison, when a California Highway Patrol officer promotes, he or she enjoys the same status as a supervisor that he/she did as an officer, due to the fact that CHP supervisors are provided with the same benefits as rank and file members. This occurs without collective bargaining and is generally not raised as an issue by the Department of Personnel Administration or CHP management.)
* * * * *
Another mitigating factor in the decline of CDCR is a lack of inmate programs, which plays a much larger role in this dysfunction than is recognized by most. Time has all but erased any positive program that was in place for the inmate population. Rehabilitation in CDCR is all but nonexistent and everyone knows it. Gymnasiums, which were designed for indoor inmate activities, have been converted to housing space. Vocation and education space continues to be converted to medical office space. And as each budget ax comes down, inmate programs are the first to go.
The hobby/handicraft programs and most vocational programs are but distant memories. The decision was made to simply warehouse bodies to balance the books. Recent budget proposals place CDCR back on that path, basically admitting the addition of Rehabilitation to the agency name was in fact a sham after all-and a huge waste of taxpayer money. No matter what your personal feelings are about the inmates in our charge, one thing is and always has been true: idle hands are the devil's workshop. It was true when your mother said it and it's true today in our prisons. Time spent with nothing to do usually doesn't bear good things.
Overcrowded conditions, lawsuits, lack of ownership and pride in the profession, lack of training and supervision are but a few of the circumstances that have created the perfect storm within CDCR. These adverse conditions make it more difficult for officers to identify and control the actions of inmates assigned to their areas. Contraband such as cell phones, drugs, and tobacco run rampant in all institutions.
While it is easy to identify the problems deeply imbedded in CDCR, it is far more difficult to offer viable solutions because, let's face it, most solutions cost money. And during these days of unprecedented budget shortfalls and program cuts, CDCR is viewed as more of a drain on the general fund than it normally is. There is an outcry to either continue warehousing inmates or simply let them loose. Believe me, neither of these suggestions is a real solution to the very real problems facing CDCR.
* * * * *
As mentioned earlier, there needs to be a complete change in the mindset of all staff within CDCR. Supervision has to be a key focal point in training and experience. One partial solution would be to establish a new rank between Correctional Officer and Correctional Sergeant-a Field Training Officer-to tap into the wealth of unused experience that currently resides within our senior staff.
The overcrowding of inmates must be reduced by the construction of new beds and actual costly rehabilitation programs. As the population drops, a zero base staffing audit must be performed at every institution. CDCR currently runs on overcrowding staffing packages from the state Department of Finance. A decline in inmates at each overcrowded institution will cause the loss of these overcrowding staffing packages.
It is common knowledge at all levels that no institution can function with just its base staffing packages. There have been too many cuts and too many mission changes since they were developed. More important, the base staffing packages were designed to be inadequate when developed with the knowledge that the inevitable overcrowding packages would see the Department through.
This is another area that dictates a change in mindset. If the governor decides to release thousands of inmates as proposed, or the federal court imposes a population cap, the last move the agency should make is cutting staff or closing additional prisons. It is time to relieve the overcrowding of our institutions and provide rehabilitation as promised. This would best be accomplished with new construction and inmate programs, rather than by issuing thousands of Get Out of Jail Free! cards.
The agency secretary must convey the need for proper funding to the Legislature and the governor's office to accomplish the agency's mission. In turn, the governor and Legislature must fund the necessary changes or risk a deeper meltdown of the system.
Above all else, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation must determine the best way to return a sense of ownership and pride within the ranks. Strong leadership, an unwavering loyalty and appreciation of staff will go a long way in accomplishing this task. Because at the end of the day when others would cut and run from the taxing issues laid out here, CDCR staff are dedicated to public service and to keeping the lid on the pressure cooker that is corrections. Far too often the phrase "staff are our most valuable asset" is nothing more than part of the word count in a CDCR memo.
Kevin Raymond has been a CCPOA member since 1990, and is currently chairman of CCPOA's Prison Review Committee.
July 1, 2009
A Message from the State Secretary
by Perry Speth, CCPOA State Secretary
CCPOA is proud to welcome a new chapter to the organization-the FIRE chapter will represent all fire captains and fire chiefs at our institutions throughout the state.
At the April 2009 board meeting in Ontario, a proposed bylaws change created the new chapter to help these fire personnel achieve better attention to their specific needs within CDCR.
As reported by Credentials Committee Chair Jim Leslie, the election to seat the chapter president, vice presidents, and board members for the new chapter has taken place, and the ballots were counted and verified as of July 3. The term of office is July 3, 2009, through Dec. 31, 2011.
Congratulations to the following representatives of the FIRE chapter, who will join CCPOA's 45 other chapters and their representatives at the upcoming board meeting and convention general session on July 13 and 14 in Reno.
President:
Kenneth Lynch, Blythe
Rank & File VP:
David Dimmett, CCI
Supervisory VP:
Kelly Fried, CCI
Board:
Daniel J. Robertson, Wasco
Brian Wilson, PVSP
Mark R. Grundman, Chino
Sean Beaton, San Quentin
Mark Beach, Calipatria
Patrick "Shawn" Callaway, CMC
Joel W. Johnson, SCWF
July 1, 2009
Furlough Frustration
Compiled by Nichol Gomez-Pryde, CCPOA Communications Division
Responses by Lance Corcoran, CCPOA Communications Director
My husband is a dedicated correctional officer who works in one of the toughest jobs in this state. He is not a babysitter, his job is not a walk in the the breeze. He goes to work in a prison five days a week, working with some of the most foul and angry killers. It is a job that some could not even imagine doing. Every day I pray that he will return in one piece, that he isn't spit on by an inmate who has AIDS, or assaulted with a blunt object, and that he can return to me and our little girls.
Arnold continues to disrespect these men and women who-just like the CHP-put their lives on the line. Why isn't the CHP involved in the furlough days? Why aren't they feeling the burden like the rest of the state workers?
And, most of the correctional workers are still working 40 hours a week on top of overtime that they must work, regardless of a furlough day. Why in the world do they get paid straight pay for 16 hours on their overtime? Isn't this against the law? If you work more than 40 hours you should get paid overtime!
The state portrays them as happy to work the overtime. This is a joke. Please fight to get the men and women who work in our prisons fair pay for overtime.
- Spouse of a hardworking CO
I am an officer at North Kern State Prison and I want to know why we are on a 28, four-week pay period with no MOU. We should be under Labor laws of any work time over eight hours a day, and anything over 40 hours a week. If I take bereavement, a holiday credit, vacation or a sick day that is earned and next week I am ordered to stay over, it is paid as straight time. This is unfair and should be against the law.
- Officer Dwayne Kehl
Response: Thank you both for writing. I understand your frustration with furloughs and the lack of respect for the men and women who work the toughest beat. There really is no explanation for why correctional peace officers who work keeping the public safe 24/7, 365 days a year were not exempted from the governor's executive order regarding who will be furloughed. That is precisely why CCPOA has filed a lawsuit regarding Schwarzenegger's order to work for free.
Regarding the changes to how overtime is calculated, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) defines time worked as any time spent either mentally or physically toiling for the benefit of the employer. So, sick leave, vacation, holiday, etc., is not technically time spent for the benefit of the employer, and therefore is not used for the calculation of premium pay or time and one-half.
All state bargaining units have historically bargained up from this definition and CCPOA continues to try to return to what is a fair calculation of time worked. CCPOA is fighting for our members through the legal system, arguing that our members should receive premium pay for all hours worked after working eight hours in a day.
Why is is that future cadets are still testing for PAT, psych, etc? They're talking on the blog site about testing July 7 for future academies. I don't understand. Wouldn't there be a cost savings to closing down all testing until we see if there are going to be layoffs? If there is, it's my understanding that those laid off go onto a reemployment list for five years. I just think that this could save CDCR a bunch of money being burned on staff, psych doctors, etc, for what could be nothing if there are no future academies.
Also, is DPA taking into consideration all of the retirees since May through July, natural attrition, and putting that toward the 1,867 layoff notices to COs? Are they going to take into consideration those retiring, leaving, quitting, etc., by the end of the year?
- Annette Norfolk
Response: Yes. Ironically, even though CDCR has sent out surplus notices regarding a potential layoff, they continue to recruit and hire. Agency Secretary Matt Cate has given public comment that there are as many as 1,000 vacancies within the Department. By attrition, we lose between 1,000 and 1,200 correctional peace officers a year to promotions, retirement, resignations, etc. Now, with the prospect of an additional furlough day, many members are doing the math and have figured out that if they retire, they get a pay raise. Without wholesale release of inmates-which is something that is being considered-there will continue to be a need to fill correctional peace officer vacancies.
And, you are correct, according to the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA), employees who are actually laid off remain on reemployment lists until they are rehired, up to a maximum of five years. Thank you for writing.
CCPOA Communications Chief Lance Corcoran and Asst. Communications Chief Nichol Gomez-Pryde recently attended a chapter meeting at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, where they got the chance to speak to a few members about how the governor's mandated furloughs and proposed cuts to corrections employees were affecting them and their families:
"I am hoping to get married in a year. I took a 50 percent pay cut to come and work for the state, to make a difference for the state. I was making a lot more money in the private sector. I started off as a correctional officer apprentice and in a year and a half I was expecting to be a C.O., earning C.O. pay so I could afford to purchase a house and start a life with my fiancé. Unfortunately, now I am an overworked correctional officer still making apprenticeship ay and will continue to make apprenticeship under the furlough plan. And I still cannot afford to buy a house and provide for my family."
-C.O. Christopher Cherniss
"Currently, I am filing for bankruptcy because of the pay cut. I thought that I would maybe be able to do a loan modification, but with the pay cut I probably won't qualify. I applied to move into an apartment, but was denied because of my financial status, so I am looking at being 45 years old with the possibility of having to move in with my mother."
- CC1 Valerie Myers
"The furlough affects me because I have a house full of people with a single-family income. I have two sons at home who are pounding the pavement every day trying to find work, and they can't do it. So, I'm taking care of them. One of them has a baby due any day, so I don't know what we are going to do. It's getting tougher and tougher every day. And, if we take this (so far unofficial) 5 percent cut that the analyst put out on the table, I'm losing my house. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Ia m losing my house. As bad as my credit is now, I'll be lucky to qualify for an apartment, so I don't know what I am going to do."
- C.O. Bernie Kendall
July 1, 2009
RESPONSE TIME
The June issue of PEACEKEEPER came in my mail today. It gets my immediate attention and I read first From the Editor on page 2. You have a perfect way of stating facts in a lively manner, which makes the reading a pleasure.
A sadness flowed over me as I saw the picture of the service for the four officers who gave their all that we may live in safety. It was a sobering moment as I read the article by Mr. Speth. (See A staggering loss, an emotional farewell, Vol. 26, #3.)
I am the grandmother of a retired correctional officer, Lisa Bushman. She subscribes to PEACEKEEPER because she is aware that I read the entire publication. I am grateful to her for many things. Also, I am proud of her dedication to and respect for law enforcement.
I look forward to future From the Editor articles and information that the publication provides.
Mildred Whitworth
Editor's Note: Mildred, you cannot imagine how nice it was to receive your letter! Thank you for your kind words about my editor's column. So many of our members are going through such tough times right now, with California's budget mess and an administration that doesn't fully appreciate the valuable and dangerous work they do, that I am glad to receive a letter about a dedicated officer who was able to safely retire from this profession to enjoy all that life has to offer. We wish her a long and happy retirement! Thank you for taking the time to write, and for your respect for our correctional peace officers.
I would like CCPOA to start a countdown of the days left of the Der Slickmeister administration! Every issue of PEACEKEEPER should have in bold the number of days left of this bumbling, wannabe politician who makes Gray Davis look like FDR!
Every state employee should remember this Grade-B movie actor for what he is–a destroyer of this once proud state of California. Because of him, the state is in shambles and almost a banana republic. The public is getting his salary's worth of governing! (Schwarzenegger has never taken a salary as governor.)
The citizens of California should remember his record, should he run for any office in this devastated state. He should be held accountable by the public for betraying their trust by driving California into the ground.
Come next election, our PAC monies should be for politicians who will do their jobs to the public's benefit and weed out the phonies who want to enrich themselves at the public trough of taxpayer monies. Start having our CCPOA chapters more involved in the 2010 election cycle and include families, friends, and state, county, federal, and voters of all stripes to weed out the politicians who place the voters second!
John Sanchez Retired CO
I am a medically retired correctional sergeant, going on 11 years now. No, I didn't stress out, I was hurt! I have had two knee surgeries, shoulder surgery, fluid on the brain, ulnar nerve surgery, lower back surgery, and was recently found to have four ruptured discs. I retired at half my pay–yes, tax free. At the time, I was making $4228, so I retired at $2,114 a month in 1998. Today, 10 years later, I get a little over $2,500.
To put it into perspective, this would have been my 26th year in the Department. I started when I was 21 in 1984, and planned to retire at 51 with 30 years in at 90 percent. I wish I could be complaining about needing to take a day off without pay!
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I would be. But stop and think what CCPOA has done for you in 10 years–the pay raises and other perks. This isn't the first time the workers had to give up something. I know, you're saying I've been out of it for 10 years. Maybe so, but think about a correctional officer's top pay range, and I've only increased $400 in 10 years!
Be happy you are healthy enough to do your job. This, too, will pass. If you are thinking about medically retiring, I would say if you can make it, continue to work. I could have made it another 10 years if I really tried.
Rick Tuttle
Retired Sgt.,
High Desert State Prison
July 1, 2009
REACHING OUT: The Tour de Cure - Cycling Ship to Shore in Hopes of a Cure
Correctional Officer Kevin Blair has good reasons to get outside and enjoy a bike ride with friends and family - it's a good way to spend an afternoon, it keeps him in shape, and it may help find a cure for his brother's diabetes.
On May 31, Kevin and his brother, Marvie, and Marvie's son-in-law Carlos Luquez were just three of thousands of riders participating in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure.
"My brother has diabetes, and has been riding seriously - and is a member of two biking clubs - for about five years," said Kevin, who's been a correctional officer since 1991. "I've really grown to love bike riding," he added, crediting his brother, Marvie, who got me on the path to being a regular biker."
The Tour de Cure is a series of fundraising cycling events held nationwide to benefit the American Diabetes Association. It is a ride, not a race, according to their website, www.tour.diabetes.org, and offers routes designed for every type of rider - from the occasional to the experienced cyclist.
In 2008, more than 38,000 cyclists in 78 events raised nearly $16 million toward the prevention and cure of diabetes. This year, the Tour de Cure list of rides totaled 79 events in 40 states, including the Ship to Shore ride on May 31 that began and ended at the legendary Queen Mary docked in Long Beach. The Ship to Shore riders were estimated at more than 800, according to Kevin, and riders could choose to ride the 10, 22, 35, or 60-mile routes.
"It was a grueling, yet rewarding experience," said Kevin, who completed the 22-mile route. Marvie and Carlos each rode the 35-mile route.
"It's something I do for fun, while at the same time helping people who live with this disease," said Carlos.
"This was my fourth year riding the Tour," said Marvie Blair, who rode with his bike club, SCOR, adding it was a "challenging ride," with hills and two bridges. "Because this disease is so prevalent in my family, I'll keep riding and raising funds as long as I can," he promised.
July 1, 2009
COMMENTARY: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Have you ever wondered how we got to where we are now in Corrections? Thought about what it took to accomplish all this? Was it worth it? Was it worth the test you had to go through?
Start with taking a look at the group of people who really cared about this profession and had a vision on how they could make it better. They started by planning how to approach the problem. People got involved and together they started overcoming the many obstacles - some of which were huge and difficult. It is important to understand that there were many people who did not recognize our profession, and that this non-recognition still exists today. Even though we have the toughest job among law enforcement, we were not considered to be peace officers in the early days. We were better known as knuckle-dragging guards.
Then look at the pay today vs. the pay back in the day. Our officers did not get paid as well back in the day. Today, the pay scale is more than equivalent to the cost of living. There is also a pension plan, which was unheard of long ago, as well as the health benefits. Today, our benefits are better than most.
Equipment is another important issue. The equipment correctional officers have today is more suitable to the needs of today's officers. The advancements have improved so much so that it has made the working environment better. Think about what the officers had long before you came on the scene. Their only tools were their hands. Where would you be in your job without the advancements in technology and the tools you work with every day?
When I started in Corrections in the 1980s, I thought things were good for the times - until I got educated and got involved. I got to know a lot of the people who made this happen and it made me proud to be with such dedicated men and women. And I know from experience that the women who work in the same environment as the men have paid their dues. They've had to go through the same hoops as the rest of us.
The one main thing to learn through all of this should be how important family really is when working in Corrections. This alone spells togetherness. Everyone looked out for one another to ensure everyone would go home safe at the end of his or her watch. Remember, it is not about doing the eight hours and hitting the gate.
Today so many things are taken for granted that I cannot even begin to cover it all. What is important is remembering what our brothers and sisters did before us to make this profession so much better. Now it is your turn to do something to make it better for the ones who will be the replacements. Think about the hardships and what each person can do now to make it better for the men and women who will next walk through the gates. Becoming united is the only way to beat the administration. The governor has no respect for us at all. Do you think for a minute that he could do this job? This is not a movie, this is reality. Think about the people who have no respect for what we do. Think about this every time you walk through the gate. Then ask yourself what you can do to make this profession stand out like the others.
Together we can earn the respect we deserve by uniting and fighting the hardships and the long roads by becoming a stronger family. If this is asking too much, then leave your badge at the gate on your way out and find some other profession that better fits your needs. This is a job about family. You can choose your friends, but not your family.
July 1, 2009
California Pens
Information about incidents and assaults across California. This information is available in the PeaceKeeper each month, and is updated as-received online as well. You can also read about nationwide correctional issues and news in CCPOA's online news blog.
June 1, 2009
FROM THE EDITOR
As I type these words, it is the morning after Gov. Schwarzenegger's budget ballot measures went down in defeat in his costly and controversial special election May 19. Well, all but one. The measure to prohibit pay raises to legislators and other elected officials when there is a budget deficit passed nicely, thank you very much. Kind of a no-brainer, huh?
At the risk of sounding like I'm trivializing here-which I'm not-the state is in a rough patch, I'll give you that. The cost of the special election is reported to be about $25 million. And, the defeat of five of the six ballot measures now supposedly leaves us back at square one-with a more than $21 billion deficit-depending on who you ask. Still, we don't need to make things worse.
No matter how you voted, no matter which way you were leaning, no matter whose side you were on-although with these confusing ballot measures it could have been tough to pick a side-the fact is Schwarzenegger is now developing Plan B. And that could be scary.
I'm guessing the governor today is like a sleeping bear that's rudely awakened before he's completed his nap. Not happy. Defeat and disappointment will do that to you. Today, he put all Californians on front street-saying the people have spoken. In other words, if things go from bad to worse, well, it was the people's choice.
Vowing to go in another direction, he's promising-or is it threatening?-to take "drastic cuts" to remedy the state's dire fiscal situation.
"Let's go do what the people want," Schwarzenegger told reporters today, slyly drawing that line in the sand, perhaps setting the stage for a shame and blame speech in the near future.
So, like it or not, we really have our work cut out for us now-and by we, I mean the state Legislature. Hint: I don't think a government best represents its people by putting their safety in jeopardy-I don't care how bad the deficit is. A balanced budget isn't going to do us any good if we're not safe leaving our homes. Just ask the grieving family members of the four Oakland police officers killed by a violent and desperate parolee on March 21.
Yesterday was tough-for Schwarzenegger and for California. But it's a new day, and we need a new set of options to fixing the budget mess - something other than cutting public safety staff or granting thousands of felons early release. And that's just what CCPOA has been thinking long and hard about. Knowing this organization, we'll hang tough and continue to hammer home our commitment to protecting our members-and public safety-like never before. Why, at this very moment your union is working on alternative ways the state can cut the budget deficit without cutting public safety. Be sure to visit your CCPOA website for the most up-to-date information on this and other news about your profession.
In the meantime, Governor, if you really want to do what the people want, you'll give CCPOA's recent cost-saving proposals the legitimate evaluation they deserve. In the name of true reform, and for the sake of public safety and the safety of our officers and parole agents, please cut the fat, not the muscle.
June 1, 2009
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
by Mike Jimenez, California Correctional Peace Officers Association
"The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at 7:30 in the morning feeling just plain terrible."
- Jean Kerr, American playwright
It is when you don't feel well that you realize just how wonderful normal feels. That is precisely why I have chosen to take a 90-day leave of absence to take care of some personal health issues. There is nothing seriously wrong - it's just that I've learned that before you can take care of others, there are times when you must first take care of yourself.
That said, as of May 1, 2009, CCPOA Executive Vice President Chuck Alexander will step into the role of state president during my absence. As many of you know, Chuck has been a correctional peace officer since 1988, and has served on the state board of directors since 1992. Though he began his Corrections career at CSP-Solano, he was involved in the opening of two facilities, Chuckawalla Valley State Prison and Pelican Bay State Prison, where he spent the majority of his career before being elected to CCPOA's executive council in 2002.
Chuck obviously brings to the position a great deal of experience and understanding of the issues our members face on a daily basis. His expertise is vast and varied, ranging from participating in legislative hearings and press conferences, to departmental meetings and contract negotiations. I am convinced our members will be in good hands.
I look forward to returning to service rejuvenated and recharged. I wish to thank the many people who have expressed their warm wishes, and I am committed to returning to the fight stronger than ever.
For now, take care and have a safe shift.
June 1, 2009
COVER STORY: A Staggering Loss
by Perry Speth, CCPOA State Secretary
Photos by: Tim Sanchez, Oakland Police Officer's Association
On March 21, in what was the single deadliest day in the history of the Oakland Police Department, a 26-year-old fugitive parolee opened fire on Sgt. Mark Dunakin and Traffic Officer John Hege, killing both officers as they pulled him over for a traffic stop at about 1 p.m. Just two hours later, SWAT Team Sergeants Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai were killed when the parolee opened fire with an assault rifle as the officers stormed the apartment where he was hiding. The parolee was killed by responding officers.
On March 27, Rank & File VP Louie Adame and I attended the funeral service for the four veteran Oakland police officers, who were remembered in an emotional ceremony at Oakland's Oracle Arena and Oakland Coliseum. Louie and I arrived about 45 minutes before the memorial service began. We would have been there sooner, but the freeways all around the area were bumper-to-bumper with mourners trying to get to the event. Local newspapers reported an estimate of more than 20,000 people in attendance at the nearly three-hour service. Peace officers from all over the country came in support of their brothers in law enforcement, from California and Texas, to New York, Pennsylvania, and Boston. What an honor it was to be part of that enormous demonstration of law enforcement brotherhood, all forms of peace officers coming together to let the world know that none of us stands alone.
As the service began, we watched from the big screen monitors in the Coliseum, where the overflow crowd - including thousands of law enforcement officers and community supporters - was directed when Oracle Arena filled up. It was an awesome sight to see every uniformed officer in the overflow crowd come to attention and salute as the monitors showed the four flag-draped caskets slowly being escorted into place inside Oracle, one at a time. The procession of the caskets alone took about 15 minutes, with the Coliseum in complete silence as the officers held their salute.
Also in attendance were many California dignitaries, including the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, a couple of U.S. senators, and mayors from surrounding cities. President Barack Obama sent a statement that read, in part, "I was deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of the four officers. Michelle and I hold their families and your community in our thoughts and prayers. Our nation is grateful for the men and women of law enforcement who work tirelessly to ensure safety for our citizens and our neighborhoods."
As the service continued, anecdotes and remembrances about the dedicated officers were shared by family members, friends and coworkers. As the world learned the details of each officer's life through the stories, it became more and more evident just how huge this loss was to the community. They weren't just police officers; they were wonderful human beings who touched the lives of so many people. They were husbands, uncles, friends, coaches and cops. And they were fathers who left behind a total of 10 children.
Sgt. Dunakin was remembered as an officer who "proudly patrolled the streets on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle after serving a stint as a homicide investigator," according to a San Francisco Chronicle article on the memorial service. Officer Hege was described as a "beer and brownie man" who loved the Oakland Raiders so much he worked overtime at the Coliseum during home games; SWAT Sgt. Romans was a former Marine Corps drill instructor and expert marksman; and Sgt. Sakai, a former K-9 officer, deftly balanced his patrol sergeant and SWAT entry team leader duties.
I considered the domino effect an event like this can have on a Department, a community, a city, a state, and I wondered just how many lives were impacted by the sudden death of these brave officers. As each life story was told, I estimated it must be in the hundreds, if not the thousands. All those lives adversely affected by the actions of one wanted parolee who refused to follow the conditions of his parole; a parolee who is reportedly linked by DNA to the rape of one child and is suspected in the rape of five others; a parolee who inflicted all that pain and suffering just to avoid facing responsibility for his actions.
The outpouring of support within and for the law enforcement and firefighter professions is never more evident, sadly, than when one our slain comrades is laid to rest. Please be safe next time you walk through those prison gates or approach a parolee, and keep the families of all our fallen brothers and sisters in your thoughts and prayers.
June 1, 2009
FRONT STREET: LAO Juvenile Report Misses the Mark
by Louie Adame, Rank & File VP, Youth Division
In January, the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) issued a budget report on the Criminal Justice Realignment. This report relied heavily on the Hoover Commission Report of 2007, which recommended closing the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ).
The LAO report states that counties can do a better job of dealing with the wards who are sent to the DJJ. What the report doesn't mention is that local county juvenile facilities are experiencing their own budget meltdowns, making the proposed added load harder to handle. And, Sacramento county officials are preparing to layoff 50 county probation officers due to budget constraints, and other counties are worse.
In addition, most local juvenile facilities need to improve their medical and educational services - in fact, three cities are currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for juvenile mistreatment.
It is CCPOA's intent to educate legislative members about the many problems at county juvenile facilities, to balance out the LAO's somewhat misleading report. There are several areas that need to be addressed, such as:
- What does the county do with wards who are over 18 and were committed as juvenile wards? (At least half of the state's ward population is over 18.)
- How do counties separate wards who are over 18 from those who are 17 and younger?
- Most, if not all, county juvenile facilities have numerous vacant positions and are short handed. How can they accommodate the additional wards?
- Most county juvenile facilities are in need of repair and need to expand staffing and training. Where will the counties find these extra funds?
- Counties do not confine wards who are 24 years of age.
- Counties do not confine murderers and sexual predators.
- Do all 58 California counties even have juvenile halls to house wards?
Our legislators and the public need to be aware of the 5,000+ wards who currently reside in Los Angeles juvenile halls, as well as the problems in San Joaquin and the Sacramento county juvenile detention centers. These are not models of efficiency or safety.
There is a real need for the services provided by DJJ, and CCPOA will fight to keep it open to continue to serve and protect the public, as well as the wards within its care.
I'll keep you updated as issues develop.
June 1, 2009
Furlough Frustration
Compiled by Nichol Gomez-Pryde, CCPOA Communications Division
Responses by Lance Corcoran, CCPOA Communications Director
My institution is using Holiday Relief officers to fill furloughs. I don't believe this is what the state had in mind. Although, if they did it correctly we would be dangerously short handed; it is causing a build up of furloughs that is hard to use because officers are being denied their furloughs. With the number of officers on each watch, we will not be able to use all the furloughs that we are accumulating in the time allotted. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I could write pages on what is going on behind the gate.
Also, why is the union fighting for more money instead of reducing our insurance costs? I am appalled at the union for continually fighting for money instead of better and lower cost insurance. With the union at more than 34,000 officers and one of the largest in the state, why are we paying so much for so little? My ex-wife has better and more affordable insurance than I do, and she is a member of Valley Clerks Union. Her insurance is covered completely by her employer and her co-pay is almost nothing. Her small union (small compared to ours) is doing better in health care. Our costs go up each year with our pay raises. So why fight for pay raises? Fight for something that matters: health care.
- A concerned member of CCPOA
Response: When CCPOA officials negotiate with the state, we seek to enhance all aspects of pay, benefits, and working conditions. During the failed main table contract negotiations, CCPOA made it clear that although salary was an important issue, we would not relinquish hard-won workplace rights in exchange for an increase in salary. Rest assured, the issue of increasing insurance costs has been and will continue to be a part of CCPOA's MOU negotiations with the state.
My husband wrote to you last month - thanks for printing it. Suffice it to say that, as a wife of a dedicated CCPOA officer, I continue to be amazed at the level of disgrace that the state has put upon our men and women who serve in the prison system. This latest insult is the fact that apparently legal holidays, such as Cesar Chavez day, will not be honored by our state in terms of overtime pay. I find it more than ironic that Chavez was a supporter of workers and those who were exploited by their bosses. How can this even be legal, refusing to pay our COs their holiday pay? Wasn't docking their overtime with furlough time enough of an insult? Are there no rules or regulations that this union can and will enforce in terms of defending their employees?
As another wife wrote last month, I am simply appalled at the fact that CCPOA is allowing the prisons to not hire behind our husbands (and wives) who put their lives on the line every single day. What's it going to take - a fatality? - for this union to simply say to the state (governor/legislators) "Enough is enough. We will not allow our men and women to be in jeopardy just by showing up to work their shifts."
Where does this end?
- Wendy Devore
Response: "Holiday premium pay" is a benefit negotiated by CCPOA - and is not required by law. On Feb. 19, 2009, the California Legislature passed the 2009-2010 state budget. Included in the budget was the removal of two holidays and the holiday premium pay for all state workers. CCPOA did NOT negotiate or nor did it agree to the deletion of these benefits. Most certainly, your holidays and holiday premium pay will be an issue when we sit down to negotiate the next Bargaining Unit Six MOU.
Frustrated. That about sums up how I feel going to work for the state of California. To me, this state used to be a great place to live and work. Nowadays, I tend to think differently.
My sister is a history teacher at a local high school. She decided to be a mentor/facilitator for as many after-school programs as she can in hopes that it will make her valuable to the school and she won't lose her job. Should someone who doesn't make nearly as much money as they should for what they do (teaching the leaders of tomorrow) have to stretch herself so thin by working so much, just in the hope it will keep her from being laid off?
While I don't have to worry about being laid off, I am being screwed just like many other state workers. I work as a correctional officer (not a prison guard or knuckle dragger) for the state. I have to work a 40-hour week like a lot of people, but for 10 percent less than I normally do. (Actually, more than 10 percent if you count that state income taxes were just raised, too.) I am subjected to the two furlough-days-per-month program, but I don't get a Furlough Friday. I have to take it when my institution say it is OK to take it.
Is any of this my fault? No. It is the fault of those working under the dome in Sacramento. Bargaining Unit Six members have been working without a contract for more than two years, and these people collect overtime when they can't figure out a budget and/or they have to be called into a "special session." Now, if I was not doing my job like I was paid to, I wouldn't be collecting overtime and I would probably have my pay docked for every day that I didn't get the job done. Yet, our elected officials go on collecting their overtime and raises year after year. Why do they get to do that while everyone else suffers? Well, almost everyone.
If you are incarcerated under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation you get all sorts of stuff - free of charge. Want to get out of your cell for a while? Just say you are having chest pains and a CDCR doctor will make sure you go to an outside medical facility. Don't want to pay restitution to your victims, but still want canteen? Have your family send money to a homie's trust account and have them order your stuff. Want free drugs? Tell a psychologist that you are crazy and get free drugs.
Want to keep in touch with your family but don't want them to have to pay for collect calls? Have someone smuggle in a cell phone - and charger, of course. Don't worry about getting another strike; you'll only get an administrative rule violation. So even though it threatens the safety and security of the institution, our state's liberal Legislature has made sure you won't get punished too much. They have more important things to bicker about, like what unnecessary program needs more unnecessary funding. They don't worry about whether the officers and inmates are safe in their institutions.
I am frustrated because other state workers and my family are getting screwed almost any way the politicians can screw us. And I am amazed that the only people not affected by all of this are the people who committed crimes against the people of California. I guess what they say is true ...Come to prison and get three meals a day, a place to sleep, and more rights and privileges than you would have if you were free.
- A CSP-Sacramento C.O.
They should definitely call these FurLOWs - because this is a dirty, down low situation we're in.
I am the wife of a correctional officer at CSP-Los Angeles County in Lancaster. He's been with the state for two years and although I'm grateful he has a job, these are still tough times for our family of four. We've recently spent thousands of dollars due to emergency maintenance on our vehicle. We then just found out that the house we've been renting for two years is going under foreclosure and will be auctioned next week. And our deposit? Gone. Then I look at my husband's check and wonder how we're going to make it to the end of the month. Prioritizing is one thing, struggling is another. Heaven forbid my husband brings home any outbreak he's encountered.
Time to do something about it. So I stopped talking the talk and I walked the walk - all the way to Sacramento. There I stood at the steps of the Capitol. I was able to get a one-on-one appointment with our local legislative members. I sat down with Sen. George Runner and Assembly Member Steve Knight. I also met with Sen. Gloria Romero, who's done reform on education and CDCR. I stood on the Senate Forum when our budget was passed. Then I stood in front of the doors to Arnold's office and looked at the officer who looked back at me, and I thought, "He may have the power, but I have the voice."
This furLOW will not take me down. I will continue to write, visit and call. To the correctional officers of California I say this: your job is important and intense, and every day I pray for your safety - thank you.
- Michelle Florez
I am writing about the furlough program and how much of a hardship it has put on myself and everyone else. First, I would like to explain that just because the dollar signs say we make Big Money, the reality is it's not that much money at all. Especially when you are a year or two in the Department, working as a new officer. Most of us did come from other jobs that paid better or a little less than the starting pay for correctional officers. Then when you get your paycheck, your deductions are usually in the thousand dollar range. So, if you are taking home $2,500 a month, you have to pay all your bills and make that money last for the whole month.
I was looking forward to our raises, as I would not have to live paycheck to paycheck. At the end of the month, I have had to borrow money from family to make sure I had enough gas to get from where I live to work. Then all of a sudden we were hit with the bad news of the 10 percent pay cut. I was in tears because I was already struggling with the current money I made. I was frustrated, in disbelief, and very angry. Then, on top of it all, I was told we can't do a thing about this situation. I now had to make the decision to go bankrupt, as I can't afford a 10 percent pay cut.
I know I am not the only one having to go bankrupt or have my credit score go down the drain. I understand these are very frustrating times for everyone. But I believe other ideas could have been used instead of taking money away from employees.
For instance, why not take all holidays away for the time being and reinstate them at the end of the furlough program, instead of creating a hardship for most of your state workers?
- A very disappointed C.O.
At Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy they are only letting you request furlough days off by submitting a holiday request or taking vacation time. You have to check on the holiday board to see what day(s) are available, then submit a holiday request slip. Then, if it's approved, you can either take it as a holiday or cross it out on your 998 and write Furlough; same with taking vacation time.
Is this a legal and/or legit way to do it?
- Officer Louis Buren
Response: The state's now infamous furlough program has created a multitude of problems for correctional peace officers throughout the state. CCPOA is in the process of preparing a lawsuit for submission to Superior Court over the harm to Bargaining Unit Six members, due to the implementation of the furlough program. Remember, if you are denied your furlough days, please fax the furlough denial documentation along with your corresponding paycheck stub to the CCPOA Labor Department at (916) 372-6558. We need these documents as part of the lawsuit.
June 1, 2009
COMMENTARY: Stand Up and Be Counted
by Ian Pickett, Correctional Sgt., Calipatria State Prison
The last few years for our profession have been marked by constant attacks from the media, the public, and our own leaders in the Department and state government. We have seen turmoil outside our ranks and within; all of us, including myself, have fallen victim to the chaos this turmoil brings. Now, we are faced with our biggest challenge. As a country, we face an enormous economic crisis, the possibility of global war, and, for some, the challenge of accepting change within our national leadership.
Locally, as correctional peace officers we are faced with the dangers of our job, the lack of leadership by our management, no state contract, and internal politics that threaten the very fiber that makes us who we are. Times have changed, and even though I have far less time in this Department than many of my brave partners, I can see it plain as day. John Q. Public may be misinformed on what our job really entails and what pressures and dangers we truly face, but we will never be able to clearly illustrate that point to him unless we embrace the very change that he is calling for.
If it is rehabilitation the people want, then let's stand by them and demand the state offer the services necessary to render options conducive to that. Speak out about your hands being tied on a yard, not being able to run program because of the overwhelming medical escorts and lack of staff that hinder the positive programming of "healthy" inmates.
Speak out loud and publicly about the waste the Department spreads with Thexpert" panels and programs that don't work from one prison to the next. Tell them that though we are doing our best, an idle inmate is a dangerous inmate, and we are not afforded the resources to ensure the inmates have any chance at rehabilitation.
Don't let a day go by that you don't report, speak to, or yell about one of our brave partners being assaulted, or that no matter what we offer, true rehabilitation is a choice one has to make in order for any tool to effectively function. Tell them the truth. We can't expect others to always do this for us. We have to speak out, write, call, push the truth 30+ thousand times a day.
We are not to blame for the burgeoning budget, the rising cost of inmate health care, or even the rampant overtime we incur providing the services that California mandates for its inmates. But that truth is lost on a public that only reads headlines born from ratings and sales - headlines that are derogatory about you and I. We are the only ones who can change that.
California is about to hit rock bottom as far as the economy is concerned. This will affect all of us - not only at home but at work as well.
Any veteran cop knows that this has the possibility to also affect our safety within the powder kegs in which we work. But what concerns me most is our morale, our camaraderie. It is fading, and without it we are nothing. I say this because recently my morale has been crushed at the hands of the state. I have come close to losing everything I have because of administration "oversights," which amount to nothing more than dereliction of duty.
What I realized is my morale, my pride, my stubbornness - that, as a correctional peace officer, is vital to my job and survival - is in my hands. No matter what they do to us, we, a collective voice of 30+ thousand hardworking men and women, cannot be stopped. It is time for all of us to become activists for our jobs, our lives, and one another.
Do not let this time go by without showing the state and its citizens that we are tasked with protecting them from the dangers of our society. Show them how much we are really worth. They need us behind those walls. Do not let any of our partners fight this fight alone. Politics, clicks and cars aside, we all took an oath. The people above us may have forgotten theirs, but our oath is to each other.
Fall down seven times, stand up eight.
June 1, 2009
California Pens
Information about incidents and assaults across California. This information is available in the PeaceKeeper each month, and is updated as-received online as well. You can also read about nationwide correctional issues and news in CCPOA's online news blog.
April 1, 2009
FROM THE EDITOR
The 2001 mini-series Band of Brothers depicts the true story of the U.S. Army's Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, and its experiences in WWII Europe, using the tagline, "They depended on each other and the world depended on them."
Years later, one of the real life survivors of Easy Company was asked by his young grandson if he was a hero in the war. He replied, "No, but I served in a company of heroes."
When we at CCPOA say, You don't walk alone, we mean that in this band of brothers–and sisters–we look out for one another. Our promise, We've got your back, actually has great meaning in your profession as correctional peace officers, I don't have to tell you that. More than just a slogan, it has even greater meaning to any one of you out there who ever became involved in an incident where you were suddenly enormously grateful for the experienced officer standing next to you.
Today, one of our retired officers stopped by my office to say hello. He's an outgoing guy whose personable and friendly nature all but sabotages the tough and gruff image he pretends to display; a guy whose energy and quick wit belie his joking claim to senior citizen status. Naturally, we started talking about the economy.
"Yea, we're struggling, allright," he said of the contract situation and budget challenges facing CCPOA members right now. But he added quickly, "Oh, we'll survive, we always do." It was somehow comforting to hear him say–with no hesitation–that he believes CCPOA will emerge, victorious, from this current pungent fog bank. Then he looked me in the eye and cautioned, "But it'll be a tough road."
It's not as if we never hear positive predictions, even if they do come with a warning, but it's always nice to hear them from someone who has lived through the rocky past and knows the way home. As he stood there, his gaze went toward the window as he recalled, if silently, some of the good ole', bad ole' days.
"I don't think the newer officers get it, he finally said, interrupting his quick trip back in time. "They were never a part of the uphill struggles, so they want what they want and they don't understand the fight now to keep the goals we've achieved," he surmised.
He told me about a friend of his, another seasoned officer, who had ordered an inmate up against a wall, just as a few newer officers walked by. "Probably the end of their shift," he reasoned, "but what my friend couldn't believe was that not one of them stopped, just to stand by at the ready in case the inmate decided to do something stupid."
Shaking his head, he added, "Man, in the old days we just wouldn't have done that to a fellow officer. We would've stopped and just hung there in case something went down, to be there to help if something went wrong."
And maybe that should be the message of the day. Your work environment is tough enough, but when you find yourselves also forced into battle with the outside beasts who seek to tear down all you've worked so hard for, you're going to have to band together. Stand together as brothers and sisters and acknowledge that staying safe each day in the hazardous environment that is the corrections profession requires great teamwork. And understanding your past will help you work together for a better future.
Individually, you may not be the hero in tomorrow's battle, or in any of the many battles that came before you walked through those gates wearing a badge and a uniform. But know this...when you report for your shift and walk into that institution, you are in a company of heroes.
Value that for the monumental benefit that it is.
April 1, 2009
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
by Mike Jimenez, California Correctional Peace Officers Association
"In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends."
- John Churton Collins, English literary critic (1848–1908)
It's always fascinating to see just who wants to be your friend when times are good.
At one time even this governor, Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger, wanted to be friends with CCPOA. How many members reading this now remember when he went so far as to come to our annual convention in San Diego in 2002, looking for CCPOA's support for his half-a-billion dollar after-school initiative? We gave him the support he needed for Prop. 49 because we believed that providing positive after-school opportunities for children helps keep them off the streets and out of trouble.
In the past, when the state faced dire fiscal times, CCPOA worked with this administration to restructure our contract, saving the state more than $100 million dollars. Afterward, Schwarzenegger invited members of the CCPOA leadership team over to his office for cigars, stating, "Your members will never be treated poorly again."
Now, in times of adversity, this very same governor wants to slash parole for 53,000 inmates-effectively dumping them out of prison and onto our streets with minimal supervision, no rehabilitation, and little accountability. That's a no-win situation. And we're all feeling the effects of his newly mandated two-day, per-month furlough plan for most state employees. Only problem is it forces our members to work for free. Plus, he's imposed work rules that have dramatically changed how premium pay is calculated for the members of CCPOA.
Wow. What a difference a few years can make.
Thankfully, CCPOA still has many friends. We continue to work with members of the state Legislature to protect both our members and public safety. It is what we have always done and it is what we do best.
In this issue of Peacekeeper, CCPOA Labor Division Chief Steve Weiss details some of the battles we have fought and won in the past. Our history is one of adversity and tough, uphill climbs, and we have had to fight hard over the years for our members. We will continue to fight in every forum available to make sure our members receive the wages, benefits, and respect they deserve.
Times are tough, but we've been through tough times before. Through a steadfast and focused drive to promote the correctional profession and protect the welfare of those engaged in Corrections, we have shown those watching that we are not empty suits.
Though the battle continues, the good news is we will be here long after this governor is back to doing what he is best suited for - making movies.
Until next time, take care and have a safe shift.
April 1, 2009
COVER STORY: In a Company of Heroes
A History Lesson for the Newcomers to this Dedicated Band of Brothers and Sisters by Steve Weiss, CCPOA Chief of Labor
When CCPOA was founded in 1957, prison guards weren't considered by many to be real law enforcement, like police and sheriff's deputies. Though they were sworn peace officers just like other law enforcement groups, prison guards were at the bottom of the pay chart, received little training and even less equipment and respect. Working conditions were miserable, inmate riots were common, and life on the line was hell.
In the 1980s, the California prison system housed roughly 42,000 inmates in 16 institutions or facilities. CCPOA had about 5,000 members. Through the 1980s and 1990s, the state built 21 new prisons, and the inmate population soared to upwards of 100,000.
A lot has changed over the years. Today, California houses approximately 175,000 youth and adult felons in 39 institutions, 40 camps, and 12 community facilities, with about 123,000 individuals on parole. CCPOA currently has a membership base of about 34,000 and thanks to the tireless efforts of dedicated Bargaining Unit Six advocates, correctional officer training, equipment and compensation have improved substantially.
Through our many efforts to better the profession for our members, the labor, legal, and legislative professionals at CCPOA have won dozens of crucial victories–from post and bid, mini-arb, and longevity pay, to physical fitness pay, education incentives, and the 3.0 at 50 retirement formula.
The benefits and equipment that many newer officers take for granted, such as stab-resistant vests and personal alarms, were unheard of when CCPOA–then known as CCOA, California Correctional Officers Association–began the uphill climb to improve the profession and the lives of those who choose it.
That isn't to say that things now are perfect. Far from it. But the war has changed. Instead of fighting our way out of the cellar, we're fighting to protect what we've achieved so far. The battle is now against a hostile administration and historic budget deficits. But it's not the first time we've been tested and it likely won't be the last.
Remembering our history keeps us grounded, reminds us to appreciate what we've earned, and helps us win future battles by learning from past struggles. As the 19th Century philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
That's why reviewing our past is so critical right now, as nearly half of the Association's membership–some 15,000 men and women–entered the profession after the last full contract with the state was approved in 2001–nearly a decade ago. We think it's important for our newer officers to know what it was like when our seasoned officers were the newcomers.
It's also important to understand that the road to that last MOU was not a smooth ride. First of all, CCPOA members had gone without a contract from 1995–1998, and spent the next three years rebuilding and regrouping. Finally, after seven long months of negotiations that were often acrimonious at best, a landmark agreement was born. It was an MOU unparalleled in its scope and the benefits it finally provided the state's correctional peace officers. The contract held something for everyone and was overwhelmingly ratified by the state Legislature and the members of CCPOA.
However, our critics predictably took a very one-sided view of the agreement. Comments like, "CCPOA's negotiating team outsmarted and outmaneuvered the state's negotiating team," were heard throughout the state. "The guards were given everyone else's raises," bemoaned then-Sen. Richard Polanco. Our critics continued their tirades, claiming policy decisions were governed by the MOU, and management decisions regarding staffing, abuse of sick leave, employee transfers, disciplinary actions, promotions, workloads, and even inmate population issues were all transferred from wardens and institution management to the MOU.
All of these claims were either untrue or seriously exaggerated.
In response to the outcry, Marty Morgenstern, then-deputy director of the Department of Personnel Administration, defended the contract, writing in the Summer 2002 edition of Peacekeeper:
"It's time to set the record straight on the latest contract between the state and the employees who work in our prisons. As the person responsible for negotiating that contract, I am offended by the sleazy campaign being waged by certain parties to discredit the contract and impugn the motives behind it...What the Corrections contract really shows is that the (Gov. Gray) Davis Administration honors its commitment to uphold the law, supports collective bargaining, and protects public safety by ensuring we can recruit and retain qualified personnel to staff state prisons. Those factors–and only those factors–dictated our decisions at the bargaining table."
Even today, the contract is a convenient scapegoat for the administration's bad management decisions and for politicians looking for someone to blame for the state's budget mess–a mess they created.
For example, when officers were forced to work long hours of mandatory overtime after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger shut down the Corrections Academy and refused to fill staff vacancies, he blamed our contract when newspapers criticized the sharp increase in overtime.
Our toughness as officers and as an organization has helped us survive a number of significant challenges in the past two decades. During this time, we've stumbled and struggled but have always prevailed–reenergized for the next fight.
Through the years, CCPOA and its members have been subjected to numerous court-ordered mandates, including federal oversight at Pelican Bay State Prison. We've endured steep increases in staff assaults due to prison overcrowding and understaffing. We've weathered five Corrections agency secretaries in five years, and lived through the chaos created by Schwarzenegger's ill-advised and destructive reorganization of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
FULL SIZE VERSIONS BELOW - TIMELINE of CCPOA HISTORY
In the 1990s, eight of our officers were accused by the national media of staging "gladiator fights" at Corcoran State Prison, only to be fully exonerated in a court of law. And let's not forget the debacle created by scorned politicians and overeager members of the media when they displayed fragments of a video showing the aftermath of a ward assault on a youth correctional counselor, prompting yet another long, legal battle on behalf of those wrongly terminated over the incident.
So, you see, though the battlegrounds may change, the struggle for fairness and respect never ends. And, thankfully, not everyone is a critic. Some policymakers do recognize the tough job of a correctional officer, and appreciate their contribution to public safety in California and their knowledge of the criminal justice system.
In September 2008, at CCPOA's annual convention, then-Assemblyman Todd Spitzer had this to say in a video shown to the delegates.
"I don't think we would be anywhere close to the understanding or the acceptance of prison reform in California without the guidance and the leadership of CCPOA. It is because of CCPOA testimony and experience, the fact that they brought everybody together to talk about prison reform in one setting. They kickstarted the real discussion about prison reform in California."
Also in the video, Sen. Alex Padilla said, "The insight and background information that CCPOA folks provide for me is invaluable.
It's been helpful when there's different gubernatorial appointees coming through for confirmation to be able to have that perspective when I'm preparing my questions and discussions points for these confirmation hearings."
And Sen. Darrell Steinberg said, "There's no question that CCPOA is a great force in California, and actually a great model of how people can come together and take an organization and make sure the voices of those who do some of the toughest work in the state get heard within the legislative and the electoral process."
But in the time since the 2001-2006 MOU took effect, nearly 15,000 correctional peace officers have begun their careers with CDCR–and become members of CCPOA. That's 15,000 members who may not fully understand how CCPOA came to be and the challenges that made the organization stronger. Look around at your fellow officers. The one to your right has seen the profession move in and out of the trenches, watched the mud fly many times, heard or lived the war stories; while the officer to your left hasn't been around long enough yet to experience much in the way of our struggles with a spiteful and uncooperative administration that refuses to acknowledge the value and public safety record of the state's correctional peace officers. But unfortunately he or she will–eventually.
For the past five years, we've faced a governor who declared war on our profession almost from his first day in office. In his State of the State address on Jan. 5, 2005, Gov. Schwarzenegger, referring to CDCR, said:
"The Youth and Adult Correctional Agency will be the first agency that we reorganize. Its need is the most urgent...This is an agency in which there has been too much political influence, too much union control, and too little management courage and accountability...I want to put the corrupt people in our prisons on the same side of the bars."
Pretty bold talk from a public official who couldn't possibly have had enough time in to fully educate himself on the workings of California's correctional system and its employees. But ever since he drew that line in the sand, Schwarzenegger has demanded take backs and contract concessions that would jeopardize officer safety, undermine the financial security of our members, and destroy 30 years of hard work and achievement on behalf of the correctional peace officer profession and public safety.
When contract negotiations for a successor MOU to the 2001-2006 agreement began to sputter and stall out in 2006, we knew what was coming. CCPOA has always maintained that its gains in benefits, improved working conditions, and workplace rights do not have a price tag. And during negotiations the governor soon found that we do not surrender to bullies, so he simply took that which we would not hand over. Our negotiating team was forced into impasse because we refused to sell out all that so many have worked so hard for. We refused to sell out our history.
Though it's a glitch in the plan, it isn't the end of the road. This governor will soon be gone. And the men and women of CCPOA will still be here doing their jobs with true honor and courage. And we are keeping track. When this governor contemplates his legacy of failures, we'll still be here building on our track record of service not only to our members but to all Californians.
We have always withstood the test of time. And time is on our side.
Steve Weiss has been a CCPOA employee for 23 years and has been directly involved in negotiating the last four MOUs since 1998.
April 1, 2009
FRONT STREET
by Louie Adame, CCPOA Rank and File Vice President, Juvenile Division
CHADERJIAN 6 CLEARED OF WRONG DOING
Last October, the 3rd District Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that finally cleared six members at N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility who had been wrongly accused of using excessive force and dishonesty.
The incident involved two 22-year-old juvenile gang members who viciously attacked two staff while they were sitting down taking notes. One staff member's nose was broken and both suffered facial cuts and other wounds from the assault.
The incident was videotaped and selected frames were used by the Department of Juvenile Justice to defame and discredit both assaulted staff members, as well as responding staff who arrived to assist the violent wards who continued to resist until handcuffed.
Newspapers described the wards as young juveniles who were physically beaten for no apparent reason. They were anything BUT innocent.
Unfortunately, the Department did everything they could to prolong this case and delay the members from returning to work, and went so far as to call it a "code of silence," claiming the officers all lied.
DJJ's Deputy Secretary Bernie Warner didn't believe the six staff members were innocent-not even after the State Personnel Board and the San Joaquin County Superior Court issued decisions in their favor.
At this time it is uncertain if the state will continue fighting this ridiculous case-wasting even more taxpayer dollars during the state's worst budget crisis. Obviously, we have some very disturbed managers who can't put their personal feelings aside, despite the evidence.
DJJ, COURTS AND RECEIVERSHIP
In case you hadn't heard, DJJ and Warner spent many days during 2008 in Alameda Superior Court before Judge Jon S. Tigar-the same judge who approved the Ferrell Consent Decree.
It seems that after four years, DJJ has not complied with agreed-upon dates for improvements. They toured the Missouri model, hired experts, created and filled positions, and ended up with a whole new level of bureaucracy for lots of middle managers-and yes, people who would do anything to gain power or retirement benefits.
These people remind me of little bobblehead dogs in a car's back window, shaking their heads, Yes, Yes, Yes! Reading books doesn't make you an expert in the California juvenile system. Every county Juvenile Hall has gangs, but you never hear about them. In Los Angeles, more than 4,000 wards under the age of 18 are locked up due to violent crimes. Yet, you don't hear anyone saying anything about that county for the same violations alleged in the old CYA.
Anyway, DJJ is in court because the Prisoner's Law Office, Youth Law Center lawyers want the court to assign the Department to a receiver. Their contention is that DJJ has not implemented one single program, has failed to improve the conditions for wards or implement changes that were agreed to in the consent decree.
I believe the Department and Unit Six members would be better off with a receiver who will monitor changes for the better. We have Warner, a figurehead with no reason to change or implement programs, whose "fix" is to close as many juvenile prisons as possible. They have wasted millions on nothing and he is running out of stories for the judge.
You should be seeing him walking around DJJ institutions with Judge Tigar. Don't be spooked because someone tells you that if you say something negative Warner will close your facility. He will close any facility to justify his existence, and does what he is told to by the Department of Personnel Administration.
I think DJJ should be transferred into the Health and Welfare Department, to ensure wards get the proper medical care. Unit Six members can deliver the improvements at the living unit level. DJJ needs to improve training to deliver the services to the wards.
The real experts are-as they should be-the line staff who run and operate the living units at every DJJ institution; the security staff who ensure safety, and the parole agents on the street who supervise wards during transition to the real world once released. These are the experts the authorities should be listening to regarding improving ward programs.
Unfortunately, DJJ managers think gangs are nonexistent and that they have removed that negative behavior. These managers who came from other states or departments are people who live in a fantasy world.
CDCR's WASTEFUL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
When CDCR last year told the state Legislature and the public that they were actively seeking qualified candidates to fill the vacant officer positions within the Department to help reduce the outrageous amounts of forced overtime, you won't believe where they started their search.
I'm guessing not a lot of thought went into a campaign to spend a lot of public funds on the Department's advertisements designed to attract the best candidates to the Academy. CDCR spent who knows how many thousands of taxpayer dollars to post ads in many public restrooms, including an Oakland Stadium men's restroom. Can you think of a better place to advertise for a CO? Not if you work for CDCR you can't!
This clearly displays the Department's lack of respect for Unit Six jobs. You would think putting an employment opportunity advertisement in the restroom would be reserved only for possible management hires. What a waste of tax dollars.
POST AND BID ELIMINATION
Under the state's Last, Best and Final Offer (LBFO) contract to CCPOA, the Youth Correctional Counselor classification took the worst beating. DPA Director Dave Gilb believes YCCs are the same as CC1s in CDCR. And DJJ's Bernie Warner supported the elimination of the Post and bid for YCCs at the negotiating table. Obviously, these two brain surgeons don't know their jobs-or yours.
The managers get together and pick where you will spend the year, while the YCC only picks RDOs and shift. Some of the complaints include:
- Second watch (0600 to 1400) can be two third watch (1400 to 2200) shifts and the rest is second watch (thus considered a second watch shift). So you bid with seniority, expecting straight AM shifts and later find out the managers have decided that you get one of the second watches with two PM shifts included.
- You attempt to bid on a Main Line hall and could be placed in a specialized treatment hall.
- It all comes down to a popularity contest, since the managers have their "babies" and if you have ever bumped heads with any of them, here's their chance to wreck your life.
- The dynamics of what makes a hall/lodge work is the team. Taking away an individual's ability to bid on a shift and where they go is against everything we have worked so hard for.
All of CDCR's YCOs and COs get to bid and each member knows exactly where he will work for the next year. It's the hardest working group of experts on the living units, yet it gets the worst deal. At CCPOA, we worked hard for more than 20 years to obtain the privilege of Post and Bid for all members. We won't stop now.
LAST, BEST (!?) AND FINAL OFFER
As you are aware, CCPOA has been working without a contract for more than two years. The 5 percent increase we were supposed to have received was taken out of the budget by the governor-along with a lot of other budget cuts that are going around.
It's been a long year with many, if not all, local meet and confers going to the CCPOA legal team to file PERB violations or Superior Court claims or appeals. The problem is that the governor appoints the PERB board members, and they don't have the guts to correct DPA's outright violations against Unit Six members.
The following are ongoing issues affecting all Unit Six members:
- Meal and Rest Breaks/Donning and Doffing - These cases are both in the discovery phase and we anticipate moving forward aggressively in the coming months. It is also anticipated that CCPOA will be seeking individual litigants sometime soon.
- 8-Hour Work Day - This case is going through the legal process at this time. CCPOA presented a legal brief to the Court on Dec. 31, 2008, and the hearing was set for Jan. 30, 2009.
- Apprenticeship - CCPOA is preparing to appeal the decision of the apprenticeship administrator in allowing CSA/CDCR more time to complete the requirements and change the apprenticeship standards to allow a management-run program. Further appeals and complaints will be forthcoming. It is obvious that CDCR has no idea how to run an apprenticeship program, much less correct the overtime problems that cost the state hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. These are the same people who want to run the correctional officer apprenticeship program. Stay tuned for updates.
- PERB Cases - CCPOA currently has approximately 45 charges filed with PERB, alleging various violations on both statewide and local chapter issues. To date, PERB has issued complaints on 14 of the alleged violations. On Dec. 1, 2008, we sent a request to expedite the PERB hearing on a complaint issued 12 months ago that has yet to be heard. On December 8, PERB responded to our request with a tersely worded denial. We are preparing to proceed to Superior Court.
On October 2, PERB issued a proposed decision, in which CCPOA prevailed, relative to CDCR's use of retired annuitants and their failure to recognize retired annuitants as Bargaining Unit Six members. And on November 5, PERB issued a complaint because CDCR "did not have a policy regarding the containment and control of Methicilin Resistant."
CCPOA HOLIDAY PINS
On Christmas Eve last year, CCPOA sent its new 2008 holiday pin-a Folger Adams key pin-to all chapter presidents. However, the pins have generated such a buzz among CCPOA members that we decided to order more. The newest shipment just arrived in February, and if you are interested in getting a pin, please contact your local chapter president, or you can call R&F V.P. Chuck Helton or me at CCPOA headquarters in West Sacramento at (800) 821-6443 to request one. If we are not available, assistant Julie Estrella can help.
Also, CCPOA is now developing the 2009 CCPOA pin to follow this one, so if you have any ideas we'd love to hear them. Send your thoughts to me or Helton at CCPOA, 755 Riverpoint Drive, West Sacramento, CA 95605.
April 1, 2009
Furlough Frustration
Editor's Note: Recently, on our website home page, CCPOA suggested that members call Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office to share their feelings about his poorly crafted furlough plan and how it will affect them and their families. We're happy to share the following comments from our members and we thank them for sending their thoughts to CCPOA headquarters. Remember, your participation helps us spread information to others- members and nonmembers.
My husband is a CO at Deuel Vocational Institute. Before the budget was voted on, I emailed all the legislators in our area, letting them know how this was going to affect my family and others. I explained how grateful I was for my husband to still have a job. I explained how I thought this was a short-term solution and in the long run would hurt the state more because of the sales tax. People have less money and will spend less.
I have not heard back from anyone.
Today I called the governor's office to ask how one union receives one furlough day and others get two. She explained that this has not gone into effect yet. I started the conversation pointing out how grateful I was for him still having a job; I did not get any response to that. She said the union that received one furlough day came to an agreement, and she was sure other unions would also try.
I would not say I was treated disrespectfully, but I could tell she really did not want to talk to me.
Do you know what the union plans on doing to fight the two furlough days or the new overtime rules?
Response: CCPOA will certainly take a look at any proposal that will lessen the financial burden that the governor has imposed on our members. However, we are not prepared to sell our souls. With respect to the new overtime rules, we are pursuing litigation regarding what we believe to be the illegal implementation of the 7k standard on our members without agreement by CCPOA.
I work in a state prison and am grateful to have a job in these tough times. However, I'm not sure the governor knows how much of a hardship this is causing many state employees. We are losing 10 percent of our pay and we are not able to use the furloughs as they were intended. With 10 percent less income, this means 10 percent less state taxes.
It is impossible for us to allow staff to take time off and not cover the positions. We are having to pay overtime to cover those positions. This causes the state to spend more money unnecessarily. Also, in the long run, we are able to save these days for a later time, thus allowing us to save up our holiday, sick, and vacation time to be cashed out at a later date when many staff are set to retire.
Response: You are absolutely right in that the "bill" for this time will come due long after Gov. Schwarzenegger is gone. By not using the appropriate relief for coverage behind time off, you get short-term savings. However, the time (vacation and holiday in particular due to your property right to the time) remains on the books and has to be paid upon separation. It is very similar to what happened in the late 1980s when the state stopped buying down holiday time. There are now members with over 1,000 hours of holiday time on the books and that equates to a whole lot of money upon retirement. The mandate to use furlough days in lieu of budgeted relief will only make the problem—and the eventual bill—worse.
I've heard that there will be layoffs of state workers beginning in July. A few days ago, I received a letter from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation saying that I'm a surplus employee in lieu of a new budget (which, of course, passed) and a $42 billion deficit.
When I went to my personnel office at High Desert State Prison, I was told that layoffs were unlikely but possible. I am currently a control booth officer in Building C4, 3rd watch, toward the end of my second rotation, with about one year and four months in the Department since my Academy start date.
Can CCPOA please post some reassurances about pending or possible layoffs, and what is CCPOA doing for new officers right now?
Response: The state budget eliminated layoffs within the budget itself. That does not mean that due to other circumstances, such as the $400 million unallocated cut to CDCR, or the failure of the propositions in the May Special Election, that the possibility of layoffs has gone away. This is the monster in the closet. In other words, sometimes what is imagined is far worse than reality.
Right now is the perfect storm in Corrections in California. We have a budget crisis that has brought incredible focus to all aspects of government. CDCR is a significant portion of the state's general fund. And taxpayers are appalled at the amount of money spent on inmates—so we are an easy target. We also have the ruling by the panel of three federal judges regarding overcrowding, which could significantly reduce the inmate population and, therefore, positions. The state attorney general is appealing this decision to the Supreme Court.
However, there is some good news. California continues to be a growing state. Roughly 466 people out of every 100,000 end up in prison, and CDCR's own budget projects a slight increase in inmate population. Additionally, CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate had this to say during a recent legislative hearing regarding budget cuts and layoffs: "We are already 48th in the nation in officer to inmate ratio, and our staff safety is number one on our list of concerns. So that, in our view, is what should be the last option."
The long and short of it is this. For now, it appears that layoffs are off the table. What the future holds is anyone's guess.
April 1, 2009
California Pens
Information about incidents and assaults across California. This information is available in the PeaceKeeper each month, and is updated as-received online as well. You can also read about nationwide correctional issues and news in CCPOA's online news blog.
February 1, 2009
FROM THE EDITOR
My dad used to say, "I have plenty of money ...unless I want to go somewhere or buy something."
We're told money does not buy happiness. Well, maybe not always, and maybe not true, lasting, warm-your-heart happiness. But it ain't bad. Money is thought to be the root of all evil, but I know one thing for certain, I've been rich and I've been poor, and I never remember lying awake at night trying to figure out how to spend all that money in my wallet.
Having enough money to live and eat and pay your bills can alleviate those sleepless nights when anxiety has you tossing and turning, doing math in your head all night long wondering how you're going to pay the mortgage, keep the lights on, buy Christmas presents, keep enough food in the house to satisfy two teenagers, get the dogs vaccinated, and keep the car tuned and gassed up!
Then you turn on the news. Billion dollar bailouts; extravagant corporate parties for firms taking a federal handout via the taxpayers' wallets; millions in year-end bonus dollars for corporate giants who already pull in fabulous salaries; failing businesses; layoffs by the thousands; and home foreclosures in record numbers. And that's just the national picture. Closer to home, here in the Golden State, the state Legislature is doing its best impression of a group of self-involved kindergartners who can't or won't cooperate with each other in the classroom; CCPOA members are still working without a contract after 17 months; and they've just been forced into a confusing little Schwarzenegger furlough subgroup. Where will it all end?
With all that's going on in your lives and your profession, the last thing you need is more to worry about. So, in this issue we're offering information aplenty to help you find answers and navigate through the tough times. For instance, an article from CalPERS explains just what dimmed the current financial picture, and addresses common money concerns; The Holman Group offers the key points to dealing with money stress before it takes a toll on your personal life; there's an interesting conversation with your state president in which you'll find insight into why the Association has taken such a beating from the Administration and what might be on the horizon; and our cover story will help explain Schwarzenegger's mandated furlough program, how it might affect you, and what some of our members are saying about it. You'll be more than entertained, you'll also be informed.
So if you're struggling with nagging money worries, trying to manage your family budget, watching your home's value plummet and your retirement plan take a beating, we have filled these pages with information to help you refocus, take charge, and leave your worries in the dust. If, as we've all heard, money is power, then information is powerful. Take a moment to get your bearings, arm yourself with helpful information, and learn how to get through the storm in one piece. For yourself and your family.
Because as the saying goes, in spite of the high cost of living, it's still pretty popular.
Money is like manure... it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow.
–Thornton Wilder, author
February 1, 2009
STATE OF THE UNION
by Lance Corcoran with Mike Jimenez
In this ever changing world of crime and punishment, the dilemmas facing CCPOA are serious and varied: Furlough days, but no MOU; a charging administration, but no real leadership; government promises, but no production. Communications Chief Lance Corcoran sits down for a Q&A with State President Mike Jimenez to find out how he handles the ebb and flow of the job, and CCPOA's relationships with management, the Legislature, and Gov. Schwarzenegger.
- Editor
In 1990, I attended my first annual CCPOA convention, as a delegate of the California Correctional Center chapter. During the course of the event, a panoramic photograph was taken of all of the delegates and attendees on the convention floor. I took a look at the photo the other day and boy, have I aged! As I looked at the photo, I noticed a familiar face seated two rows behind me. I didn't know him at the time, but in the years since I have come to know him quite well. It was Mike Jimenez.
Mike and I attended the CDCR Academy at the same time in 1986. That was back when they were running overlapping Academy classes starting three weeks apart. You had seniors and juniors. Mike started three weeks before me and has never let me forget that he has seniority over me.
For this issue of Peacekeeper, Mike agreed to sit down with me and talk about his history and the issues facing CCPOA members–in the past, present and future. Having recently won reelection, at our convention last September in Las Vegas, in the first contested race for state president since 1995, I thought it was a good idea for members to learn more about the man who serves as our union's state president.
In my experience, Mike can sometimes be obstinate, stubborn and profane–particularly when dealing with dishonesty by both management and, occasionally, members. That said, I have also observed Mike handle situations with incredible diplomacy and tact. I watched him agonize over whether or not to send a contract out to our members in 1998 because the governor's office had reneged on a portion of the contract that would have super-funded our Legal Defense Plan. I was one who would have settled our 2001-2006 contract earlier than we did. But Mike held out, making sure we got CHP money and 3.0 at 50 retirement.
I have heard Mike say many times that our members deserve to live in nice homes, to be able to send their children to college, and to live a life with rewards for the difficult job we do. On that he is uncompromising, and for that I am thankful.
–Lance Corcoran, CCPOA Communications Chief
Lance Corcoran: Mike, what was your background prior to Corrections?
Mike Jimenez: I was a rough neck for about seven years in Colorado, and it was work in the oil fields that brought me to Bakersfield, California. I went from the oil field to the Kern County Sheriff's Department where I saw the flyer: "Earn a gold star. Come to work for the California Department of Corrections." I was also studying to be a deputy sheriff at the time. I was being sponsored by the Kern County Sheriff's Department where I was working in the jail as a sheriff's assistant.
But being a correctional officer at that time paid $200 more a month than deputy sheriff starting wages. I calculated that out over two years because they made you spend the first two years as a deputy in the jail, and that came out to $4,800 over a two year period. I decided, "Hell, I could use $4,800." So, I kind of halfheartedly filled out the application and about six months later I got a little telegram saying they wanted me to come and fill out my background application. And that started the process to become a correctional officer.
LC: Once you went from the Academy, what was your institution?
MJ: I was originally assigned to Avenal State Prison but it wasn't open when I graduated from the Academy. But, my oldest son, Jacob, was born just as I started the Academy, so I didn't get to go home and watch him being born. They'd given me the option of taking time off waiting for Avenal to open, though they didn't know at the time how long it would be, or going to CTF Soledad and working on per diem. So, Chuck Helton (currently CCPOA Rank & File VP, Adult Division), who I had met when we were in the same company in the Academy decided we'd take a chance and go to work at CTF. Spent Christmas and New Year's waiting for Avenal State Prison to open up over there at CTF. Actually, we only worked there a few weeks before Avenal opened up and I've been assigned there ever since.
LC: What year was that?
MJ: I started the Academy in 1986, then went on to Avenal in 1987.
LC: What was your motivation to become an activist within CCPOA?
MJ: I didn't have my sights set on it. I think it's more one of those situations where everybody says "Shut up!" and you think they said "Stand up!" At that time we had what I'd call an insurrection of the inmates. They refused to lock up. I learned a lot of things about myself that night, or what people thought of me. I found out that none of the inmates thought my parents were married at the time I was conceived! I found out all the funny names that you can make out of my last name–and there were a bunch of them! I worked 22 hours straight and we ended up forcefully extracting inmates out of House Facility. We only had, I think, four facilities open out of the six at Avenal at that time. The inmates were refusing to lock up on three of the facilities. On Facility Two, we brought in a SERT team from CDC because Avenal didn't have their own SERT team. It was in my building that they started the first forceful extraction. They went in and set off smoke grenades, flash-bang grenades, sting-ball grenades, and the inmates started coming out and we started dragging them out and cuffing them up. Actually, I started putting them to the ground. Back then I think they called it throwing them to the ground. But we drug them off.
We worked 22 hours straight and they told us to take the next day off. I worked third watch and I was scheduled to be back to work in two hours and they said to take the day off, we'll cover you, come back to work the following day. So I did as I was told. Then I went to pick up my paycheck for that month for my overtime and found out they had in fact covered me with eight hours of my overtime with eight hours to cover that regular shift. So, I'd been shorted eight hours on overtime. As a young man with a new baby, I kind of had plans for that overtime. So I went in to complain to my timekeepers, and because Avenal wasn't completely opened at the time, she shared an office with the captain. Well, apparently, as I get excited, my voice escalates. I've been told that it does. I think I stay rather calm and quiet. But, apparently I sounded agitated and the captain came out and said, "Officer Jimenez, turn your ass around and walk out of my timekeeper's office and never get loud with her again." I did as I was told.
Then I went to my chapter president, who was J.J. King at the time, and I lodged a complaint. He said, "You know, I need somebody like you. Why don't you go to job steward training and help me out? Why don't you become a part of this team? I'll help you, you'll help me." So, I said, "By God, I think I will." So I went to job steward training, went to Phase I and Phase II, and before I knew it I was a chief job steward working in Ad Seg.
LC: You've held a lot of offices over the years. You've been chief job steward, a chapter president, you were elected executive vice president in 1994, and you became president of CCPOA in 2003. Do you have a fondness for any particular one of those?
MJ: I liked being a correctional officer. I liked working in work change back at Facility Four at Avenal. That was a good job. Sitting back there, drinking coffee, talking with the inmates, messing with Officer Shroeder, you know, it was a good job. It's a people job, and it's not for everybody. But if you like interacting with people, if you like something different everyday, it's definitely different every day.
LC: There's a criticism out there that because you're not on the line you've forgotten what it's like to be a correctional officer. Obviously, the Department is much different today than it was in 1987. What's your response to the criticism that the executive council members–you–don't remember the experience of being a correctional officer?
MJ: I try to stay very close to ground, to what being a correctional officer is. I was never a great correctional officer, I'll be the first one to admit that. I wouldn't even characterize myself as a good correctional officer. And I knew great correctional officers and I know a lot of good correctional officers. By those standards, in the days when I did wear a uniform, of great and good correctional officers, many of them wouldn't live under today's standards.
LC: Why? What characteristics do they have that make you think they wouldn't survive?
MJ: They handled business a little differently than today's Department allows you to do–good, bad or otherwise. The times are different and rightfully so. Thirty years ago, racism and sexism were more tolerated. And I'm not saying anybody specific was that way, but there were things that were tolerated. Society has become different inside and outside and not everybody evolved with it, and some people evolved faster than others. In the Department there are spots for every walk of life. There are spots for very compassionate people, there are spots for very hardened people. That's the beauty about the Department. But as you grow up as a person and you get the opportunity to move through those phases in life, you get the opportunity to experience some of those different positions. Share your experience of where you're at and hopefully make it to where it's not so difficult on that next generation of people as it was for you. That's what we all try to do as parents, as older brothers, older sisters, you just try to reach down and say, "Hey, don't make it so hard on yourself. Here's an easier way to do that." And try as we do, a lot of them just won't listen. But a lot of them will. There wasn't any one job I had that I really loved other than being a correctional officer. Being a chapter president was the hardest.
It was also very fulfilling. Being the state president, I've got to tell you, I live a blessed life. But you don't see much change. The milestones are way too far apart to feel the change occurring. You have to look back a long way to see any change.
LC: I agree that chapter president is the most difficult job in the organization, but you also sometimes get instant or quicker gratification.
MJ: Yes, you get to make a difference immediately. If you get somebody a day off–and that's just one instance–you know, where you go in and you'll win a grievance or you help somebody on a discipline, you know you made a difference right there. At this level, and both you and I have struggled with that because we try to maintain that connection, and more often than not from our level when we get in the middle of those things we mess them up more than we help.
So, we step back. And then the change becomes so much more gradual that you don't feel it, you don't see it. And it becomes hard on you as a human being because you don't know if you make a difference. It becomes a much lonelier spot, I guess. Maybe that's where it's supposed to be. But you just don't know that what you do makes a difference, and it's more difficult from that perspective.
I never wanted to be state president. I still don't know how it happened. Sometimes I think it's like the old joke where they say, "I need a volunteer" and everybody else stepped backward!
LC: Let's talk a little bit about where we're at right now. We've got ongoing contract disputes, an undefined last, best and final offer, we've got litigation. Do you see anything, any resolution coming through PERB with respect to our contract?
MJ: I don't know that PERB is the big deal. It's certainly not the fix that we once hoped it was. But we're further through it than anybody else is right now. And I think we're not in a bad spot. I think we're in the best spot of any bargaining unit.
LC: There are those who say that what we're doing could have an impact on every state employee, with respect to leveling the playing field at the negotiating table, actually getting some resolution to an area of the Dills Act that really has never been tested, meaning impasse.
MJ: It was never a level playing field and that needs to be corrected. Now, the answers to the questions we are asking PERB have the potential of being very, very dramatic. I think management believes that they've always had the advantage. I think we believe it's always been a level playing field. We just need an answer one way or the other because that's the only way we can get it fixed. If it's not a level playing field we need to call it like it is and get it fixed.
LC: Well, at the end of the legislative session in 2007, we sort of went around the collective bargaining process and took a look at having the Legislature reinstate our contract. What was the idea behind going directly to the Legislature as opposed to staying at the table?
MJ: We knew at that time, just based on the way they dealt with us, that we were never going to get anything through this administration.
At the negotiating table, they've never demonstrated any interest. And we believed the governor was going to veto anything that was put in front of him. We just wanted to make him veto it. We thought that that would show that he never had any honor and that he was never going to bargain in good faith with us and that we might get the "changed circumstances" argument to us by the demonstration that he was going to veto the money. I think you can see right now that the fact that he withdrew the money out of this year's budget means he never planned on giving us the money in the last, best and final offer. They never actually asked a single legislator, there's not a letter anywhere, there's no evidence of him ever putting that in legislative language in any of the budget documents that he submitted four times, four different opportunities to put it in budget boxes. It was never put in for them to implement the money associated with the last, best and final offer.
LC: So, in essence, what we attempted in 2007 was almost going back prior to the Ralph C. Dills Act when it was direct dealing with the Legislature over wage increases?
MJ: Yes, and that is exactly what he has done this year. And, if you'll remember, if you go back and reread the newspapers, how much he has cried foul about what an underhanded move it was that we tried to usurp the negotiating process, and he couldn't believe how nefarious we were, that we would do something like that–yet, it's exactly what he's doing now. And he's criticizing the Legislature for not going with him. And that's what we've dealt with for the last five years.
LC: Speaking of the Legislature, we were vocal opponents of Proposition 11, which was the initiative regarding legislative districts and how they are drawn. That was put forward by the administration and, though we were in opposition to it, it passed. Do you see Prop. 11 having a major impact on politics in California? And what is our relationship with the current Legislature?
MJ: Prop. 11 won't have a huge impact, not before 2010 anyway, and this administration will be long gone. It's still got to survive the court of challenges that are coming up, first of all. I happen to be aware of one that is coming. And our relationship with the existing Legislature is actually very good. This misunderstanding about the negative relationship comes in all of the time, but in my personal experience we've never had a better relationship, especially in light of Proposition 34, which covers contribution limitations and our ability to affect the outcome of individual elections. The knowledge that they were going to have to be more individually based and personally based, I think we're much further along than we should have expected to be. It's much more personality based, but I'm real satisfied with it. Politicians are what they are and politicians change. I don't mean to be derogatory to any individual, that's just the reality of their job. But they don't get an opportunity to learn the subject, any individual subject, real well. And I don't think they're bad on our subject, our staff or our issues. I think they are very pressed in this time to find solutions, and they're looking for money.
LC: Do we have any relationship currently with the governor's office?
MJ: The last time I spoke with the governor personally was when I was taking a photo of him with the Honor Guard two years ago at the Victim's March on the Capitol. But I didn't have a conversation with him, I was just being respectful to the Honor Guard because they wanted their photo taken with him. But other than that, I haven't spoken with him since we won our back pay arbitration in 2006 and he called me up and promised me that we would never again be treated like that under his administration.
He sent me a cigar box that's on my desk today with dried out cigars in it. He sent me that as a Christmas gift and told me we'd never again be treated like that under his administration. It was just another in the series of lies that I've been told.
LC: Do you continue to have any dialogue or discussions with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation management? And do you see them as sort of hamstrung right now? Is more of the blame for not having a contract on the Department of Personnel Administration? Or do you think that CDCR is actually calling the shots here?
MJ: No, I think you know as well as I do that it's DPA, and they completely oversold their hand outside the Department. I think CDCR is looking for a way to work with us. I think you know full well that on their best day, on our best day, the magnitude of the problems of everything going on in this Department is overwhelming. And that's on its best day. When we're fighting tooth and nail, it's impossible. And the chances of success are zero. And I think Jim Tilton recognized that, as do Matt Cate and Scott Kernan. Suffice it to say, we do talk. I know Scott Kernan recognizes that. I think they are hamstrung. I want to believe that. And I believe in both of them as human beings. Neither one of them has ever given me any reason not to believe in them. If they do, I'll reevaluate that relationship. But neither one ever has. And I'm willing to follow them a long way as leaders and I'm willing to work with them until they give me a reason not to. And I think you know from our relationship that I do until you give me a reason otherwise. And anybody who has lost that friendship with us, with this organization, had to go out of their way to do it. They didn't do it by accident. They did it by intention, motives, and actions.
LC: Do you think there is tension at all between DPA and CDCR leadership?
MJ: God, I hope so.
LC: Let's talk a little bit about Paroles. There is active legislation that would change Paroles drastically. I know that agents are very concerned about the prospect of layoffs, which you know they did experience in 1991. But what is being proposed with respect to cost savings could have an impact. Any thoughts on the direction this administration is going?
MJ: I'm not going to solve this administration under this governor's problems. But I think that's just because they've lied to us, they've cheated us. Every turn they make they've disrespected the men and women we represent.
LC: Are you concerned about Paroles specifically? And let's bring the Division of Juvenile Justice into this discussion. We have a declining ward population...
MJ: Absolutely, and under the existing structure today, Paroles cannot continue to operate. It is not in the public's best interest as it is designed and operational today. Having said that, it can be redesigned without a significant loss of agents or reduction in work force or a decrease in public safety.
LC: This would be about empowering agents?
MJ: I think it would be about empowering agents, lessening caseloads, supervising the high risk and high needs, assisting high needs, reducing supervision for the nonviolent–truly nonviolent, truly nonserious–low risk, low need offenders. People from the community, the agents making decisions about people in their community, the offenders being released to that community. Not people from Sacramento making decisions about people who don't get released or may get released to an area that's not their community that they really don't care about. It kind of makes sense, doesn't it, to have people out of that community making decisions about their community? God, there's a novel idea!
With DJJ, we're seeing a significant reduction, but part of the problem is they just totally overloaded again. We're top heavy in the DJJ. They've created this management structure about programs, for programs, by programs, to have meetings to set agendas for the next meeting to make sure that they control the meeting about the meeting for the meeting! We need to get back to what is important in the DJJ. It's not unreasonable to have as many staff as we have for the purpose and their mission. In a properly functioning system you would have that number of staff. But again, the design of that system is nonfunctional. We need to reduce the size of those institutions; make them more familial for the purpose of reintegrating those kids and salvaging the ones we can. At some level we're going to have to make a conscious decision that everybody can't be saved. We have to find those who can be saved, and get the ones who can away from the ones who can't–and don't let them be prey for the predators. Our system doesn't do that now. It automatically pits people of the same crime together whether they're appropriately placed together or not. We shouldn't be doing that because it forces them to become either prey or predators, and whether they're salvageable or not, it just doesn't work.
LC: What is your overall opinion of the CDCR reorganization? Has it been a success?
MJ: Catastrophic failure.
LC: Can you think of any positive thing that came out of the reorganization?
MJ: (Long silence)
LC: I think your silence speaks volumes. Let's talk about a couple of criticisms you've been the subject of. You've just been reelected to another three year term, but you were criticized prior to and during the election process for a couple of things. You were criticized for the hiring of a parolee by a group that is affiliated with CCPOA, Minorities in Law Enforcement.
MJ: If you go back even to 2004 and read the things that I've written, I talk about exposing the hypocrisy of management, trying to force them to eat their words about not preparing these guys for society. I never intended to do it to us, to our own members, to CCPOA. I said it in the letter that I sent out last year, and I'll say it again. To everybody who's ever supported me and the things I believe in, I'm sorry for causing you the heartache behind that. I really am. I can't believe that I caused that much of a firestorm. The guy never had any access to any personnel information, no member information.
LC: If you had it to do over again, what would you do?
MJ: Oh, that's a tough one. Well, I have to tell you, in my personal life, if I could do something to help that kid today, I would, because there are too many kids out there who need help. There are too many of them unemployed today. There are too many people who have done right by me to turn my back. There are just too many people who have taken a moment and put their arm around one of my kids and said, "Look, Dad loves you, Mom loves you, you've just got too much going on at the moment." Or, if anybody had just taken one moment and said, "Think about what you're doing." All I was trying to do was pay it forward. And, you know, you don't get do-overs in this world. So, you're asking me a hypothetical...I wish I could tell you no. And I hope you can tell by the pause that I'd rather resign or cause more damage to myself than to ever damage this organization again. That's the only thing that gives me pause about it is I do recognize all the damage I caused. But, I got into this to try and help people and I'm still trying to do that. When I can't help people anymore, it's time for me to move on. And I struggle with that at the moment.
LC: You've also been criticized for your appearance, specifically that you were not in compliance with departmental grooming standards with respect to your hair length and your beard.
MJ: I know, it's getting long and I'm going to get a haircut. The beard? I only did it as a joke to start with and it became a symbol. I once told you that every night when I go to bed it's the last thing I see, and every morning when I wake up it's the first thing I see, and that makes me think of what my job is and what I have to do. It was you who said to me, "Can't you do it in a way that all the rest of us don't have to think about that, too?" And, yes, I can. I accept that criticism and I'm not trying to shed that. I represent people who wear a uniform who expect me to look like I could wear a uniform.
LC: Ok, any significant goals for 2009?
MJ: Yeah, I'm going to get a haircut! Actually, we are working on one piece of legislation that puts together a multi-year plan to try to address some of the holes in the criminal justice system. And I have to tell you we think that we're right on the edge of a deal, but I feel like that every year and I've told you that a hundred times, that we're so close. I've never felt closer and I've never felt further away. And if we manage to pull it off, we've probably got a lot of work to do; the ground is set and it's probably time for the next generation to move up and start building on it. And if it's not, then a foundation can't be set and it's probably time for the next generation to move up and get to work on it. Either way, I don't know that the battle ever ends. Unions just keep fighting.
LC: CDCR has hired in the neighborhood of 15,000 new correctional officers–our members–since 2001. For those newer officers who don't know Mike Jimenez, what would you want them to know about yourself?
MJ: I have two sons, Jacob and Joshua, and I hope to be able to have grandkids in California and that I get to be closer to them than my kids were to my parents. And I miss my dad. That's it.
LC: I asked you a question earlier about doing it over again. You've been in the Department now more than 22 years. You've seen a lot of changes, a lot of changes within CCPOA. If you had it to do all over again, would you?
MJ: I think I would have been a cowboy.
LC: Some would say you are a cowboy.
February 1, 2009
COVER STORY: Will Work for Free?!?
by Lance Corcoran, CCPOA Chief of Communications
If you've been reading the newspaper, watching the evening news, or listening to CCPOA's 5150 hotline, you've no doubt heard about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent hotly contested two-day-per-month state employee furlough plan.
Suffice it to say, it was not well received by the many state workers who are already trying to make ends meet in these tough economic times–including our membership. Yep, that's right. Even though you're public safety workers, correctional peace officers were not exempt from Schwarzenegger's furlough plan, as were other public safety workers, such as the California Highway Patrol.
But what makes the furlough plan unique for our membership, which I'm sure you've already figured out, is that if we can't spare the furloughed position in an institution, the officer doesn't get the furlough day off. You will, in fact, be forced to work on your furlough day–for free.
"It's just a dog chasing its tail around," is how one member described the governor's plan. Another member said it was "beyond appalling." Actually, you'll see by the member comments under the heading Furlough Frustration, that "appalling" is putting it mildly.
Rest assured, just as we've done with all the other wild pitches this biased administration has thrown our way, we are not going to duck and cover. CCPOA has already taken legal steps to remedy this situation and although we've hit a roadblock or two, the fight isn't over. The following information reiterates the recent 5150 hotline messages to give readers a background on the furlough plan, words from the Court and CCPOA executive officers.
At the end of January 2009, California State Controller John Chiang announced that he would not–without a court order–comply with Gov. Schwarzenegger's executive order calling for the two-day per month employee furlough. Chiang said he would not unilaterally cut employee pay by the corresponding 10 percent demanded by the governor. Chiang stated that the governor's action was illegal because only the state Legislature has the authority to reduce state worker pay.
Also, on January 23, the California Association of Psych Techs (CAPT) filed a separate lawsuit against Schwarzenegger, contending his furlough order violates the federal Fair Labor Standards Act because psychiatric technicians would still have to work around the clock at state facilities but would not be paid for all of their time. This is similar to the argument that CCPOA asserted in court on behalf of all CCPOA members, which explained that due to the 24-hour operations of our profession the furloughs violate the FLSA.
Another combined lawsuit, filed by various public employee unions was heard in Sacramento Superior Court on January 29. In a terrible decision, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette issued a ruling asserting that the governor does indeed have the power to impose temporary furloughs on state employees and acknowledged that corresponding salary reductions would occur as a result. This was the case brought by Professional Engineers in California Government, California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment, and the Service Employees International Union, Local 1000.
Additionally, the court held that although the employees' complaints stated sufficient facts to constitute a cause of action in regard to the FLSA violations, the court ruled that no actual violations have yet occurred, and that adequate remedies are in place to protect workers harmed by such violations.
The Judge's order reads in pertinent part:
"The Governor has express authority to make the challenged order under Government Code sections 19851 and 19849. Those statutes are expressly incorporated into the petitioners' MOUs. Moreover, certain of the petitioners' MOUs expressly permit the Governor to reduce employee hours due to lack of funds, or to take any necessary action to carry out its mission in an emergency. The current circumstances constitute an emergency. The challenged order is reasonable and necessary under the circumstances. The emergency circumstances authorize the making of the order without prior meet-and-confer efforts. Government Code Section 19826(b) does not prohibit an order that reduces the hours of employees' work, even with a resulting reduction in pay.
"SEIU and CASE have not proven that non-compliance with the FLSA will actually occur, and FLSA non-compliance, even if proven, would not necessitate invalidation of the Governor's order, since employees retain all their rights and remedies under the FLSA. Judgment shall be for defendants (the governor) on these causes of action.
"As provided in Tirapelle v. Davis (1993) 20 Cal. App. 4th 1317, the State Controller is not authorized to refuse to implement an order of the Governor affecting state employee pay that is authorized by law. The Court's judgment in these matters shall therefore include an order directing the State Controller to implement the Governor's order."
The attorney for the state boldly stated in court that the governor had the proper authority to implement these furloughs and went on to explain that state employees will continue to be paid for hours worked, but that hours worked will simply be reduced in order to achieve the desired cost savings.
In a subsequent newspaper report, a director for the Association of Professional Scientists said his organization would almost certainly file an appeal.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Marlette has done it again. In an eight-page ruling, Judge Marlette on February 5 ruled against CCPOA and for the governor on the issue of furloughs and the commensurate 10 percent cut in pay.
Given Judge Marlette's ruling at the end of January on the case filed by Professional Engineers, State Attorneys, and SEIU, CCPOA was not particularly surprised by this newest ruling, and we are currently in consultation with our attorneys on an appeal of the judge's decision. Here is a portion of the ruling:
"Petitioners contend that the particular facts of this case, involving the realities of operation of the institutions in which CCPOA members work and the details of the "self-directed" furlough, are such that the furlough, in this case, amounts to a 10 percent pay cut, and thus a reduction in established salary ranges, with no actual reduction in hours. In essence, petitioner argues that its members will not be able to use their accrued furlough days before they expire. As a matter of proof, rather than a matter of pleading, the Court finds that petitioner has not established this contention on the basis of probative, persuasive evidence. The only such evidence petitioner has offered is the Declaration of Charles L. Alexander, Jr. Although Mr. Alexander's declaration does suggest that the staffing needs and policies of CDCR institutions make it probable that at least some CCPOA members will not be able to use all of their furlough days in the actual month in which they accrue, the declaration does not establish that it is, or will be, impossible for them to use their furlough days within the two-year period of their validity. Moreover, the declaration of Joseph Moss, a Correctional Administrator employed by CDCR, which has been submitted by respondents, suggests that there are a number of ways in which CCPOA members could use their furlough days within the allotted time, for example, by permitting staff to use accrued furlough days in lieu of other accumulated leave balances, or by implementing a furlough leave program modeled after the existing Holiday Leave program. The Court therefore finds that the furlough, as applied to CCPOA members, has not been shown to amount to a 10 percent reduction in salary ranges without a reduction in hours worked, and is not precluded by Government Code Section 19826(b)."
You can read the entire ruling on to the CCPOA website at ccpoa.org. While on the site, you can also read Executive Vice President Chuck Alexander's letter to all chapter presidents written February 4 in anticipation of the judge's ruling. In the letter, Chuck is asking all members to immediately request the use of their two furlough days within the month the days are earned. We know that the vast majority–if not all–of these requests will be denied. To proceed with our legal case we need harmed parties. Since the state is contending that they will be able to provide the time off relative to the furloughs, we need the evidence to show the court that they can't and that in essence our members our working for free. Since the furlough time, according to DPA, cannot be cashed out, if the state won't or can't provide you with the time off, then we believe they are violating the law. If you are requesting the time and the state won't or can't provide you the time off, you are a harmed party.
It is especially important that any members who are planning on retiring either during this month or within the next 18 months keep track of their inability to use furlough time. This is also true of terminations and resignations. If you separate from state service over the next 18 months and are not compensated for the time you worked, we have a violation of the law and you are a harmed party.
When your requests for time off are denied, please get a copy of the denial to either your chapter president or your CCPOA field rep. Members can also memorialize a verbal denial and provide CCPOA with a copy. Chuck also advises that if management refers a member to either the holiday book or the vacation book when requesting furlough time off, be sure to document it, as it is our position that the use of holiday or vacation positions would constitute fraud because those positions are specifically budgeted and funded for the use of holiday or vacation time–not furlough time.
For our non-posted members, such as parole agents and counselors, please begin requesting overtime to accommodate caseload. This is assuming management doesn't cut caseload commensurate with any reduced hours. Please forward all denials to CCPOA and request in writing which job expectations are to be left undone.
Please remember, CCPOA is doing everything legally possible to mitigate the pending pay reduction proposal this administration is imposing. CCPOA members have already suffered three years of salary reductions that no other state employee has.
February 1, 2009
Furlough Frustration
Editor's Note: Recently, on our website home page, CCPOA suggested that members call Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office to share their feelings about his poorly crafted furlough plan and how it will affect them and their families. We're happy to share the following comments from our members and we thank them for sending their thoughts to CCPOA headquarters. Remember, your participation helps us spread information to others- members and nonmembers.
Recently, I spoke with a staff member from Gov. Schwarzenegger's office about the work furlough program. I explained to her that when I bought my home I was able to purchase it based on my debt-to-income ratio. And now that my income has been reduced, I would find it difficult to maintain the payments. I explained that I was really a good guy who stepped up to the plate for my family. I explained that I moved in and helped care for my 75-year-old uncle, and how when I saw on the bottom of my pay stub in 1991 that kids were waiting for families, my wife and I adopted a family of three kids for a grand total of six kids at home. I explained that no one knew better than I the financial hardship the entire country was feeling. After all, my mother saw her 401K retirement dwindle away and I wasn't able to help her. I explained that I have a daughter in college and a son who won't go to college because he said, "Dad, I know you're having a hard enough time as it is." I then told the governor's staffer that my youngest son has Down Syndrome and needs extra help. I told her that I didn't want a handout or an atta-boy. I just wanted my paycheck. The staffer replied, "You know, the governor doesn't take a salary." I wanted to explode but maintained my composure, and said, "The governor is a millionaire and I'm not." She said this was an extremely hard decision for the governor. She seemed annoyed and told me that there was nothing she could do and that she had to answer other calls.
- Email from Officer Michael T. Smith, Corcoran State Prison.
Yes, I am appreciative to have my job, but to give state workers furloughs who may never get to use them and then keep giving inmates the health care they receive is ludicrous to say the least! You should know that the work is going to get back logged and overtime will be needed and taken- to cover furloughed positions! It's just a dog chasing its tail around.
- Email from Officer R. Cano.
What if my husband get hurts or dies on a furlough day? He should not work for free. Every day he goes to work, I pray for his safe return. You treat the prisoners better than the correctional officers. You don't take anything from the prisoners; you take from the COs who risk their lives daily watching over them! My husband is the one who supports our household. He also pays child support and that won't decrease. Please don't make the future grim. Figure out another way to fix the economy.
- Email from Cristina Sosa.
We will be working for free for two days a month, losing about 10 percent of our pay. Because we as correctional officers are required to provide safety and security 24-7, we cannot just close up shop two days a month. So who will replace us? Inmates still have programs, medical needs, meals, work, school. If we request a day off, which we are now required to do twice a month- without pay- one of two things will happen: Our request will be denied or inmate programs will continue with one less officer, putting the other officers at an even greater risk. We are already greatly outnumbered by inmates, yet we still do our jobs supervising and protecting the inmates. Just a few months ago I was severely injured by an inmate doing my job as directed. This pay reduction is just going to cause more problems, and it will be a trickle down effect. I will continue to protect and serve, per my oath. I just want the governor to do the same: protect and serve.
- Email from Officer Kathy Patty.
The following is a letter I wrote to Sen. Lois Wolk (D-5th District), but I also sent it to many other state representatives.
Dear Sen. Wolk: I am writing to you to express deep concern in regard to the court ruling about the furlough days for peace officers. As I write this, my heart hurts and my eyes weep. When my husband was informed of the changes to come, the first thing that came to my mind was not the money issue, but the safety of the man that I love with all my heart. I truly understand that we are in troubled times and everyone is hurting. But to shorten staff at a prison is just horribly scary and wrong. As this recession gets worse more and more drastic measures will be taken by individuals to survive and our prisons are going to become even more overcrowded. We are going to need the men and women who place themselves in danger every day to ensure their safety on the inside and ours on the outside. I understand that the governor's office is telling the peace officers who call to express their frustration that they are lucky to get what they are getting. Well, the governor's office is lucky to have the people they have who are willing to go into our prisons and subject themselves daily to the throwing of feces and urine, TB, hepatitis, AIDS, and the constant threat of attacks on peace officers. This furlough decision not only affects them directly, but their families as well. I have a very deep respect for the men and women who have chosen this profession. My husband decided to become a peace officer to do something more. I am asking that the ruling be reconsidered before more officers are injured or killed. I want my husband to come home to me. Thank you for your time and careful consideration.
- Email from Christina Weeman.
Let CDCR help out with the current passing of the budget. Let's house all legislators at the CDCR Academy in Galt until they can pass a budget. I figure it would save $178 a day, per legislator, with savings on hotel costs, meals, per diem. The Academy can bus them down to the state Capitol in the finest of vehicles- the old blue bird buses. The only reimbursement would be a $10 lunch. Or we could pack them a fine brown bag lunch. Let's do our part and help out the state.
- Email from Larry Ybarra.
It is not in the state's best interest to furlough prison employees because you will only have to pay someone overtime to cover the furlough days taken because we are already shorthanded! I'm not quite sure how you think it is going to save the state money when you will only have to pay someone time and a half, rather than straight pay.
- Email from Officer Rusty Kiest, CVSP.
I spoke with Rose in the governor's office regarding the fact that my husband is having to work without pay, and how it is affecting our family. She said she did not know that they were not getting the days off, that they are working for free. She said that according to the governor's Executive Order, if you worked a furlough day you would be paid for it later. I asked for that in writing and she sent me to Adrian, a senior representative. He was the most cold-hearted person on the face of the Earth. He stated, "You accrue your furlough days and must take them before vacation." I said, "So they have to work for free twice." He said, "Yes," and added, "You act like this does not affect me, too." I then asked him if he has to work on his furlough day or can he go home. He told me he gets to go home because their offices are closed! He showed no concern for this issue. I then asked to speak with the governor and was told he cannot take our calls because he is busy. With our state andcountry already in recession, how can they make these officers work for nothing? This is pushing our family into debt and desperation. Let those desk jockeys work with criminals for free! Sign me, the proud wife of a hard working correctional officer.
- Email from Alexis Nicole Perez.
I respect the fact that we must all do our part, and I'm willing to do that. The thing that I have a hard time swallowing is the fact that it is not being spread around fairly. The fact that CHP and others are exempt is not right. If we are going to do this, then let's save every dollar. We all do a tough job. I am somewhat behind the governor in this sense that if the Assembly and Senate would do their jobs none of this would be happening at the level it's at. Increase some taxes slightly, make cuts, give state agencies a bonus for coming in under budget. We promote spending every time we reward these agencies with more money every year. Incentive! I'll take my 9-point-something pay cut and deal with it. But you guys need to do the right thing with the money.
- Email from Officer D. Combs.
I'm very upset with the legislators in regard to us working on furlough days.
I can say it will be financially difficult to have an almost 10 percent cut, but to have us work and not get paid is a whole new issue. Who would raise their hand and work for free? I would when it comes to my own home improvements or for my children's school fundraisers, but in this case, why should we be working and not get paid? It makes no sense. I know there have to be labor laws to protect us. Why not have all the legislators work for free?
What an embarrassment to see these people trying to help us with a blanket over their heads, getting a snooze! Arnold should really think twice about paying them when they can't even keep their eyes open. This 10 percent cut is going to hurt me and my family and no one is going to pay my bills. There may be homes lost, cars repoed, and refrigerators empty- and they say furlough days will help. Think, people!
- Unsigned email.
I've been a hardworking CO at San Quentin and Folsom prisons for nearly 16 years. I have shown up for my shifts and done consistent overtime. I do not involve myself in politics, and I am a proud Californian. I cannot say why our state has fallen apart so disastrously, but my first thought is to place blame on this governor who came in guns blaring in order to "clean up our state" after Gray Davis. And this is the result?
To punish the workers of this great state is beyond appalling. Further, I have to witness on a daily basis what the state provides for our wonderful inmates- the best health care in the country, computers, and other services that don't appear to be suffering in this economic downturn at all. It's like having our faces rubbed in this inequity on a daily basis.
My kids will suffer at school, while the Indian gaming casinos thrive and pay not taxes. And the state cannot seem to find the revenue to take the correctional officers off the chopping block? The last insult was when we were recently informed that now our overtime hours will be billed as furlough time! Are you kidding me!? My family is sacrificing enough as it is and now they just want to mess with our supplemental income? This is beyond unfair.
- Officer Eric Devore, CSP-Sacramento.
February 1, 2009
Learning to Be a Good Leader
by Ian Pickett, Correctional Sgt., Calipatria State Prison
"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
- John F. Kennedy
In the past I've tried to put into words the actions of the brave staff members who have been attacked, assaulted , and maimed at the hands of inmates. I have spoken to their bravery during these violent clashes and to their courage as almost all returned to work. What follows here isn't much different because the actions of the people I work with are no less courageous now as they were then.
On Jan. 23, 2009, I stood with two other staff members in our nightly positions in front of the chow hall on Facility C at Calipatria State Prison. Across the yard stood three more staff members outside of Housing Unit C3, monitoring the inmates exiting the building and walking to the chow hall.
As I peered across the yard, I saw a group of about four Southern Hispanic inmates simultaneously look back in the direction of these three officers. Their actions caught my attention and I, too, looked at the officers who were facing the direction of the Hispanic inmates.
The group of Southern Hispanics turned back and continued toward the chow hall. Almost immediately, the staff from in front of C3 began to walk toward them. Right then and there I knew things were about to get bad. The two officers next to me, ever diligent, were also watching the events unfold. When I asked, "Do you guys see this," both responded, "Yep," before I could even finish my sentence.
As the releasing officers across the yard approached the inmates, they had a walk that gave off the impression that the inmates were not stopping when told to, and I was just waiting for the radio call, "Observation, put the yard down." Just then, I looked to my immediate right and observed about 20 Southern Hispanic inmates who had stopped as well, undoubtedly waiting to assist their homie when the call came.
That's when it hit me. I am the sergeant and in the next three seconds it will be necessary for me to make decisions that would either save a life or lose one. I asked the two officers with me, "Are you guys ready," and again my sentence was interrupted by a dedicated "Yep." And then they added, "There are about 20 of them; we can hold them off until help comes."
I quickly ordered the control booth officers to respond to their yard windows, and I thought about who my gunners were. I knew that at any moment we would again be fighting for our lives and I would have to lead these officers in battle as we have done before, and as many do across the state every day.
Just as quickly as this standoff escalated, it stopped. The officers across the yard were able to counsel the inmate and everyone went on their way. A prime example of a peace officer who, although always ready to defend himself and his partners, was able to use communication to get the job done. My hands were still shaking and my heart was still at a battle pace. I'm sure most everyone reading this knows that feeling.
So, where is the story, you ask? I'll tell you.
Day after day, correctional officers are asked to enforce rules dictated by the state, the law, and the administration. And, day after day, they do so - knowing full well that a simple counseling can turn into a full scale riot because of the rules the inmates have set up for themselves. My staff across that yard knew very well that by stopping that group they would be in danger, yet they did their job. The two officers with me also knew full well we could be hurt, bloodied or possibly killed, but they, too, were ready and willing to do their job.
Not until later did I really grasp the gravity and selfless courage that response, There are about 20 of them; we can hold them off until help comes, really encompassed. As a sergeant, what more can you ask? What more could you want? More so, as a partner and brother, what more could you believe in? And again, this is not an uncommon theme, as I know officers across the state show this diligence day in and day out.
There are times as leaders that we learn from our staff. If you feel that is not true, then I contend you're not being a true leader. To let their dedication and bravery go unnoticed and unannounced is a failure to do our job, just as it is when we fail to right a wrong.
In a time when the hierarchy of this state continues to let their courage and sacrifice go unnoticed, we must speak out loud on their behalf. You cannot speak on what is right without the willingness to speak on what is wrong. Will this bring about change? It may not. But it is the responsibility of a leader to defend his people in a battle - win or lose.
That said, while the state prepares furloughs, pay cuts and IOUs, I would just like to say thank you. Thank you to all the dedicated correctional peace officers statewide who every day walk through and navigate the jungle of controlled chaos that is a prison, on behalf of the state and, more so, for each other.
My thank you may not offer any remedy for the monetary suffering this administration is attempting to impose on us, but if I am going to suffer, I cannot think of a better group to suffer and fight with. United.
February 1, 2009
Learning to Be a Good Leader
by Ian Pickett, Correctional Sgt., Calipatria State Prison
"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
- John F. Kennedy
In the past I've tried to put into words the actions of the brave staff members who have been attacked, assaulted , and maimed at the hands of inmates. I have spoken to their bravery during these violent clashes and to their courage as almost all returned to work. What follows here isn't much different because the actions of the people I work with are no less courageous now as they were then.
On Jan. 23, 2009, I stood with two other staff members in our nightly positions in front of the chow hall on Facility C at Calipatria State Prison. Across the yard stood three more staff members outside of Housing Unit C3, monitoring the inmates exiting the building and walking to the chow hall.
As I peered across the yard, I saw a group of about four Southern Hispanic inmates simultaneously look back in the direction of these three officers. Their actions caught my attention and I, too, looked at the officers who were facing the direction of the Hispanic inmates.
The group of Southern Hispanics turned back and continued toward the chow hall. Almost immediately, the staff from in front of C3 began to walk toward them. Right then and there I knew things were about to get bad. The two officers next to me, ever diligent, were also watching the events unfold. When I asked, "Do you guys see this," both responded, "Yep," before I could even finish my sentence.
As the releasing officers across the yard approached the inmates, they had a walk that gave off the impression that the inmates were not stopping when told to, and I was just waiting for the radio call, "Observation, put the yard down." Just then, I looked to my immediate right and observed about 20 Southern Hispanic inmates who had stopped as well, undoubtedly waiting to assist their homie when the call came.
That's when it hit me. I am the sergeant and in the next three seconds it will be necessary for me to make decisions that would either save a life or lose one. I asked the two officers with me, "Are you guys ready," and again my sentence was interrupted by a dedicated "Yep." And then they added, "There are about 20 of them; we can hold them off until help comes."
I quickly ordered the control booth officers to respond to their yard windows, and I thought about who my gunners were. I knew that at any moment we would again be fighting for our lives and I would have to lead these officers in battle as we have done before, and as many do across the state every day.
Just as quickly as this standoff escalated, it stopped. The officers across the yard were able to counsel the inmate and everyone went on their way. A prime example of a peace officer who, although always ready to defend himself and his partners, was able to use communication to get the job done. My hands were still shaking and my heart was still at a battle pace. I'm sure most everyone reading this knows that feeling.
So, where is the story, you ask? I'll tell you.
Day after day, correctional officers are asked to enforce rules dictated by the state, the law, and the administration. And, day after day, they do so - knowing full well that a simple counseling can turn into a full scale riot because of the rules the inmates have set up for themselves. My staff across that yard knew very well that by stopping that group they would be in danger, yet they did their job. The two officers with me also knew full well we could be hurt, bloodied or possibly killed, but they, too, were ready and willing to do their job.
Not until later did I really grasp the gravity and selfless courage that response, There are about 20 of them; we can hold them off until help comes, really encompassed. As a sergeant, what more can you ask? What more could you want? More so, as a partner and brother, what more could you believe in? And again, this is not an uncommon theme, as I know officers across the state show this diligence day in and day out.
There are times as leaders that we learn from our staff. If you feel that is not true, then I contend you're not being a true leader. To let their dedication and bravery go unnoticed and unannounced is a failure to do our job, just as it is when we fail to right a wrong.
In a time when the hierarchy of this state continues to let their courage and sacrifice go unnoticed, we must speak out loud on their behalf. You cannot speak on what is right without the willingness to speak on what is wrong. Will this bring about change? It may not. But it is the responsibility of a leader to defend his people in a battle - win or lose.
That said, while the state prepares furloughs, pay cuts and IOUs, I would just like to say thank you. Thank you to all the dedicated correctional peace officers statewide who every day walk through and navigate the jungle of controlled chaos that is a prison, on behalf of the state and, more so, for each other.
My thank you may not offer any remedy for the monetary suffering this administration is attempting to impose on us, but if I am going to suffer, I cannot think of a better group to suffer and fight with. United.
February 1, 2009
You Can Be a Hero
It's as easy as $ 5 to $ 100...
The beautiful bronze and granite California Peace Officer Memorial monument, located on state Capitol grounds in Sacramento, contains the names of the more than 1,400 courageous peace officers who've laid down their lives in the line of duty protecting and serving their fellow Californians, dating back to early statehood.
The monument honors professionals like CIM Correctional Officer Manny Gonzalez, who was killed in the line of duty in January 2005.
Now, an existing law allows taxpayers to make voluntary tax–free contributions on their personal state income tax returns to the: CALIFORNIA PEACE OFFICERS MEMORIAL FOUNDATION FUND
The process is simple. No checks to write and no solicitors. As a taxpayer, you would merely execute a “check off“ on your State Franchise Income Tax return in the amount of at least $5 or more.
Importantly, the law specifies that all contributions must be used to maintain the California Peace Officers Memorial, and for activities in support of the deserving surviving families of those gallant men and women peace officers who made the ultimate sacrifice.
When you file your state income tax return for 2008, we urge every taxpayer and the more than 100,000 professional peace officers serving California to become HEROES by supporting this most worthwhile cause.
Remember that one of our own gave the ultimate sacrifice - his life - for the people of California and our Corrections family.
In honor of Correctional Peace Officer Manny Gonzalez, please give.
Don Novey, Executive Director CPOMF
February 1, 2009
Front Street: Let’s Get It Right
by Louie Adame, CCPOA Rank & File VP, Youth Division
On July 14, 2008, the Little Hoover Commission* issued a report, Juvenile Justice Reform: Realigning Responsibilities, calling for sweeping reform of California's juvenile justice system. While the Commission's report is well intentioned, a number of its recommendations are seriously flawed.
The Commission is right about the urgent need to reform the system at every level - operationally, economically and programmatically.
But instead of improving the system, several of the Commission's recommendations would make it worse.
The following are CCPOA's concerns with the Commission's recommendations - with the sincere hope that these issues can be resolved so we can truly fix California's broken juvenile justice system.
Proposed reforms don't account for the differences between state and county juvenile wards:
- County facilities and staff are not adequately equipped to deal with the high - risk and special - needs offenders currently housed in CDCR's Division of Juvenile Justice facilities. This includes murderers, rapists, gang - bangers, and the mentally disturbed. The average DJJ offender has committed 10 serious felonies.
- While the maximum age for a youth in county facilities is 18**, the DJJ has the highest maximum ward age in the country - 25 years. And the overwhelming majority are over 18. Not only are older wards more difficult to serve, but there also will be a significant number of wards with time left on their terms, yet who are too old to be legally held by the counties. (**An exception in Senate Bill 81 raises the age to 20 for DJJ transfers.)
- One reason some DJJ wards are more hardened than county wards is exposure to adult inmates. If a non - minor DJJ ward assaults a correctional officer or ward, they are sent to state prison to serve a separate felony sentence - and are often indoctrinated into some of the most violent and active prison gangs in the nation. When their prison sentence is over, they are returned to DJJ to serve the remainder of their juvenile sentence - time they often use to recruit other wards into California's extensive prison gang structure.
Proposed reforms would increase juvenile recidivism rates:
- Recidivism for juvenile offenders is already extremely high - with three out of four re - offending within three years. Eliminating state juvenile facilities deprives judges of a vital tool currently used to deter recidivists who can be "sent up" to DJJ.
- County facilities are already lacking in rehabilitation programs, and the funding provided by the realignment is inadequate to increase these programs to the levels needed to reduce recidivism.
- Some wards, having served time in both DJJ and adult prisons, are released onto "dual" parole under both agencies - an inefficient and confusing process that presents a challenge to even the most experienced parole agents, but which will be completely unmanageable for county probation officers who have never dealt with such high - level offenders. The unintended result is that some wards will slip through the cracks entirely - again, leading to higher recidivism.
Proposed reforms would increase litigation:
- With an influx of high - risk and special needs wards into county facilities ill - equipped to deal with them, it's likely they, too, will be held to the stringent requirements of the Farrell Consent Decree without adequate funding, staffing or facilities to meet the legal mandate.
- Even without the influx of DJJ wards, juvenile facilities in three counties - Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Joaquin - are already under investigation for abuses similar to those alleged in the Farrell case.
- The potential for overcrowding, understaffing and ultimately the forced early release of wards at the county level are all very real in light of lawsuits dictating higher standards within our juvenile facilities.
* The Little Hoover Commission is an independent state oversight agency that was created in 1962. Its mission is "to investigate state government operations and - through reports, recommendations and legislative proposals - promote efficiency, economy and improved service."
The Commission is a 13 member board, composed of five citizen members appointed by the governor, four citizen members appointed by the Legislature, two Senators and two Assembly members. The full Commission "selects study topics that come to its attention from citizens, legislators and other sources." (From the Little Hoover Commission website, www.lhc.ca.gov.)
February 2009 - Front Street 
- Chaderjian 6 Cleared of Wrongdoing
- CCPOA's 2008 Pins
- CIM Picket Protests Unsafe Conditions
- CDCR's Wasteful Advertising Campaign
- Post and Bid Elimination
- DJJ, Courts & Receivership
- LBFO - Where We Are
- Thumbs Up Project Update
- Remember - Always Put It In Writing
February 1, 2009
BENEFIT TRUST: New Benefits for Tough Times
by Crystal C. Virtue, Esq.
In tough economic times it is essential to find new ways to save hard-earned money. The CCPOA Family Legal Plan, administered by Caldwell Legal, is provided automatically and premium-free to active CCPOA members.
We have now sweetened the pot, adding significant new benefits in order to save you money and give you the help you need in these challenging times. These great new benefits have also been added to the CCPOA Retiree Legal Plan, which is available for just $13.99 per month.
If you are an active CCPOA member or a retiree in the CCPOA Retiree Legal Plan, here are the new programs available to you in 2009.
Caldwell Mortgage Meltdown Survival Guide
Since the economic downturn began we have seen more and more members struggling with the financial and emotional issues that a recession can bring.
The new Caldwell Mortgage Meltdown Survival Guide touches upon a number of topics such as mortgage modification, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, forbearance, partial claims, and foreclosures. The guide-free to all members upon request-offers information about various available options and lets you know how Caldwell attorneys can help if you find yourself caught in the mortgage meltdown mess. It also lists the information you should have on hand when you call your Caldwell attorney for assistance.
Free Uncontested Divorce (California residents only)
If you are splitting up with your spouse or registered domestic partner and you have all the details worked out between you, the last thing either of you probably wants is to spend a lot of money on lawyers to prepare the legal documents. Your Caldwell Legal service office attorney can now prepare dissolution forms free of charge when neither side is represented by counsel and all issues are agreed to without aid of counsel. This benefit includes the preparation of a Marital Settlement Agreement, but does not include free court appearances or costs. The filing or preparation of documents affecting the division of pensions will be referred at a reduced fee.
Free Personal Federal and State Tax Return Preparation (Av ailable to residents in all 50 states)
As a member of CCPOA, there is no longer any need to pay someone to have your personal federal and state income tax forms prepared, and you don't have to struggle through preparing them yourself, either. To access this time-saving and money-saving benefit, just call TaxHotline at (800) 924-3091. After an initial interview, you'll be sent a tax organizer by email or regular mail, whichever you prefer. After you complete and return the tax organizer, and send any necessary supporting documents to TaxHotline, their tax professionals will prepare your personal federal and state income tax forms and mail them back to you. Then all you have to do is file them. This outstanding new benefit offers a significant savings to CCPOA Family Legal Plan members and to members of the CCPOA Retiree Legal Plan. It is valid through April 1 of each year for personal federal and state income tax forms.
Free Advance Health Care Directive for All Members (California residents only)
We often receive inquiries about living wills, since many people fear living in a vegetative state, sustained only by machines. In California, these important legal documents are called Advance Health Care Directives, and they give you the power to decide ahead of time what type of end-of-life medical care you want to receive. The agent you appoint, usually a spouse or other close family member or friend, will have the authority to see that your wishes are carried out. Contact Caldwell Legal to have an Advance Health Care Directive prepared for you.
Your CCPOA Family Legal plan is provided automatically and is loaded with benefits. We have added these new, cutting-edge benefits free of charge to help you through these tough times and to encourage you to use your legal plan. Just give us a call at (800) 222-3035, to find out how we can help and save you money.
THE CCPOA PREMIER LEGAL PLAN
If you are an active CCPOA member, you can boost your legal plan by upgrading to the CCPOA Premier Legal Plan. On the job, your Legal Defense Fund benefits increase substantially; off-the-job benefits include a complete Revocable Living Trust package for just $250. The cost is only $8.99 per month and is deducted from your paycheck. To sign up for this enhanced plan, call the CCPOA Benefit Trust at (800) 468-6486.
To sign up for the CCPOA Retiree Legal Plan, available for only $13.99 per month, call the CCPOA Benefit Trust Fund at (800) 468-6486 for enrollment materials or go online to www.ccpoabtf.org.
- Crystal Virtue is the executive vice president of Caldwell Legal.
February 1, 2009
SHOW ME THE MONEY! CalPers Responds to the Financial Crisis
The U.S. economy is experiencing the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. CalPERS and other pension funds are not exempt, although we are more stable than many investors. CalPERS remains financially sound, our members' defined retirement benefits are guaranteed by law, and our highly diversified portfolio and long - term market positions will help us weather the storm.
We will have a voice in much - needed market reforms.
HOW THE FINANCIAL CRISIS DEVELOPED
Today's credit crisis stems from a variety of causes that trace back in our markets over the last five to 10 years. They include:
- Excessive optimism on the part of mortgage borrowers. Independent mortgage brokers made too many bad loans for focusing on quantity rather than quality.
- The housing boom was driven by faith in an endless rise in home prices, which in truth is not sustainable.
- Excessive leverage among lenders. Some experts allege that the investment banks and other financial institutions holding the packages of mortgage securities didn't know how much their portfolios had been leveraged.
- And insufficient understanding of financial innovations that developed during this time.
- Little regulatory oversight and supervision.
Investment banks pulled the stock market down with them. Lenders tightened credit, reducing the flow of money needed to keep the economy moving. Many investors cashed out their stocks, reducing share values. CALPERS STRATEGY
- A diversified portfolio - Our investment portfolio is well - diversified with investments in public and private companies, real estate, bonds, and other fixed income. Since we don't have all our eggs in one basket, we can soften stock market losses by investments in other asset classes.
Currently, our asset allocation targets are:
Public stocks: 56 percent
Bonds and other fixed income: 19 percent
Private equity: 10 percent
Real estate: 10 percent
Inflation - linked (commodities, infrastructure, forestland, inflation - linked bonds: 5 percent
- Long - term investment - By holding our investments we can play a key role in its recovery - as we did after the 23 percent drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1987, and the one - day decline of almost 685 points after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
- Taking a long - term position has helped us stay the course during earlier financial downturns. For example, we survived the government's savings and loan cleanup of 1989 - the greatest collapse of U.S. financial institutions since the Depression. We coped with the big real estate slump of the early 1990s by purchasing undervalued properties that we sold later. We lost $50 billion - on paper - in the 2000 - 2002 market downturn, but rebounded with a $120 billion gain over the next four years.
- Using our size and capital to turn challenges into opportunities - As responsible investors, we are monitoring our exposure to the market's financial sector, managing our portfolios, and identifying buying opportunities in the changing market environment. Our portfolio is well - positioned for a market recovery.
- Stabilizing employer contribution rates - Cushioning the impact of investment setbacks is the fact that CalPERS experienced double digit gains in the four years leading up to the 2007 - 2008 fiscal year. In previous down markets, flat or negative returns contributed to increases in employer contributions the following year. However, CalPERS rate stabilization policies now spread market gains and losses over 15 years, thus reducing the volatility of employer rates. The volatility experienced through Sept. 30, 2008, will only have a slight impact on employer contribution rates. The typical employer payroll contribution rate would increase approximately one quarter of 1 percent of pay. Our Board's rate stabilization policy is working as intended.
NEXT STEPS TO FIX THE MARKET
- Continuing federal action is needed to restore stability - step by step, market by market - to remove leveraging and take losses.
- The federal rescue plan is a positive first effort of what should be a comprehensive, thoughtful review of the federal role in overseeing the financial markets. The focus should be on solving the problem and implementing the lessons learned.
- There's talk in Washington, D.C., of changing the regulatory environment to eliminate gaps in oversight and make it more comprehensive.
These changes might entail stronger capitalization rules, realistic leveraging limits, and better reporting rules.
CALPERS ACTION TO ENSURE INVESTO RS A VOICE IN MARKET REFORMS
We're working with other institutional investors to make sure our collective voice is heard by policymakers and regulators. We believe that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - the one federal agency designed to be an advocate for the investor - must remain strong and assure investors' place at the table.
MEMBERS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is CalPERS solvent?
As of June 30, 2007, we had an overall funding ratio of more than 90 percent for state, local public agency, and school retirement plans. The funding ratio is the market value of assets in the fund to the liabilities for each retirement plan. Anything over 90 percent is considered excellent for pension funds, and funding in the 80 percentile or higher range is considered good.
Investment income pays about 75 cents of every pension dollar. The other 25 cents are from contributions of active employees and their taxpayer - supported employer agencies. Sometimes our market assets decline, as they did during the last recession and in the 2007 - 08 fiscal year, when the Fund declines by 2.6 percent. In the four previous years, we had annual gains in the double digit percentiles, including 19.1 percent in 2006 - 07.
Should retirees be concerned about their pension checks?
No, they are guaranteed by law.
Is retirement still going to last me the rest of my life?
Yes, your retirement benefits are secured by law.
Is CalPERS backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)?
No. The FDIC, a U.S. government corporation, provides deposit insurance that guarantees the safety of checking and savings deposits in member banks, currently up to $100,000 per depositor per bank, and recently increased under federal law to $250,000.
Will the economy affect my CalPERS health benefits?
No. The Health Benefits Program is separate from the CalPERS Public Employees' Retirement Fund and is financed from payments made by employers and members.
Information provided by CalPERS, dated Oct. 2008. For more information on how pension funds cope with market crises visit www.nasra.org/resources. For more information on CalPERS visit www.calpers.ca.gov.
February 1, 2009
SHIFT CHANGE: What’s in a Name? Defining APA - And How It Can Hurt You
by Louie Adame, CCPOA Rank & File VP, Youth Division
With few exceptions, every state agency is required to adopt regulations using the processes established in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The Supreme Court made this a mandatory requirement back in 1978, so it should be Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by now. But it's not.
Today's CDCR and DPA administrations are continually changing policies and rules that govern Unit Six members' work sites in order to satisfy federal court mandates - and all too often, these agencies are failing to comply with APA.
However, if a rule looks like a regulation, reads like a regulation, and acts like a regulation, guess what? The courts will treat it as a regulation - whether or not the issuing agency so labeled it. In short, Temporary Department Orders (TDOs) are really underground regulations. And while there is a process for formally challenging these regulations, it often doesn't happen in time to keep you from being caught in the middle between two potentially contradictory policies.
For this reason, all Unit Six members MUST be aware of - and question as necessary - every policy change issued by wardens and superintendents.
You need to keep every memo and written document. If it's a verbal directive, write it down. Any time you are told to follow a procedure that is different from what you were originally told or taught, take note. It will more often than not come back to bite you in the you-know-what.
Operations within CDCR and DPA are in a state of constant confusion, especially right now. Every Unit Six member should be mindful of every new policy or procedural change management issue - every week and at every institution. This is your best protection should your conduct be questioned.
If and when you are accused of any wrongdoing, you need to have sufficient backup to support the procedure you were following. If not, adverse action leading up to and including termination is likely to follow. So be careful, ask questions, and keep notes on these policy changes.
You will be held accountable by CDCR managers. The Department will not support you or your family. We all have to watch out for ourselves. And remember, everyone here at CCPOA has your back.
February 1, 2009
Rooting Out the Evil: The Holman Group Offers Tips on Dealing with Financial Stress
If money is the root of all evil, then surely today's economic picture is the stuff of horror movies. Every day in the news we see headlines about companies failing or ordering massive layoffs, and families losing their homes to foreclosure. Many of us are helplessly watching as our home values decrease and our retirement plans falter.
According to a recent Gallup Poll*, 40 percent of Americans say this is the biggest economic crisis they have seen in their lifetimes - which tells you how many of us are affected by the recent downturn in the economy. (*The Behavioral Economy, Sept. 24, 2008.)
It is no wonder, then, that in a recent survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 75 percent of respondents said they are stressed about money.
But stressing out about money is not helpful - or healthy. In fact, it can make matters worse. Anxiety and panic decrease a person's ability to make good decisions and take effective action. It is important during stressful times like these to maintain perspective and remain calm. Easier said than done? Maybe, but following these tips on maintaining a healthy perspective will keep useless anxiety at bay.
- First of all, turn off the news. Limit the time you spend watching daily newscasts and reading the paper. Certainly, it is important to stay informed, but pouring over one depressing news story after another is not helpful. It only heightens a sense of anxiety and helplessness. Excessive anxiety and worry can also lead to relationship problems. You don't want to add marital problems to your list of worries.
- Be sure to keep your perspective. Although our country is currently in an economic crisis, remember that our economy has always gone through ups and downs, good times and bad times. This, too, shall pass.
- Then, address the things that are in your control. Though we cannot control what Wall Street does, the federal government's massive corporate bailouts, or how many companies stay in business and which ones fold, we can definitely control our personal finances. Which means we can limit the amount of money we spend on entertainment, new clothes, and vacations. We can also talk with a financial advisor to make sure we're taking all precautions necessary to protect our assets.
- And stop focusing on the negative. Our thoughts influence our feelings, so if our thoughts are negative, our feelings will also be negative. People who consistently indulge in negative thought patterns are more prone to depression, stress, anxiety disorders, and relationship difficulties.
- Above all, maintain an optimistic attitude. Rather than constantly worrying about all that is going wrong, think about all that is good in your life. Keeping a gratitude journal can help with this process. These few tips are simple, but not necessarily easy to accomplish. If you are experiencing stress about financial matters, don't despair.
CCPOA has established a contract with The Holman Group to provide a confidential Employee Assistance Program and counseling services for CCPOA supervisory members (For SO6 and MO6 members. This is a 10 - visit per problem per year benefit.)
Holman's services also include legal and financial counseling. EAP sessions are free to you and your family, and if you need to talk with a financial advisor, a 60 - minute phone consultation is available at no additional charge.
The Holman Group counselors can help you deal with the stress you may be experiencing due to money issues, while the financial consultant can help you review your budget and create an action plan to get you back on the right footing. You don't need to handle the situation alone. Holman can help. To schedule a counseling appointment or to speak with a financial consultant call The Holman Group at (800) 321 - 2843.
February 1, 2009
Successful Good Cause Hearings: Preparation is Key
by Paul Wenning, Chapter President, Pelican Bay State Prison
On a beautifully sunny day in Crescent City, Pelican Bay State Prison hosted what I think might be the first Good Cause Hearing (GCH) for a retired peace officer to carry a concealed weapon at our institution.
For confidentiality purposes, we'll call our plaintiff "Gerald." This type of hearing requires a panel of three: one chosen by the employee, one chosen by the state, and the third must be mutually agreed upon by both the employee and the state. Also, the third person must be a peace officer of a management position from the local area. It cannot be a rank and file officer. Our neutral party, "Bob" is a Del Norte County Sheriff's deputy.
The hearing panel is chosen and a meeting has been scheduled. We met in the warden's conference room where Gerald and witnesses were present, the staff from the Emergency Operations Unit (EOU) were present, and the Pelican Bay manager presenting the case was present. We made ourselves as comfortable as we could and began the proceedings.
It should be noted here that it took a long time for Gerald to have this day in court. So long, in fact, that the Department had changed the procedure relating to the process for appealing a rejection for a retired peace officer to carry a concealed weapon. That was the first obstacle to overcome. EOU wanted to follow the new rules and Gerald made it a point for them to follow the rules that were in place when he initially filed the request. That was the right thing to do.
The proceedings similarly followed a State Personnel Board hearing process. Ground rules were explained and it was up to the panel members to decide what to hear or not hear in relationship to evidence. The state made their case and then Gerald made his case.
The state didn't take long at all in presenting their case. But Gerald? Wow! Three hours! I was told that it was one of the longest good cause hearings to date. Gerald is thorough, I'll say that. He had all the details necessary to counter the state's case.
After the presentations, the panel members then deliberated the issue. During deliberations, the panel and the EOU facilitator are the only people in the room. This is significant. When preparing for the hearing, Gerald has the right to have a representative assist in presenting his case. It can be a CCPOA job steward, an attorney, or a spouse, parent or sister. I mention the significance because the strategy chosen by Gerald was a very smart move. He decided that I, as his job steward, would not assist him in presenting his case, but instead chose me to be a panel hearing member. Remember, there are three votes. What I did was assist the third panel member, neutral Bob, in making an informed decision. Before our deliberation, Bob recognized that he might be a swing vote, and therefore understood that he was caught up in our prison and labor-relations politics.
I must mention here that the EOU facilitator, we'll call him Dan, did a good job at explaining the process to everyone in the room, including observers. He appeared impartial as best he could. There was a lengthy discussion regarding a particular manager whom I shall not name. Though not required to answer an inquiry by Bob, Dan did so with honesty. Although it took Gerald a long to time to get Dan to schedule this hearing, he did a fair job as facilitator.
Please note that if the evidence presented to me during the hearing gave me cause for concern about the person requesting the right to carry a concealed weapon, if I thought that the person may use a weapon in poor judgment, harming or killing someone, I certainly would not vote for him to have the right to carry a concealed weapon. The decision is a big one, and was not made easily or lightly. Nor was my decision based on the fact that Gerald is a CCPOA member.
Neutral panel member Bob asked numerous questions of us during the closed-door deliberation. He made numerous observations of Gerald. He stated that if Gerald had applied to their office for a CCW permit as a non-peace officer, he saw no reason to deny the request. Bob also stated, "My mind can be changed by a show of evidence to the contrary." It was at that point that I positioned myself so Bob could have a clear view of the panel member selected by the state. That individual, High Desert State Prison Associate Warden Tom Perez, stated, "I have no further argument to present, I have nothing to add."
I contacted Bob the day after the hearing to get a better understanding for how he felt about the decision he had made, being the swing vote. We again talked about the fact that the state's chosen panel member did not say a whole lot and did not do much to change the mind of the swing vote. Bob told me he was very disappointed that the manager did not have a mind of his own, that Perez was clearly there to vote management's vote.
To summarize the hearing strategy: it may be better to have a competent representative on the panel, not as your representative for the hearing. If you can present your case in a thorough, well outlined manner, then have a representative on the panel. There are going to be more hearings like this one. Our classification will see more retirees in the near future than ever before. And we will undoubtedly be denied the right to carry a concealed weapon.
I understand that Gerald is giving me a lot of credit for the outcome of his hearing. I appreciate the compliment, but it was a team effort. Gerald presented his case in a thorough manner. He kept all of the documentation needed to win his case. Maybe we could get Gerald to help others in similar circumstances.
February 1, 2009
RESPONSE TIME
Thank you to everyone for all the concern, love and support that I received last year after the incident on April 3. I especially appreciated the housing and monetary help so graciously extended to my family members during my hospitalization. Your generosity went above and beyond anything we could have ever expected or imagined. I was amazed - and still am - at how our correctional family responded throughout my ordeal with kindness, support and the quick response from all over the state. We will never, ever forget it.
Enjoy your loved ones because you just never know when they or you may not be there! My family and I want you to know our thoughts and prayers are always with you during these trying times with all the recent staff assaults. Keep watching each other's back so that we can all go home safely. We really do work the toughest beat in the state.
Sgt. U.R. Silva
California Correctional Institution
Editor's note: Sgt. Silva sustained numerous stab wounds when two inmates rushed staff in a program office on the maximum security, general population yard, attacking staff with inmate-manufactured weapons. Four officers were injured in the assault.
We appreciate the high end, glossy, full of photos, expensive calendar that you send out every year (we received it Jan. 29, 2009).
What we do not appreciate is that you send them out so late, it's too late. Most well-organized people purchase the following year's calendar in November at the latest.
So, I would bet that 90 percent of your beautiful calendars end up in the trash cans, filling our dumps! I almost feel insulted by your lack of planning and your ridiculous waste of our hard-earned wage contributions. Please do it right or don't do it at all. Thank you for your consideration.
- The Stearns Family
Editor's note: Thank you for your honest comments. I am sorry to hear that you think the calendar was a waste of time and money, because I can assure you that the people in this office who worked so hard on that project for many weeks never intended the gesture to be received in that way. Innocently enough, as we began the calendar project (our large wall calendars are typically 13-month calendars) we simply miscalculated the time it would take to contact, schedule meetings, and interview the members you see profiled in the calendar pages - and that's not counting the time it takes to gather photos and write and edit the information. Then, there's the time in production... The simple answer, I suppose, is to begin the calendar project earlier in the year. That will surely be a top priority around here. But before you go dumping the unwanted calendar in the trash, please think instead about donating it to someone who may not be as organized as you.
In fact, many a January I've stood in line at Office Depot, day planners and erasable wall calendars in hand, right alongside people with the same purchases, so I know I'm not alone. Perhaps you could instead donate your calendar to your doctor's office, your hair salon, the local YMCA or elementary school? Better that than the landfill. Again, thanks for writing to let us know how you feel. We're always glad to hear from members.
February 1, 2009
California Pens
Information about incidents and assaults across California. This information is available in the PeaceKeeper each month, and is updated as-received online as well. You can also read about nationwide correctional issues and news in CCPOA's online news blog.
September 1, 2008
FROM THE EDITOR
Right about this time each year employees at 755 Riverpoint Drive begin to feel an upsurge in teamwork. The phones are ringing more frequently, copy machines shift into overdrive, and computers and printers hum along a little louder, a little longer. It is the annual workload slam before the yearly CCPOA convention. As the Olympic games in Beijing were wrapping up, it seemed to signal a call to action around these parts, as convention preparations-and there are a boatload of them-took center stage and our hands and minds began to work overtime.
Ahhh, I love the smell of camaraderie in the air. Convention is here and soon we'll mingle again with old friends, meet new chapter members, rally together to ease frustration and find solutions, and come away invigorated to address the tasks before us-tuned in and turned on with a freshly-renewed sense of purpose.
That is, after all, the reason for the season, is it not? To convene, or hold a convention, is to gather as many involved parties as you can in one room and take care of the business at hand. To participate in a convention or conference is to commit to a bigger picture than you are used to. Imagine a sports team as one by one each member places an outstretched arm in a circle, hand over hand, signaling to the rest of the world that we are one, we are strong, we are in it to win it.
That's what a CCPOA convention is all about-with its educational training seminars, social get-togethers, and state-of-the-union reports. And this year is no different than others-though, admittedly, this convention does come at a time when the Association is facing a unique crossroads of sorts. Working without a contract is not a new dilemma for the members of Unit Six-remember 1995 through 1998? But even our staunchest supporters agree these are some of the toughest times for those who work the toughest beat in the state. Never before in the history of the little union that could has the journey before us seemed so daunting.
But as members and delegates come together in Las Vegas, they'll focus once again on fixing what is wrong within the profession, on improving the safety of the workplace for CCPOA members, on getting the best contract for the men and women of Unit Six-one that is worthy of the difficult and dangerous function they perform in California law enforcement.
Despite an employer who refuses to recognize the vital role correctional peace officers play in maintaining public safety, and despite the disrespect and dismissal from the Schwarzenegger administration, there's no doubt this union will achieve its goals. This Association was built on a unique struggle that no other state bargaining unit has had to endure. Many years ago when former Assemblyman Dave Elder first coined the phrase "the toughest beat in the state" to his fellow legislators on the Assembly floor, who could have known that this union would still be fighting many of the same battles today?
As underdogs then and now, we all must pull from the CCPOA archives the resolve that got us through the last time we hit a rough patch - and the time before that, and the time before that. We must channel the fighting spirit of those who built the foundation, those who endured the indignity of all who originally scoffed at the Unit Six forefathers. We'll maneuver through the same old sea of bitterness and loathing, past the grinning pirates determined to take down our ship-and others like it.
Set your compasses, everyone... Second star to the right and straight on till morning.
September 1, 2008
From the President
by Mike Jimenez, California Correctional Peace Officers Association
TOTAL RECALL
Much like his 1990 movie, Total Recall, which left many viewers confused and unsatisfied, the compromising leadership of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has left Californians feeling betrayed and empty - especially the membership of CCPOA.
When he swept into office, Schwarzenegger made promise after promise to "tear up the credit cards" and "blow up the boxes" to balance the state budget and reform government at every level. Instead, his fiscal mismanagement has made it about $14 billion worse. In addition to that, he tried to balance the budget on the backs of his state workers by denying them a fair wage.
When Schwarzenegger decided to exempt many public safety workers from his plan to reduce salaries to minimum wage, correctiona peace officers were nowhere on his list. The Department of Fish and Game was on the list, so was something called the Department of Spillage, and all personnel of the California Highway Patrol - including dispatchers and janitors - were exempt from the pay cut order. Nowhere on that list were the hardworking men and women of Corrections.
Our members have been working without a contract for two years. During this time, because of the governor's total mismanagement of the state's prison system, our members have been forced to work thousands of hours of overtime and have seen assaults against officers escalate to 10 per day due to staff shortages and prison overcrowding.
We've tried repeatedly to negotiate with Schwarzenegger, but he obviously can't be trusted. We've offered again and again to help reform the prison system to reduce costs and overcrowding - but he refuses to talk with us. Enough is enough.
In Hollywood, if you don't like the way a scene is played out, you can do it over again and again until you get it right. Well, this is no sound stage, governor. There's no film crew here, and California's hardworking taxpayers don't have the luxury of waiting around until you get it right.
Can you say Total Recall? Get ready for the ride of your life, governor.
September 1, 2008
COVER STORY: CROSSROADS Recalling Our Roots and Moving Forward
by Patti Sewall
Sir Winston Churchill once said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
For CCPOA, success surely is not final, as each new obstacle becomes a goal to be achieved, and failure is hardly fatal, as this organization knows only too well. And, certainly, CCPOA members wouldn't be where they are today without the courage to continue.
In 1957 CCPOA was born out of a need for respect- not a desire for more money. The Association was formed by a handful of San Quentin State Prison guards, concerned peace officers who had grown weary of the uncaring attitude of an employer that refused to recognize- then as now- the dangers of the job and the courage it takes to do the job.
Through the years, CCPOA and its membership have taken untold jabs and hits as they continued on in their pursuit of an improved profession, learning to work their way around an apathetic and unraveling management, and a suspicious and unfamiliar state Legislature. For more than 50 years now, CCPOA has delivered on a promise to enhance the profession and the lives of those who choose it.
The road hasn't been easy, and we've certainly made a few enemies along the way, contrary to the opinions of some ill-informed bloggers who imagine the organization riding along in someone's back pocket. But the journey that began as necessary and inevitable is still a long and winding road ahead of us with no final destination in sight.
Defending the Badge of Honor
In a recent Sacramento Bee edition, the editor wrote, "Those of us who believe the core of journalism is truth-telling also recognize that assumptions and biases can get in the way of that quest." While such an acknowledgment is long past due this Association, it isn't a retraction, and it doesn't right the wrongs or clear the slates.
Over the years, CCPOA has found mainstream media reluctant to provide the public with all the facts behind the corrections profession- including the many and varied community contributions of its officers, as well as the violent, life-threatening inmate assaults on officers that are commonplace in California prisons today. Therefore, the Association has invested much on critically timed marketing tools aimed at educating the public through various advertisements describing the job and the dangers that go with it.
In offering the complete story about corrections, we've introduced the public to the unappetizing details of a gassing attack, the dire what-ifs of the ticking time bomb that is an overcrowded prison, and the forbidding potential- and sheer idiocy- of a severely understaffed institution. We've informed the public about the harsh reality of a deadly inmate attack, and the unthinkable horror of a sudden inmate uprising 200 strong.
To help solve the state's chronic budget woes, we've researched and produced major cost-saving reports for the state Legislature, only to have them all but ignored and tossed aside; and to try and close the media's gaping hole between theory and truth, we've produced fact sheet after fact sheet detailing our history, the responsibilities of the job, and the major role our members play in maintaining public safety in California.
Our award-winning videos and documentaries detailing what it's really like behind the walls of a state prison are riveting and have helped raise awareness to the nature of the job and the inherent dangers that surround this unique area of law enforcement.
With titles such as, Blood Sport and Inside Corcoran: Where Hell Begins, you can rest assured CCPOA hasn't sugarcoated the grim realities of what it's like working in a prison today. Clearly, the dangers of the job are the heart-stopping truths behind the job.
CCPOA's series of documentaries, California Prisons Under Pressure expertly examined from all sides the controversial and complex issues surrounding the state's prison system today, including the overcrowding crisis, recidivism and rehabilitation, and early release.
Unfortunately, some individuals still don't comprehend the realities of working in a prison environment, or recognize the major contributions made by those brave enough to do it.
Enemy of the State
No one could argue that this organization has encountered more than its share of obstacles. But with those obstacles, we've also earned milestones, and we've seen goals achieved and things change for the better within the profession. Working to improve the application process and training for correctional peace officers has resulted in a safer correctional environment for all.
We've had defining moments: finally getting state legislators to recognize our members' need for a better retirement, and we've had major disappointments: the current bogus last, best and final offer from the state- a move that reeks more of strategic politics than of bona fide, good-faith bargaining.
"I hold CCPOA in the highest esteem, as do many law enforcement leaders across this state," said Wayne Quint, president of California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations (CCLEA). "What they are going through is historical and unprecedented.
They can cave, forget about their responsibilities to their members, or they can fight for their members," he stated. "These guys are working in undesirable locations with undesirable people. It takes a special person to do that," Quint added. "I know because as a deputy sheriff I worked in county jails and I can't imagine having to do that my whole career. This is a tough time, but if the membership of CCPOA stays unified, they will get a good contract, they will get the respect they deserve."
If there's one thing this organization knows, it's how to bounce back. We know how and when to continue on to the next item on the agenda, the next obstacle to clear, the next success to celebrate. A goal without a plan is just a wish, as the saying goes.
As it was many years ago with the five or six officers from San Quentin, so it is today: this union representing dedicated peace officers is committed to continued enhancement of the profession. That means working diligently to ensure the work environment is healthy and safe for the brave men and women who dutifully and daily keep society's worst from the law abiding public.
It also means doing what is necessary to ensure that these officers are treated with the same administrative respect granted other public safety officers in this state - an uphill, ongoing battle that unfortunately must be fought each day. Winston Churchill also said, "If you're going through hell, keep going."
As the familiar flames of contempt and conspiracy whip up around us, CCPOA will simply adjust its compass at this new crossroads and continue on - with courage and confidence.
September 1, 2008
RESPONSE TIME
I am writing this letter to express my appreciation and admiration for the officers who man the west visiting center at Patton State Hospital. I observed a high degree of professionalism, courtesy and compassion from almost every officer that was assigned to that section for the last two and one half years that my daughter was a patient there.
In particular, Officers DeLeon, Sandoval, Martinez, Freeman and Wolf, who were there most of the time we visited my daughter. the other officers were also very professional and courteous, but I did not see them enough to remember all their names. All of their treatment of the patients and visitors alike was always done professionally and courteously.
Most of the time, the visiting center CDCR staff would come out and let the visitors know that the hospital staff was not there to allow visiting with children on Saturday afternoon. Hospital staff needs to show the same level of professionalism.
I felt compelled to write this letter because I am a retired military policeman and a former San Diego Police Reserve officer. While in those capacities, I have observed and at times been guilty of less than courteous treatment of prisoners, inmates or detainees, whatever classification they are.
Again, bravo, job well done and keep up the good work.
Daniel E. Hayden
After reading Response Time in the July/August 2008 issue, and the sorry performance by the sergeants or above who forgot they were once correctional officers, I would like to tell Jim Stockman and others who experience hazardous waste contamination... hit the fire alarm, call the watch and tell them you are ill and demand you be taken to the local emergency room for haz-mat decontamination.
The fire department is duty bound and statute bound to handle all cases of haz-mat contamination. I am not a lawyer, but haz-mat contamination includes hazardous infectious bodily fluids and other dangerous materials that can be found on lists at Cal-OSHA or a fire department.
The officers involved should file a Cal-OSHA complaint and have follow-up monitoring by their doctors in case of an incident of a disease down the road.
Remember CCPOA members, since CDCR is not answering or is stonewalling the administrative process, we can then file small claims, regular lawsuits on behalf of our members who have exhausted the administrative process. Small claims filings are simple and can be taught at union meetings. I believe CDCR will love to tell the public and the judge why the Department is not providing good health protection to the employees of CDCR.
I don't know the limit in small claims, but I bet an entire new uniform and gear can be bought with the judgment monies.
John Sanchez
Retired C.O.
Boxed Item:
Well, that's karma for you... In my column in our last issue, I wrote about our local newspaper, The Sacramento Bee, and of some recent statements they made about their journalistic role in Sacramento and the state. In my fervor to challenge a few of those statements, I misspelled the name of the Bee editor! For the record, the correct spelling is Melanie Sill. My apologies to her. I regret the error - especially since I realized it at about 3 a.m. during the night of the day the publication went on press. Isn't that always the way? - Editor.
September 1, 2008
IN MEMORIAM: John F. Fratis, Jr.
Longtime CCPOA member John Fratis passed away on Saturday, March 29, about one month after suffering a stroke. He was 82.
John spent 27 years as a correctional peace officer at Folsom State Prison, where he also spent his childhood. In 1929, when John Jr. was just a toddler, John Sr., moved his family onto prison grounds when he took a job operating the prison's hydroelectric plant. After four years in the Navy, John Jr. came back to Folsom State Prison as a correctional officer. The memorabilia John collected over the years helped him open the Folsom Prison Museum when he retired as a sergeant in 1980. In his retirement, John also served as president of CCPOA's Retired Chapter.
John's interests and talents were many. He was an accomplished singer, performing on radio as early as age 9, and was a drummer and a singer in a big band for about 30 years. He was active in many civic groups, including the Lions Club, the Moose Lodge, the Elks Club, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
John was one of the proudest men I've ever known. He was a dedicated husband and father, and spoke long and lovingly of his family often. He took much pride in being a correctional peace officer, and carried that pride and work ethic with him when he came to work with us at CCPOA headquarters.
As CCPOA political facilitator, John was always ready and willing to lend a hand with a project, or run to the Capitol to pick up a photo, or pitch in to stuff envelopes. He was well respected by people in all walks of life, and was as comfortable standing next to celebrities and high level politicians as he was his fellow officers.
John is survived by his daughters, Nancy and Diane, three grandchildren, and his lovely wife of 63 years, Lily. John and Lily always made such a dapper, striking couple wherever they went, and the love they had for each other was obvious with just one glance.
John had a wonderfully devilish sense of humor and a great appreciation for the fun and funny things in life. He is sorely missed.
- Editor
September 1, 2008
LABOR: Check Please! Sorting Through the State’s Overtime Meal Reimbursement Process
by Steve Weiss, CCPOA Chief of Labor, West Sacramento
On April 18, 2008, CCPOA received a notice from CDCR's Office of Labor Relations announcing the Department's intent to automate the overtime meal allowance process. We answered the notice seeking to set dates to negotiate the impact of the proposed change.
Two meetings were held, the first on June 17 and the second on July 24, 2008. The state's representatives described the new process as affecting only correctional peace officers whose work schedules are captured by PPAS (automated). All others who turn in manual CDCR 998s or 634s will not be affected by this change.
We also learned that inherent to the automated overtime meal compensation process, there will be no option for immediate issuance of a meal ticket so a hot meal can be purchased during the overtime shift worked. In fact, the meal allowance check cannot be issued until the pay period following the period when the overtime is paid - approximately two months from the date earned.
Although the state's representatives insisted that they planned to have the system in place during the month of August of this year, they also acknowledged this could not be done everywhere. It is still unknown which facilities, if any, were operational by their self-imposed deadline and which were not. If you have outstanding meal tickets from the current fiscal year (July 2008 - June 2009), we were assured they will be honored in accordance with your facility's current practice through the end of this fiscal year. In other words, the check may be in the mail.
In principle, CCPOA is not necessarily opposed to automating the process for overtime meal reimbursement. There are issues with respect to a Unit Six member's ability to actually acquire a meal during the affected shift and the same day issuance of the ticket. Also, in view of the status of the state's Implemented Terms and the absence of an Entire Agreement clause, it was felt that the appropriate place to have this discussion and to reach an agreement was during main table negotiations. Obviously, these talks were not a main table and since there is no apparent urgency to implement this plan, we requested that they defer implementation until after an agreement is reached in the appropriate forum.
The state's chief negotiator (erroneously) concluded negotiations stating, "No impact regarding the above mentioned implementation exists and I will consider this matter closed." Clearly, there is impact and just as clearly the state recognizes it. After all, they proposed to change their own Implemented Terms in order to mitigate it.
The saga continues. Stay tuned.
September 1, 2008
Jose Rivera: Soldier, Correctional Officer, Hero
By Patti Sewall
Photos by Perry Speth, CCPOA State Secretary
A federal correctional peace officer who survived two tours of duty in Iraq was stabbed to death June 20 by two inmates wielding a handmade weapon that reportedly resembled an ice pick.
Jose Rivera, a 22-year-old Navy veteran, had been working at the US. Penitentiary in Atwater for less than a year when he was killed by inmates already serving life sentences for earlier crimes. According to a report in The Modesto Bee, both inmates were transferred off the island of Guam because of their violent behavior at a prison there.
As tragic as the incident was, Rivera's killing may have a positive impact for correctional officers everywhere as it has prompted a national campaign to overhaul the safety policies in the federal prison system, beginning with stab-resistant vests for officers.
On July 10, USA TODAY ran a full-page advertisement that included a photo of Rivera and an open letter from his family. The heartfelt message was paid for by the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents federal correctional officers.
"Jose was taken from us because of the situation inside federal prisons today," read the ad. "Overcrowding, underfunding, and depriving our officers of the tools they need to defend themselves will only lead to more violence and more lives lost," the ad continued.
In a congressional tribute to Rivera, California Congressman Dennis Cardoza reported that Atwater Penitentiary is operating at 85 percent staffing level, while its population level is 25 percent over capacity.
According to a report in the Merced Sun Star, Officer Rivera was alone with more than 100 inmates when he was attacked - a standard inmate-to-officer ratio inside federal prison housing units, say correctional officers. For quite some time, AFGE has been calling for more funding to increase staffing in federal prisons and reforms that would make vests and nonlethal weapons, such as batons and Tasers, standard equipment for officers. It looks like that might just happen.
According to news reports, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which oversees the Atwater facility, signed a contract in late August to buy stabresistant vests for all federal correctional officers who want them, and officers were measured for the custom-fit vests the following week. The vests were to arrive within six weeks.
Officer Rivera was laid to rest in Merced, California, on June 27. Correctional peace officers from all over the nation attended the services, as did U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Thankfully for the correctional peace officers nationwide who continue to work that dangerous job, Rivera's death has brought a closer look by authorities and the public at the safety policies at all correctional facilities - local, state, and federal.
Though he was young, Rivera was a courageous soldier and correctional officer. And with policy changes on the way for the correctional officer brothers and sisters he left behind, his grief-stricken family may find some meaning in his death.
September 1, 2008
Benefit Trust: The CCPOA Medical Plan Advantage
State of the Art and Affordable
The Benefit Trust has CCPOA members covered with a great health program: the CCPOA Medical Plan. Built specifically to meet your needs, the CCPOA Medical Plan provides all the rich benefits you deserve along with access to the largest HMO provider network available, including the Sutter Health System. And, the plan is offered at a competitive price.
Don't allow yourself to get confused during this open enrollment period. Look for the towers at your open enrollment fair to ensure you sign-up with the plan that has you covered. Though our plan is serviced by Blue Shield of California, it is separate and distinct from the CalPERS Blue Shield offerings.
The Advantages of CCPOA Membership
If you're a full member of Bargaining Unit Six, now's the perfect time to join so that you don't miss out on the benefits the CCPOA Medical Plan has to offer you and your family. Just call the Benefit Trust at (800) IN-UNIT-6 for assistance.
The CCPOA Medical Plan Provides:
- The largest HMO provider network available.
- Coverage in many rural service areas, including Imperial, Butte, Glenn, Mariposa, San Luis Obispo and Riverside counties.
- Regionally rated, competitive rates.
- Chiropractic and mental health benefits for a $15 copayment.
- Additional wellness tools and resources through blueshieldca.com to help you get the most from your benefits.
- Dedicated member services staff specifically trained on CCPOA benefits.
New for 2009!
- Preventative visits are now $0 copay.
- An additional 20 visits for outpatient mental health.
- Weight Watchers® - Members enjoy a wide range of savings to help them lose those extra pounds and maintain a healthy weight.
- 24-Hour Fitness - To help you get and stay fit members receive significantly discounted rates on initiation and processing fees, and monthly dues (exact rates may vary by location).
- Provider Performance Profile: We're making it easier for you to choose the care best for you. Introducing our online Find a Provider Performance Profile at blueshieldca.com with access to: quality, efficiency indicator, and patient satisfaction scores for HMO Medical Groups, and quality, patient satisfaction, and efficiency scores for hospitals.
More Providers
We offer the largest HMO provider network available with the Access+ HMOÆ network of more than 33,000 physicians and 289 hospitals. Unlike the Blue Shield plan offered through CalPERS, the CCPOA Medical Plan provides access to the Sutter Health System.
Self-Referral to Specialists
Our Access+Specialist option allows you to visit a specialist within your personal physician's participating medical group or IPA without a referral for a slightly higher copayment.
Service and Support - At Your Fingertips, At Your Convenience
Blueshieldca.com is your online resource for health and benefit information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether you want to find a doctor, email a service representative, or learn more about plan benefits, treatment options, prescription drugs or wellness programs, blueshieldca.com can help you better manage your health and your health plan, such as through the following benefits:
NurseHelp 24/7
Talk by phone to a registered nurse anytime day or night to get answers to your health related questions for no added charge.
LifeReferrals 24/7
For personal issues like relationship problems and grief, you can talk to trained counselors and set up face-to-face sessions with licensed therapists. If you have legal or financial questions, you can consult with an attorney or financial professional.
All services are confidential and available at no extra cost.
Healthy Lifestyle Rewards
An online interactive resource to help you build healthy habits. What could be better? How about earning $200 just for participating?
Prescriptions by mail
If you are taking a medication for a chronic condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure on an ongoing basis and your dosage is stable, use the PrimeMail mail service pharmacy to have a 60- or 90-day supply mailed to you. You may save on your copayments and there is no charge for shipping.
Discount programs
Members save 25 percent or more on these wellness services from participating practitioners:
- Acupuncture services/Examinations, acupuncture or electro-acupuncture, adjunctive therapeutic procedures and more.
- Massage therapy - Swedish, deep-muscle and deep-tissue massage.
Coverage for students
Away From Home Care® offers plan members who are long-term travelers, students and families living apart with full HMO benefits using your CCPOA Medical Plan member ID card. Eligibility is applicable to you, your spouse and your dependents who are away from home for at least 90 days, but not more than 180 days. There is no additional charge to you. The program is not available in all states and host plan benefits may differ from your CCPOA Medical Plan benefits.
Easy Enrollment
If you are already a CCPOA Medical Plan member, you do not need to do anything to keep your same benefits and current physician.
If you are not a CCPOA Medical Plan member and would like to enroll, you will need to submit a health plan enrollment form (HBD-12) to your personnel specialist during open enrollment from Sept. 15, 2008, to Oct. 10, 2008. The form is available from your personnel department, or you can download it online from CalPERS.
Remember, the CCPOA Medical Plan is not the same as the CalPERS Blue Shield plan. You can select the CCPOA Medical Plan by entering the appropriate CCPOA Plan Code shown below. Choose the plan code based on your region and whether you need oneparty, two-party, or family coverage. The CCPOA Medical Plan is available only to CCPOA members.
CCPOA North
Employee Only: Plan Code 2561
Employee Plus 1 dependent: Plan Code 2562
Employee Plus 2 or more dependents: Plan Code 2563
CCPOA South
Employee Only: Plan Code 2661
Employee Plus 1 dependent: Plan Code 2662
Employee Plus 2 or more dependents: Plan Code 2663
We've Got You Covered
If you have any questions regarding your CCPOA Medical Plan, call our dedicated Blue Shield Member Services representatives at (800) 257-6213 or the CCPOA Benefit Trust at (800) IN-UNIT-6.
September 1, 2008
Taking Off the Uniform: Understanding Command Presence and How it Can Affect Your Family
By Ron Holman, PH.D.
Working in the correctional system changes a person. It also changes a person's family. Wives, husbands, and children are all impacted by having a family member employed at a correctional facility. And these changes are all-encompassing, affecting the behavior, attitude, and thought process of correctional peace officers, supervisors, prison doctors, nurses, and psychologists, and all prison personnel and their families.
The process of change begins in basic training, when prison staff learn to develop an Us vs. Them mentality. Prison staff learn to stick together and behave in a certain fashion because inmates cannot be trusted and can be violent. This attitude is solidified throughout the officer's career.
In the initial training, the officer learns to hide emotions and to put on a prison guard persona. The purpose of this persona is to keep order and to keep the officer safe on the job. This persona is referred to as a command presence. The longer a person works in corrections, the more pervasive and ingrained the command presence becomes. Over time, this persona becomes like a second layer of skin; the officer goes everywhere with it. At work this can be a lifesaver, but at home it can be cumbersome and, in some cases, detrimental to the officer's health and relationships. To mitigate the negative impact of maintaining a perpetual command presence, officers must learn how to turn off this persona after hours, like taking off the uniform at the end of the day.
Though it may seem counterintuitive that the way correctional staff are trained to behave on the job can negatively impact their health, it is true. Studies have shown that a correctional officer's life span is considerably shorter than that of the general public. In fact, the average live expectancy for a correctional officer is 59 years, whereas for the general public it is 77 years. This decrease in life expectancy has been associated with the physiological changes that occur when maintaining a command presence.
For instance, when an officer is exhibiting a command presence, he must appear calm even in the face of danger, hide his feelings, be hyper-aware of everything going on in the environment, be ready to fight or flee at a moment's notice, appear detached, strong, confident, and dangerous to mess with at all times. On the job, the officer must maintain this stance even during hours of boredom, such as when inmates sleep, because at any moment the boredom could end with the attack or uprising of an inmate or inmates. This creates a physiological state in the body called the fight or flight response. Did you know that this state also emulates chronic stress?
When the body is in this state, hormone secretion increases, pupils dilate, the heartbeat quickens, blood pressure rises, glucose is released from the liver to provide energy to the muscles, the muscles become tense and ready for action, digestion is slowed, and the blood supply is diverted to the intestines. When these physiological changes occur in response to actual crises or imminent threats, they help the body respond adaptively, but when they are chronic they overtax the body and cause damage.
Some common ailments associated with a chronic fight or flight response include:
- High Blood Pressure
- Heart Disease
- Gastrointestinal Illness
- Immune Deficiency
- Adrenal System Issues
Generally, the correctional officer is unaware that this chronic state of hyper-vigilance is causing any damage because it has become habitual. On the other hand, the officer's family is often very concerned. They can see the spillover from work to home. Family members report that the officer's command presence does not disappear just because the officer is off duty. In fact, spouses describe their husbands/wives as "harder, less sensitive and more detached" than they were before becoming correctional officers. Kids often feel that their correctional officer parents treat them like they treat the inmates. For instance, they feel that the prison environment can make the parent suspicious, strict, and distant. Prison work is so intense, and maintaining the appropriate persona is so important to the officer's safety and job security that it becomes the dominant personality. Spouses worry about their mates' safety on the job, they worry about their mates' health, and they often feel a waning emotional connection to them. A decrease in emotional connection can lead to an increase in relationship problems and even divorce.
It would be wise to learn how to avoid these potential pitfalls of prison work. Correctional officers who learn how to bring command presence under conscious control are more of the exception than the norm. The idea is to learn how to turn it off when taking off the uniform at the end of the day, and how to turn it back on at the beginning of your next shift. This is not generally taught in officer training academy, a grave omission that can jeopardize the officer's health and relationships. Failure to provide such training can also harm job performance. For instance, the officer who is always in fight-or-flight mode and is never completely relaxed is more prone to burnout. As an officer begins burning out he is no longer excited about the job, tends to feel increasingly tired, dissatisfied, depressed, preoccupied, and angry. These feelings reduce the officer's effectiveness on the job and increase the officer's risk of being injured.
The first step, in learning to turn off the command presence is learning to be more aware; maybe asking oneself questions about how command presence works and when it is necessary. Spouses and family members can help with this. Observing one's body language can be an excellent way to detect a state of command presence. For instance, physical signs that an officer is in command presence may include rigid posture with eyes scanning the room. Muscles will be tense, the officer's voice will be firm, strong, and possibly harsh. Relaxing one's body stance and beginning to breathe deeply and slowly will start the process of turning off command presence. Spouses should also remind their partners to relax when they see the prison persona at home.
Other ways to take off the prison persona with the uniform include practicing relaxation techniques on a daily basis, developing hobbies, attending church, volunteering in the community, spending time doing fun things with family and friends, and diversifying one's interests beyond the prison walls. In essence, the correctional officer needs to find time to experience a kinder, gentler, safer side of society and of oneself, with the comfort of knowing that, with a moment's notice, command presence can be resumed.
Dr. Ron Holman, president and CEO of The Holman Group, will be presenting this 90 minute workshop at the upcoming CCPOA convention in Las Vegas. All correctional peace officer staff, including supervisors, rank and file, and their families, are welcome. Learning how to turn off the command presence will be discussed, and lots of useful tips will be provided and practiced.
The CCPOA Supervisory Assistance Program is a resource to assist supervisory members (S06 & M06 only) and their families in resolving issues that affect their daily lives. With the 10 free face-to-face counseling sessions with a licensed clinician, in addition to the community referrals, legal and financial resources, the program is the first step to regaining balance and improving quality of life.
To access your CCPOA Supervisory Assistance Program benefits please call (877) 505-1550.
September 1, 2008
Blowing Out the Fuse
How Our Bodies Stop Cancer Before it Starts
From the American Institute for Cancer Research
A lot of things can potentially spark the cancer process - cigarette smoke, alcohol, certain viruses and bacteria, UV radiation, and even substances found in the foods we eat.
Luckily, our bodies are equipped with specific enzymes that identify these potential cancer-sparkers and get rid of them before they can do any damage. A diet high in plant foods - such as cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale - provides compounds that help keep our anti-cancer enzymes running at peak efficiency.
Even the oxygen our bodies naturally produce as a by-product while turning food into energy can cause damage that can light the fuse. That's where antioxidants come in. These substances attach to the potentially damaging forms of oxygen called free-radicals and render them safe. Plant-rich diets supply our bodies with a combination of different antioxidants that provide protection.
But sometimes a cancer-sparker makes it through those first lines of defense. If, over time, a cell gets exposed to potential cancer sparkers repeatedly, its DNA can suffer damage that alters its set of instructions.
Think about DNA as the cell's owner's manual. Then imagine the chapter titled Only Reproduce When These Conditions Are Met is rewritten to read Reproduce Like Crazy, Whenever Possible. That's the spark that potentially leads to cancer.
The Long, Long Fuse
Next comes a long and crucial stage in cancer development when what we eat, how much we eat and how much we move seem to make the biggest difference. The fuse has been lit, but the choices we make help determine whether the fuse burns faster, slower or even gets doused completely.
Just as it can take many years for a cell to get sparked, it can take decades for sparked cells to become a tumor. Happily, most never do, because over the course of our lifetimes we get so many chances to blow out the fuse.
Some things that make the fuse burn faster:
- Excess body fat. Fat cells, especially around the waist, secrete low levels of hormones and hormone-like substances that encourage cells to grow and develop. They don't much care if the cells they're encouraging are sparked or unsparked.
- Alcohol. It can spark cancer and encourage it to grow.
- Poor nutrition. Long-term deficiencies of several basic nutrients and amino acids can cause the fuse to burn faster.
Some things that can slow the fuse down or help put it out:
- Physical activity. Being active helps the body control the levels of hormones and hormone-like substances to which cells are exposed.
- Diets high in a wide variety of plant foods.
- Good genes. Some of us inherit a set of defenses that help us resist cancer; some of us are born with less effective defenses that need all the help we can give them.
Our bodies are built to defend against cancer. With a combination of a healthy diet, physical activity and weight management, we've got plenty of opportunities to help them stop cancer before it starts.
September 1, 2008
Homeward Bound: Finding Help with the Mortgage Meltdown Crisis
By Crystal C. Virtue, ESQ., Caldwell Legal USA
A correctional officer recently called us at Caldwell Legal, USA, desperate because his variable rate mortgage payment had increased over $1,000 a month. He couldn't make the payments and was staring grimly at the loss of his home and severe damage to his credit. California remains in the top rank of those states suffering a sharp and continued increase in the number of home foreclosures. People are hurting, and most economists see no real end in sight.
If you're among the millions who can't sleep at night, worrying about saving your house and your good credit, then you should know that you don't have to walk through this fire by yourself. The CCPOA Benefit Trust automatically enrolls its active members in the CCPOA Family Legal Plan, administered by Caldwell Legal, USA. And, retiree chapter members can enroll in the CCPOA Retiree Legal Plan for only $13.99 a month.
Call Caldwell for an overview of the foreclosure process, including the timeline you're likely to face, any options you may have, such as a short sale, assumption, or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. We'll talk about ways to avoid foreclosure, including credit counseling and negotiating with creditors, and look at temporary solutions such as reinstatement and forbearance, or a more permanent solution, such as mortgage modification. Don't forget to ask for your free copy of the California Guide to Consumer Credit.
Caldwell is built on a foundation of outstanding customer service. When you call Caldwell at (800) 222-3035, or your California Legal Service Office Attorney at (800) 242-2244, you will be treated with courtesy and respect. The attorney's sole professional responsibility is to you. Free telephone advice and consultation with a lawyer is a free benefit of your CCPOA legal plan.
With the help of the Caldwell Legal Service Office, the correctional officer worried about his mortgage and credit obtained a mortgage modification which included a significant reduction in his interest rate and a change from a variable to a fixed rate - allowing him to save his house and his credit rating. Circumstances vary and perfect results can never be guaranteed, of course, but the Benefit Trust has made sure that CCPOA members have first-rate legal advice so they don't have to face their legal problems alone.
September 1, 2008
California Pens
Information about incidents and assaults across California. This information is available in the PeaceKeeper each month, and is updated as-received online as well. You can also read about nationwide correctional issues and news in CCPOA's online news section.
July 1, 2008
FROM THE EDITOR
For many officials at CCPOA, a phone call from a newspaper reporter looking for a quick quote can almost ruin an otherwise OK day. At the risk of sounding as if I'm making a sweeping generalization of the newspaper business, let's face it, CCPOA has learned the hard way over the years that Clark Kent on the other end of the line with a list of questions in one hand and a tape recorder in the other is never going to be your best friend.
And, depending on the dire incident of the moment - be it a last-minute amendment to a prison reform bill, the decision to use force during a riot, or the state imposing their version of a last, best and final offer - CCPOA has been misquoted, taken out of context, or ignored altogether.
In the interest of fair and balanced news, our officials painstakingly search for the right words, arm themselves with the most up-to-date facts and stats, clear their throats, and pick up the call. Then we either don't see anything in print or what it says isn't what we meant. And that can lead to a distorted perception and uneducated bias. Bad combination.
Our cover story this issue is an interview between CCPOA's communications chief and a longtime Sacramento Bee reporter. Perhaps through conversations like this, by demystifying both professions for all interested parties, we offer our readers a chance to form their own opinions.
Recently, The Sacramento Bee editors have been printing articles outlining their plans to overhaul or improve the longtime newspaper. In these ever-changing, high-tech times, The Bee is cutting staff and changing the look of the newspaper, while vowing to keep their readers happy through it all. In one recent Sunday edition, Bee editor Melanie Sill wrote, "Communities shape newspapers, and vice versa."
Amen to that, sister. Which begs the question: How easily does the media's perception of correctional peace officers become the public's perception of correctional peace officers? Or of anything else, for that matter. And, if there's shaping going on, to what extent is the media's responsibility to ensure the community doesn't end up with a slanted version of the truth?
Elsewhere in that Sunday edition of The Bee, I read a column by David Holwerk, the editorial page editor, who also wrote of changes to come within the pages of the improved Sacramento Bee.
"From its first edition 151 years ago, the editorial page of The Sacramento Bee has strived to be a voice for progress in Sacramento, in California and beyond. Our commitment to that is unchanged and unwavering," Holwerk wrote.
Progress, you say? Well, for me, the word progress brings forth images of someone or something moving forward, evolving, if you will. I can't see how you can help a community "progress" if you are still stuck in the "If it bleeds, it leads" mode. And if you are, in fact, responsible for shaping communities, as Editor Sills indicated, then certainly you have an obligation to show your readers that no story is one sided.
Ending his column about the upcoming changes to the paper, Holwerk wrote, "Our goal in all this is to make the opinion pages and the Forum section of The Sacramento Bee essential and compelling reading for everyone interested in making the Sacramento region and California a better place to live."
Great plan, but I don't think you accomplish that by holding on to a negative image of a collective profession, such as law enforcement, misrepresenting the whole lot of them for your readers, even those thirsty for "essential and compelling" journalism.
As we've said before in these pages, you don't do a community any good by demeaning the dangerous work of public safety officers, even if it does help you sell more newspapers in this web-based world of ours.
July 1, 2008
From the President…
As CCPOA prepares for the upcoming convention, your leadership uses the opportunity to take a look around and see where we stand, see where the organization is headed, to take stock of what roadblocks lie in our way, and to come together to figure out the best way to approach it all.
Generally speaking, we’re currently at a rough spot in the road. The lack of a contract - or any good-faith negotiations, for that matter - hasn’t done much for the morale of our members around the state. We fully recognize that.
In addition, the state’s budget-less condition, which could very well be remedied by the time most of you read these words, put another politically-charged kink in the armor when Gov. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order to, in effect, balance the budget on the backs of the state’s hardworking citizens. It’s not the first time he’s tried to throw his state employees to the wolves, and it might not be his last.
It’s long past time that CDCR and the Schwarzenegger administration gave up their adversarial attitudes and started looking at its correctional peace officers as the valued resource they are.
Until they do, we’ll keep moving forward with our members in mind. We’ve had to navigate around rough spots before, and we’ve had to reevaluate our objectives along the way. We’re convinced that CCPOA’s new set of goals, which were introduced in these pages in the last issue of Peacekeeper, will help us continue our unparalleled membership representation, and to keep the organization on track as we maintain our spirit of teamwork and our commitment to the profession.
Now is the time to focus on the future.
At CCPOA, we value the voices of our members. Their interests are our interests; their concerns are our concerns. Our mission statement has always been simple and straightforward: to enhance and protect the profession for those who choose corrections. At CCPOA we are all about going forward. We are about growth, not change.
Our enemies come out of nowhere and from all sides now as never before in the 150 year history of corrections. Defending the profession and protecting our members - from combative inmates as well as from unsupportive management - will always be our top priorities.
For now, take care and have a safe shift.As CCPOA prepares for the upcoming convention, your leadership uses the opportunity to take a look around and see where we stand, see where the organization is headed, to take stock of what roadblocks lie in our way, and to come together to figure out the best way to approach it all.
Generally speaking, we’re currently at a rough spot in the road. The lack of a contract - or any good-faith negotiations, for that matter - hasn’t done much for the morale of our members around the state. We fully recognize that.
In addition, the state’s budget-less condition, which could very well be remedied by the time most of you read these words, put another politically-charged kink in the armor when Gov. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order to, in effect, balance the budget on the backs of the state’s hardworking citizens. It’s not the first time he’s tried to throw his state employees to the wolves, and it might not be his last.
It’s long past time that CDCR and the Schwarzenegger administration gave up their adversarial attitudes and started looking at its correctional peace officers as the valued resource they are.
Until they do, we’ll keep moving forward with our members in mind. We’ve had to navigate around rough spots before, and we’ve had to reevaluate our objectives along the way. We’re convinced that CCPOA’s new set of goals, which were introduced in these pages in the last issue of Peacekeeper, will help us continue our unparalleled membership representation, and to keep the organization on track as we maintain our spirit of teamwork and our commitment to the profession.
Now is the time to focus on the future.
At CCPOA, we value the voices of our members. Their interests are our interests; their concerns are our concerns. Our mission statement has always been simple and straightforward: to enhance and protect the profession for those who choose corrections. At CCPOA we are all about going forward. We are about growth, not change.
Our enemies come out of nowhere and from all sides now as never before in the 150 year history of corrections. Defending the profession and protecting our members - from combative inmates as well as from unsupportive management - will always be our top priorities.
For now, take care and have a safe shift.
July 1, 2008
COVER STORY: Meet the Press
In our attempt to help the media better appreciate the job of correctional peace oficers, we learn a thing or two about the newspaper business.
by Lance Corcoran, CCPOA Chief of Communications
I've said it here before: It's foolish to pick a fight with folks who buy ink by the barrel. So, rather than store up our own barrels for whatever future battles we may have with the media, I thought it might be smarter to take another route. Like death and taxes, some things in life are certain. Corrections is a news maker. Corrections Department officials are news makers, as are inmates and correctional officers. And anything that happens on any day in any of our institutions is a potential news story. It just goes with the territory.
And when any news story concerning Corrections occurs, CCPOA can count on getting a phone call or two from reporters looking for a quote. And therein lies the problem. Historically, the media's been rough on CCPOA and its membership. For years we've been clamoring for the same respect the media easily gives to other law enforcement officers. Though we've seen some improvement, it may be a fight that never ends. But taking a bit of the mystery out of both professions may ease that frustration.
That said, how much do you know about the job of a news writer? Not much? I offered a local reporter a chance to sit down in our offices here in West Sacramento to get to know some of the details of his job, and to share his words with our members. At the very least, it's a step in the right direction.
I'd like to begin by thanking Sacramento Bee staff writer Andy Furillo for granting us this opportunity to get a little bit inside the head of a newspaper reporter. While Andy and I are not strangers, and have known each other on a professional level for many years, it is my hope that our conversation here will enlighten our members about the duties of a news writer, while giving the longtime reporter greater insight to the work and lives of California's correctional peace officers.
LANCE CORCORAN: Andy, how long have you been in the newspaper business and what motivated you to become a news reporter?
ANDY FURILO: I've been in the newspaper business since 1972 when I got out of high school. My dad was a newspaper guy and the whole time growing up, he was a sports writer and sports editor at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Growing up, the whole business just fascinated me. He was having a blast and a half, so I figured OK, that's what I want to do, because it looks like fun. When we were little kids, he'd take us to the paper and just the whole complete chaos of the scene in those days, we're talking the 1950s, was kind of like out of old movies. From the time I was a little kid I was always around the newspaper business and I just really liked what I saw. It looked like a lot of fun, I know my dad was having fun, he loved it.
I wasn't particularly motivated coming out of high school, and my dad told me I could get a job as a copy boy at the L.A. Herald, so I did that. I eventually ended up going to college, and there was a time when, as a poly-sci (political science) major, I was wondering, "Do I want to go into the politics business or do I want to go into the newspaper business?" And I had to make a choice.
LC: How long have you been covering the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation news, and did you have an interest in corrections or was this like any other assignment?
AF: Well, the first prison story that I ever did was at the Herald Examiner in 1981, or '82. I was on the city desk in the morning, and I used to do my reporting and writing from the city desk until about 9 a.m. or something like that because I worked the overnight, or the 5 a.m. beat. Early in the morning one day, I got a phone call from one of your people, a CCPOA person at Chino who told me about this great story where the warden had been taking a guy who was a lifer, a convicted murderer, on shopping trips to Beverly Hills. I just thought that was the funniest thing ever, so I did a story on that and it was a page one story. So I kept calling him back for more stories. Give me more, you know, that's pretty good stuff, and he gave me a few over the years. That was how I first got into it. Then I did some stories in 1983 on overcrowding–it was a huge issue then. I was still at the LA Herald and I came up to do a story out of Folsom, which I guess was very different then than it is now.
LC: Oh, yes.
AF: It was a much harder place. I went out on the yard and here I'm a newspaper reporter doing a story and the next thing you know I'm just surrounded, it was just me and there was I think the PIO and maybe about 25 inmates standing around us, yelling their story. It just struck me as being kind of exciting. It was an exciting beat, and so I do a prison story here or there, you know, some corrections-related type stories, but I didn't really start doing it as a beat until maybe '93 or '94 at The Sacramento Bee. The paper wanted everyone who was in Metro to establish a mini beat on some state governmental agency. So I was already doing cops, and I was doing general assignment stuff, and I was doing criminal stuff, and I just said, "Hey, I'll do Corrections." I just picked it up from there, and that was right about when things really started to get cracking on this beat, about '93, '94.
LC: And that sort of segues into my next question...What other areas are you generally assigned to cover?
AF: Right now, Corrections is the main thing. I'm working out of the Capitol Bureau, so I will get assigned to do other kinds of government and politicsrelated stories. But since late 2006 I'd say probably 90 percent of what I've done, maybe 95 percent, has been Corrections.
LC: You've had an opportunity to tour a number of California correctional facilities; what are your general impressions?
AF: Of the prisons?
LC: Well, how many have you toured?
AF: Oh, let me see, I'd say probably half of them.
LC: Half of them?
AF: Pelican Bay, San Quentin, High Desert, all the prisons around here. Pleasant Valley, Salinas Valley, Chino, a couple of southern San Joaquin ones.
LC: Your general impression?
AF: I think they're all kind of different. Like, I was in San Quentin Saturday and I'd been there a couple of times in the last few weeks, and my impression is if I'm going to do time, that's where I want to do it.
LC: Really?
AF: Yeah, I mean they've got a baseball team, they have a tennis court and people are playing tennis and they seem to have a lot of citizen volunteers come in from the Bay Area who are doing all these different types of classes in the prison university project. There's just a lot of non-inmate, non-sworn volunteer kind of people. So they're seeing kind of more of a cross-section of society. Like when these outside baseball teams come in, they're seeing "normal" people.
LC: I see.
AF: You know, non-institutional people and so they seem less institutionalized. Now I could be wrong on that, but that's just my general impression.
LC: Have you had an opportunity to tour prisons in other states?
AF: No.
LC: Never?
AF: No, I've never been in a prison in another state.
LC: Wow. Don't you think it would be nice to see a contrast some time?
AF: Yeah, one of these days I have to get out to one of these private prisons that work with the state of California.
LC: Are there any prisons you've toured that you dreaded going into?
AF: Well, there was a time where I found it to be very depressing going into prisons. And I'd be very depressed coming out of them.
LC: So there wasn't one individual prison?
AF: No. No, it was like I found myself becoming very depressed over just the...oh, I don't know...it's like you've said a million times, it's just such a negative environment. Negative interactions and the numbers of people that are in it, and that people can allow themselves to fall to that level of the human condition. You know, through their own behavior and that's all they're going to get out of life is just to be in prison. It's a depressing thing, so there was a time when it just kind of bummed me out to go to them. For a long time, I'd say maybe three or four years, I didn't go to any, plus I was doing other kinds of stories.
LC: I see.
AF: But now it's kind of a job when I go, but some of them are definitely different than others. Like the Level 4s. You get a much different reaction from the inmates there than you do at places like San Quentin or even Old Folsom.
LC: Do you find that geographical areas will sometimes affect that as well? You talked about the level of volunteers at San Quentin, do you see that change geographically?
AF: Yeah. It seems to me Pleasant Valley is a bleak place. It just struck me as being a very bleak place to do time or to work. I haven't been to all the southern San Joaquin Valley prisons, but places like Corcoran and Pleasant Valley just struck me as being bleak places. High Desert–bleak.
LC: I worked in Susanville, I loved Susanville.
AF: Yeah, well...
LC: Let's talk about the newspaper business. How are you assigned articles?
AF: ...those are just my impressions, I'm not saying that's the bottom line...
LC: (Laughter)
AF: ...Because it's just my impression.
LC: No, I understand. Now, how are you assigned articles for reporting? I mean, do you receive assignments from editors or is it based on tips and then you present ideas that may be of interest?
AF: Since I've focused almost exclusively on prisons for the last few years, I would say I rarely get assigned anything. They want me to tell them what's going on. So the way that happens is I'm monitoring all the federal court cases, and that's enough to keep you going on itself. I get a lot of tips from a lot of different sources–from CCPOA, from legislative people, from inmates' families, from inmates themselves, from lawmakers, from lawyers, and so I'm getting tips all the time. There's a huge public record on all this stuff in terms of monitoring, that needs to be monitored. I talk to governmental people. I'm talking to the DPA pretty regular about your contract, I'm talking to Mike Jimenez, I'm talking to you, I'm talking to just as many people as I can in this multi, multifaceted story.
LC: That sort of knocked out my next question, I was going to ask where your tips generally come from. But, really, how many calls...I have to ask... how many calls on a daily basis do you get regarding Corrections, on average?
AF: I'd say it varies. When I have a big story in the paper I'll get maybe 30 or 40 emails on a big story.
LC: Really?
AF: Sometimes more.
LC: Do you find that you receive more calls or complaints when you write about Corrections than when you write about other areas of assignment?
AF: Uh...I don't know. For the last two years that's pretty much all I've been doing.
LC: OK. I'm just saying that when I watch the blogs, when I watch the comments section after an article, which I know you don't read, I mean, you've told me that you don't read that stuff...
AF: Yeah, I read. I read Paco Villa.
LC: You read the Paco Villa website?
AF: But I don't read the responses to the story.
LC: The Sacramento Bee can do an article on Obama and Clinton and you'll get 30 responses.
AF: Yeah.
LC: You do a piece on the Corrections contract and you'll have a 104 responses! It's amazing.
AF: Well, there are organized groups out there, organized family groups and there are the correctional employees, the officers, they read this stuff, too. And I know that these stories get posted on things like PacoVilla, which has a lot of correctional officers reading it. They get posted on prisontalk.com, they get posted by the family groups, and so there are these networks out there where these stories get posted and that drives traffic to our website. And because there are all these organized groups that are reading these stories and posting our stories on their websites, that draws traffic and I know that some of the groups are actively soliciting people to respond to the stories.
LC: That's very true. But I want to talk now specifically about the CCPOA contract. It seems to always get a great deal of focus, not just from The Bee, but from the press in general.
AF: Yes.
LC: Why do you think there's so much interest in our contract and really nothing reported on the contracts of other state bargaining units?
AF: Again, I can't speak for everybody else, I can only speak for myself. Going back 10 years, I think it was '98, I believe that at that point a bunch of state unions got the shaft that year and you guys got a pretty nice deal, if I remember correctly.
LC: Twelve and a half percent.
AF: Yeah, now that's a big story. Why is that? Why did that happen? So you have to get into the politics and whatnot, influence, and campaign contributions.
LC: But no one ever looks at the fact that we elongated our work day, our work week went from 40 hours to 42 hours. There were a lot of things to that contract that were very unpopular. There were things that other unions wouldn't accept, so that's part of the balance.
AF: Yeah.
LC: Going back to 1991, we were the first union to come in and say we'll take a 5 percent cut for a year. We were the first union to say that and what did everybody else do? They killed us.
AF: See, you got me on that one. I mean, I didn't cover that one.
LC: Let me ask you this, the California Association of Highway Patrolmen...
AF: Yeah (laughter)...
LC: ...negotiated a very lucrative contract in 2006 for their members.
AF: Right.
LC: Some would call it a "sweetheart deal." Why is that phrase consistently used in describing CCPOA contracts but never when describing CHP contracts?
AF: Again, I can't answer for everybody else. I read some of the other stories in the other papers, and I can't answer the whole media on this one, Lance. I can answer for myself and go back and do a Google search and see, you know, type in CCPOA, Furillo, and sweetheart and see if it pops up. I would say that it probably does not.
LC: Alright, fair enough.
AF: Look it up and if it does then I've got some answerin' to do, but I don't think so. You guys are big stuff! Compare you guys and the CHP. I tried to do that balance. You know, one story kind of looking at both of them at the same time, because you guys seem to be wanting to always have yours viewed in the prism of them.
LC: We just want the same respect.
AF: And I did that story over the summer, I think it was about a year ago, I can't remember exactly when, where I tried to go here's their deal, here's your deal. I tried to look at that in a balanced way and it was not an easy story to do. It's going to be different versions on every little item in there, so it was a very difficult thing to do. But I tried to do it.
LC: I'm going to give you a copy of a story running in our next issue of Peacekeeper that addresses what we believe to be an unholy relationship between DPA and CHP. (Vol. 25 #4, June 2008) You'll love it.
AF: Hmmm...
LC: OK, let's talk about the newspaper business for a minute, what are the different roles...
AF: But let me just go back on the contract for a little bit...
LC: Alright.
AF: I know that the five-year deal that you got occurred in a time when I was not covering Corrections. I was doing other stuff so I don't know what the other papers said but I've gone back and looked at our clips from when that deal was finalized and it was not very well covered. The way that contracts are covered now, the way that this current contract negotiation was covered, we wrote almost nothing about it until the deal was done and then the Legislature started. I think (Bee columnist) Dan Weintraub had done a column after the deal was done and portrayed it in a way that I think has shaped coverage on that deal ever since. So we didn't–and you know that's a column and Dan has his right to characterize any way that he sees fit in a column–but the newspaper did not do the kind of groundwork reporting that needed to be done on that deal. I don't know if anybody else did, either. I don't know if the Times did, I don't know what San Francisco or San Jose papers did, or Orange County, or whoever else, but I know that we did not. That deal kind of shaped things over the next five years and it was like you said, people had the perception that it was a sweetheart deal and it was characterized as such and some people in the Legislature got their backs up about it.
LC: Some have said it was the demise of Gray Davis.
AF: And it was. Editorial writers have gotten their backs up about it. Anyway, I think that shaped things going into this most recent deal.
LC: Let's talk about columnists, editorial writers, news reporters. What are the differences?
AF: Well, I'm a news reporter and I'm trying to find out what's going on, and I'm trying to put it in context, and I'm trying to present everybody's point of view, all the multiple points of view, and try to put it together in some kind of comprehensive, intelligible, digestible fashion, fairly and accurately with context and analysis. That's what reporters do.
LC: OK. How about columnists?
AF: Columnists can do all of what I just said but they can also offer an opinion and they can shape.
LC: Are you saying that you don't shape or offer opinion?
AF: I don't. I don't.
LC: So you endeavor not to.
AF: I endeavor not to. I mean, I'm a human being and every judgment that I make on whether this is news worthy or not, or if this is a fact that needs to be in the story or not, or where does it go in the story, obviously my judgment comes in and my human fallibility comes in and my opinion might come in, in terms of where I think this fact should be played in the story. So in that sense, yeah, your opinion affects everything that you do.
LC: What about editorial writers?
AF: Editorial writers are out to influence. Their main thing is to influence. Look at the amount of space that they have; generally, editorials are pretty short. So they don't pretend to give you every side of the story. They don't even pretend to be fair and I would say they're not fair and their opinions are their opinions. They're meant to influence and people certainly have the right and the responsibility to disagree with us.
LC: Alright, so you are a news writer?
AF: Yes.
LC: You have an editor?
AF: Yeah, a bunch.
LC: A bunch?
AF: (Laughter) Stacks, levels.
LC: (Laughter) How much control do your editors have over news articles?
AF: Well, the number one control that they have is whether or not they're going to run it or off it.
LC: Do they also give you assignments based on how much space they have?
AF: That influences stuff more all the time because our paper's going to be getting smaller and when it gets smaller we're going to have to be smarter. But, editors have a very big influence on how things are played on assignments, although they've given me a pretty free hand to kind of present this beat as I see fit because I've done the work, I've got a track record of producing good stories that are relevant. And they respect that, but they still say, "Hey, maybe you ought to be doing this, maybe you ought to check out this story on the beat," and then when I turn the story in to get edited, if they see a hole in it, "maybe you'd better call Lance Corcoran and get him to discuss this or answer this question."
LC: Or, "maybe you ought to get him to say something stupid..." (Laughter)
AF: (Laughter) Yeah. Or, maybe if they spot holes, and also if there's something that I can't–I mean, there are many times where they have saved my ass.
LC: Oh, yeah?
AF: Where I might have had a mistake in the story that they caught.
LC: So, once you've completed an article, how much authority do editors have to eliminate information or even add information that you didn't write? Do they ever do that or do they go back to you?
AF: Well, they do some eliminating.
LC: Some eliminating?
AF: Most of the time for space. I can say that I have never had a fact that was vital to a story, that may have shaped the story one way or another, taken out by an editor because they wanted to have the story slanted a certain way. Never. Not once at The Sacramento Bee.
LC: So there's never been an instance where you've had a hard time recognizing what you originally submitted?
AF: Never. Never. And any reporter who ever tells you that "Oh, my editor made me do this," you know, starts that whining crap, I wouldn't trust that reporter. Because every reporter, if their paper is any good, gets to not so much have final say but they've got to be OK with what's in the paper. If they're not, I know at our paper you have the right to have your name taken off the story.
LC: Wow. Really?
AF: So any reporter who tells you, "Oh, my editors made me do it," or "That's not the way I wrote it," you know is full of shit.
LC: (Laughter) And talking about names, why is it that reporters and columnists have their names with their articles...
AF: Just a final thought on that...Every story that I have ever done that has my name on it, I am 100 percent responsible for anything in it.
LC: Very good, and I've called you on it a couple of times.
AF: More than a couple. (Laughter)
LC: (Laughter) On a Saturday. (Laughter)
AF: (Laughter) And that's why I love ya.
LC: (Laughter) So, with respect to names on articles...The columnist and reporter names are out there, Dan Walters, Dan Weintraub, Andy Furillo. Why is it that editorial writers don't put their names to what they write?
AF: Because it's the paper. It's the paper's official editorial position.
LC: Interesting. Our official title is correctional officer, and in the minds of many, the term prison guard brings a negative image of the correctional profession. You have chosen to use the title correctional officer when writing about correctional issues. Why do you think so many reporters and editorial writers refuse to use the proper term, correctional officer?
AF: I don't know. I can't speak for them and I've never talked to any other reporters about that.
LC: What made you change?
AF: Phone calls from correctional officers who called me. They were very angry and said, "We're not prison guards, we're correctional officers." After you get enough of them, you know, it's like why offend people? What's the point? I don't want to intentionally set out to offend somebody. So I don't. Let's get beyond that issue. What's really interesting is I've had some correctional officers, a few, say that they don't like being called correctional officers, that they are prison guards, that they are old-timers who go back to another era.
LC: Have you ever had an editor, in the submission of your story, change the term correctional officer to prison guard?
AF: Yes I have. And I've had it done without my knowledge. But, I don't think it was malicious. I very rarely, in fact almost never, read my stories. You know, once it's been edited and once I'm okay with edit and it goes in the paper the next day, I almost never, ever read it. But, sometimes I have to go back and read them if an issue comes up. Now the headline's another thing. I think they use prison guard because it's shorter and, frankly, I think most people in public relate more to prison guard than correctional officer. But, you know, one time back after the trial down in Fresno on the Corcoran beatings, or alleged beatings...
LC: Alleged, thank you very much.
AF: ...alleged beatings where the officers were acquitted, I noticed that I had to go back and read that story years later and I saw prison guards. One reference had been changed to prison guards and there was an editor at the paper then who might have had an issue with that. I don't know this for a fact, but I think that he had a view that people see these people as prison guards.
LC: Do you think that more people relate to the term...
AF: Or it could have just been that they were shortening up a line or something like that. I don't know.
LC: Well, do you think more people relate to the term stewardess than flight attendant? And which is shorter?
AF: That's a really good point.
LC: We're trying to change. We're trying to professionalize. We're trying to let go of the past and move forward.
AF: Yeah, I understand that argument.
LC: And I appreciate the fact that you get it. What we're trying to do is change the dynamic across the board. Now, when a reader objects to either the tone or the information contained in an article, what should they do?
AF: Well, they can call the reporter and bitch, and I get that on a daily basis, and they can write a letter to the editor. And they can contact the ombudsman.
LC: Apparently, The Bee doesn't have an ombudsman anymore, you have a public editor. I don't know what that means, but...
AF: It's the same thing.
LC: So what is the role of the ombudsman or public editor? Do they have any authority?
AF: No, they just give their opinion. It's just like, "Well, I've investigated this, and I've decided that the..."
LC: ...the paper's right...
AF: ...the paper's right or the other guy's right.
LC: Is there any oversight of newspapers and reporters? Let's just say that I'm John Q. Citizen and I think that you totally misrepresented something.
AF: Yes, there is oversight and the oversight is our audience. Our customers. They are the number one oversight agency, and I hear from them on a regular basis and I don't discount what they say.
LC: But I can't write to some place in New York and say I want this guy sanctioned because he wrote an awful story?
AF: You mean like some sort of Federal Communications Commission?
LC: I have no idea.
AF: It's a private business. There's a lot of recourse that people have. You can cancel your subscription, you can sue the paper, you can have other people cancel their subscriptions, you can call the reporters. I listen to what people say and you know there have been times when I've had quotes to something online kind of in haste and then I might check a comment out and if there's something in a comment that speaks to an omission that was in the story or something like that, then, you know, the guy's right, let me put this in the story.
LC: So retractions and corrections occur all the time?
AF: Yes.
LC: I know you have done that for me on occasion.
AF: OK.
LC: You have. I made a mistake, you corrected it. Now, this goes back to something you said earlier. Do you think that a reporter's personal feelings about a subject can sometimes influence the tone of an article?
AF: Yeah. I would say yeah.
LC: This has happened to you?
AF: Yeah, I might get really outraged on something and that might instill a level of passion.
LC: So it leads beyond the facts to sometimes slightly editorial?
AF: I would say no.
LC: What about opinion?
AF: I still can't express my opinion, not there (in a news article).
LC: But can you load the article with things that support the way you feel, meaning quotes?
AF: Uh...yeah. I could do that. And I have, I'm sure. But still, that doesn't mean that I can't be fair. And it doesn't mean that I can't be accurate. You've always got to be fair when you write, it's got to be accurate.
LC: When an organization or individual refuses to respond to a reporter or the newspaper, can that sometimes influence the coverage about the articles and subsequent editorials?
AF: Absolutely. If you've got a case to make and you're not making it, that's not going to help your cause. Again, I have to be fair and accurate and get as many facts with as many sources as I can, but it's your obligation to give me the facts to support your point of view.
LC: So, saying "No comment" is a bad comment?
AF: Not necessarily. It depends on the situation. If CCPOA just got a 25 percent pay raise and somebody calls or says, "Hey, you got a 25 percent pay raise, are you going to Disneyland?" or something like that, and you say "No comment," then I would say that doesn't make you look very good. But if you were to...
LC: ...justify it...
AF: ...to say here's why, because we haven't gotten a raise in so many years, people are doing this and that...
LC: Right, right.
AF: ...and you know, we're not getting this allowance or that allowance and it was built into this, etc. You've got to make your case.
LC: Many members of CCPOA have a distrust of the press, why do you think that is?
AF: I think, and I hear this pretty regularly, that a lot of CCPOA members are probably politically conservative. Certainly law and order conservative types, and they have a perception that The Bee is liberal. I would say that in a simplified version of reality, the people who are conservatives think that liberals are anti-law and order or soft on crime. So, I think that a lot of people come into reading these kinds of stories with that kind of perception, that The Bee is out the gate soft on crime, soft on criminals, you know, hug-a-thug, anti-cop, and I think that is the number one thing right there. It's just kind of a real simplified, conservative view, this view of liberalism that washes over at The Bee, which influences their perception of our coverage.
LC: I'll combine these next two questions: In your opinion, is there a reason why so much of the coverage regarding Corrections is negative, and is this an example of a newspaper playing the role of an advocate attempting to effect social change?
AF: Right. We've got to break those up. Why is so much of the coverage negative? A couple of reasons, number one you've got a crisis situation going on that's been building for years and is now coming to a peak, so if you have this overcrowding crisis and this funding crisis, that's a negative situation.
LC: True. But The Bee has advocated for tax increases on occasion, so this is not about a taxpayer issue, we're talking about social change.
AF: Alright, let's deal with that second.
LC: OK.
AF: Why is the coverage negative? I think that the nature of incarceration is a negative, it's just a negative thing. You know, putting somebody in prison and having somebody who doesn't want to be there, who's done something pretty bad. It just starts out bad and it gets worse. So, that's just a negative situation, that's just kind of the reality of it. And then, I think, there was this coverage that started in the mid-90s. First of all there's the movies and the way that prison guards were portrayed in the movies generally wasn't a happy depiction and I think people have that perception. I think that there are certainly some reporters that have the perception that that's what they're dealing with, and when you had some reported reality in the mid-90s of inmates being shot to death at Corcoran State Prison, that fed into this background story of the negative prison environment, the negative prison guard being a knuckle-dragging thug, that fed into it. That kind of dominated coverage for five years and again, not all that coverage was fair, I agree with you on that. Some of it was.
LC: But to a certain extent, beyond social change, isn't there also a journalistic concept that says if it bleeds it leads? I mean, isn't there also a motivation to sell papers?
AF: I think that's more of it.
LC: Wait, do you think people are more interested in riots, escapes, and scandals than in inmates trying to help blind people?
AF: Yes. I agree. I know as a reader, I am. I'm not just a reporter, I'm a newspaper reader. And I'm a T.V. watcher.
LC: You've said prisons are a negative place. Nobody really wants to be there, not even the officers, but we do have some success stories and we do many things right.
AF: We have to go back to the second half of your question. The first half was why are things so negative.
LC: Is this an example? Is advocacy by the newspaper an attempt at social change or is it simply about selling papers?
AF: Okay, getting back to advocacy. I have never, ever considered myself an advocate on this, and, again, I'm not speaking for everybody and I'm not going to make a judgment on some who may or may not be, but I don't think I've ever been an advocate for anything other than doing the best story I can that's in front of me on an issue of general interest. And it's a big story and I am trying to keep people informed on this big story as it unfolds. The crisis as people try to deal with it, the ramifications and implications and consequences; maybe do some stories that might show whether this solution is working or not, doing other stories that take the reader into areas that need discussion and debate. That's all I do. I've never seen myself as an advocate.
LC: Other than for your son's baseball team.
AF: Other than for my son's baseball team–for which I'm a huge advocate.
LC: (Laughter)
AF: And what was the rest of that question you asked?
LC: Well, the second part is being that prisons are a negative place, do you think that an editor, a reporter would ever be interested in writing something about what we do right? About some of the good things. Following up on, you know, the inmates at the Folsom project for the visually impaired, the fact that they help blind people, the fact that they help deaf people.
AF: Yeah, people would be interested in that, but I have to admit, as a journalist, I am looking for tension spots in what I do. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know, but as long as there's a crisis and there are tension spots, and I've only got so many hours in the day, I think that I need to be focused on the crisis rather than the feature story on the inmate who's...
LC: Or on the good guys...
AF: ....helping somebody, helping the blind see and the lame walk, you know. But there are people at our paper who do those kinds of stories and are good at it, much better than me.
LC: In closing, what would you say to our members who are out there every day in California's prisons, who think that the press is out to get them? The morale is low and every time they pick up the paper there's some new story or editorial talking about either a scandal or how overpaid we are as correctional officers. Is there an agenda to attack anything and anyone in Corrections?
AF: I don't think so. It's obvious that there's a lot of editorial writers who think that correctional officers are overpaid and shouldn't get a raise, and I would say that when you're talking about editorial pages, yeah, I think there are agendas. I think it's pretty clear, but in terms of news coverage, I'm just looking for stories and if they've got story ideas, call me at (916) 321-1141 or email me at afurillo@sacbee.com.
LC: (Laughter) Andy, I can't thank you enough and I think our members are going to very much appreciate this. Let me just follow that up real quick. So, Andy, what is your opinion of correctional peace officers?
AF: Everyone is different. I think that's the bottom line in reporting, you can't come in with a view of everybody being the same. Everybody I talk to is different. You're different than Mike Jimenez. Mike Jimenez is different than Chuck Alexander, Chuck Alexander is different than Rick Newton. You know, everybody is different and that's where you start having problems as a reporter is if you start making these generalizations of people and you go into a prison and you expect everybody to be a certain way, because people aren't. Everybody's different. If you go in with this point of view, you're not open to hearing what somebody might have to tell you.
LC: But at the same time, does Andy Furillo have an agenda against correctional officers?
AF: No, no.
LC: That's a fine ending point because that's what I want my fellow members to hear. Thank you so much for your time.
July 1, 2008
RESPONSE TIME
I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated your editorial comments on Elizabeth Hill's snide remarks in the Legislative Analyst's Office report to the Legislature addressing the pay and benefits of our hardworking CCPOA members.
My wife, Jane Murphree, is a former MTA who had to elect to move over to C.O. after the great federal receiver took over the medical portion, and in his infinite wisdom decied to do away with my wife's MTA position. She performed her duties in an outstanding manner. I say this not only because I'm her husband but because I heard and supported her during her trials and tribulations of work dangers.
Toward the end of her MTA stint, an inmate attempted to take her pepper spray. Luckily, she was able to respond quickly and disarm him with a wristlock I taught her with my martial arts background. After she booted up and decided to not take a pay cut and keep her tenure as a Unit Six member, she opted for attending the abbreviated Academy at Galt.
I would also like to mention the recent staff assault on the three officers at CCI–Tehachapi. This creates added stress and worry to my wife who puts herself in harm's way daily for her family. I also experience this right along with her. I'm sure this is one of many to a footnote you could add to your article. I thank you for addressing this frankly and to the point. I hope a copy was sent to Elizabeth Hill's office.
Dean E. Murphree
Casualty Affairs Rep.
95th Force Support Squadron, FSFR USAF
Editor's Note: Thanks so much, Dean, for writing and for the kind remarks about the editor's column. I was just telling it like it is. It's an uphill battle, I don't need to tell you or Jane that, but the more we (and by we, I mean you the members and families of members) do to set the record straight and get the facts out there where the public can find them, the wiser and safer we'll all be. Read on for another interesting letter on the same subject.
After I read the Legislative Analyst's Office report, I responded via an email, expressing my concerns over only a small number of problems I envisioned regarding the parole portion of the report.
Editor's note: Excerpt from Rose's letter to the LAO: “It is obvious that this was written by a scholar, not a practitioner. Having worked in Probation and Parole in California for over 33 years, I can tell you the problems that are present in this proposal are so many that the communities will be devastated if acted upon. ...You have no idea how many people who are on parole for nonviolent commitments in the instant offense, who have prior murders, manslaughters, kidnappings, robberies or sex offenses. In my county, today, a man arrested for bank robbery (multiple), who is on parole for a nonviolent crime and has a history that includes a murder or manslaughter conviction that occurred when he was selling drugs would fall into the group that would be supervised by probation officers — officers who, in my county, are unarmed and unprotected and always will be.”
I mentioned that I worked for 16 years as an adult probation division probation officer in my county, followed by 17 years as a parole agent in the same county. Knowing the functions and limitations of both jobs, I felt I had a good perspective, and I did keep the critical assessments limited to only some of the more serious problems.
My remarks were acknowledged superficially, and I was told I would be contacted by someone who actually participated in the writing of the report. Several days later, I received a superficial response from one of the authors, who stated that my concerns might or might not be relevant, but those things had not been considered when the report was written.
Although I was surprised that areas that could undoubtedly result in law suits regarding constitutional issues such as unequal treatment/enforcement, how obstacles would be faced, etc., had not been considered prior to a report being written, I accepted the statement. I was told that now potential problems areas would be tackled and that a committee/group/work group or gang of experts would be selected to hammer out the answers to the problems.
Seeing an opportunity, I sent another email in which I stated that I had experience on both sides of the issues that would face parole and the counties, provided a brief synopsis of my experience—and my awareness of community resources in this county—33 years of involved service gives me some insight—and I asked that I be considered for whatever panel or work group might be assembled.
The next email response had no time delay whatsoever. The turnaround time was about 3 seconds for me to receive a thanks but no thanks response. I was told that at some future date I might contact someone to find out what progress was being made with problem resolution.
As you mentioned in your letter in the Peacekeeper (April 2008), although the Legislative Analyst's Office could find what the truth is about, what COs and agents actually do, they have no interest in doing so. They would prefer to make proposals with no insight or information.
I just wanted to let you know that your editor's letter is right on the money and I share the frustration.
Linda Rose
Retired Parole Agent
Editor's Note: Linda, I so appreciate you writing me and sending the copies of emails between you and the “scholars” at the LAO. I read all with great interest, and will say that you definitely know what you are talking about. There is no way they could dispute that. But, ultimately, I think we both know the story. Like you said, they don't want the truth. That said, I still think it's a good idea to try and enlighten those nay sayers who may be harboring alternative agendas whenever we can—and no one can do that better than the men and women who work it and live it day in and day out. Thanks again for writing.
July 1, 2008
The Time Machine
by Kevin Raymond, CCPOA Negotiations Team Member
Ever since I was a young lad running around with laser guns made from sticks, I have been enthralled with the idea of time travel. I loved the original movie, The Time Machine (circa 1960), based on the H.G. Wells 1895 novella. The things one could accomplish if this bending of time and space was possible are infinite.
Just think about it. You could jump in the machine and see for yourself just how they built those Egyptian pyramids so many, many years ago. You could drop by George Washington's winter camp for a visit. You could dial up Germany in the late 1930s to explain why old Adolph may not be the way to go. Or take a little trip to Dallas and the infamous grassy knoll. Then, of course, maybe a trip not back in time, but rather back to the future. Lottery numbers for next Saturday night, please.
Oh, the good times we could have! Though, the obvious, glaring problem with time travel is whether or not it would actually be worth it. Would you be bored watching the construction of the pyramids? What if you found good old George Washington to be nothing more than a conceited ass? Or, what if no one in Nazi Germany gave a damn about what you had to say, Hitler's over-the-top moustache notwithstanding? As for traveling into the future, would you really want certain information, such as when and how you are going to die?
That being said, just having fantasies about time travel may not be enough. How, then, do you make it a reality? Being the epitome of the GED guard The Sacramento Bee is so familiar with, I can't figure it out. So, I'd have to jump on board with popular ideas theorizing that time travel is nothing more than the bending of light and so forth. Under this theory, the down side would be that if time travel were actually possible, you would only be able to travel back as far as the moment the first time machine was turned on, establishing the conduit, if you will.
But, even after you've figured the trick to it, you have to ask yourself: Is time travel really necessary at all? After all, time seems to march tirelessly on in some areas, yet remains stagnant on many different planes of reality.
For example, I recently examined a document issued by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which stated in a nutshell that the Department could reduce crime, staff assaults, recidivism, overcrowding, etc. if they offered programs and rehabilitation to the inmate population at large. Some insightful member of one of the governor's strike teams must have written it. Or was it the work product of the ever-popular Blue Ribbon Panel? If not one of those, surely the all-seeing, all-knowing Legislative Analyst must have penned it, as it sounds all too familiar.
Well, you may be surprised to learn that none of the aforementioned authored the document. In fact, the document in question was dated 1985, addressing the prison building boom of more than twenty years ago. Yet, it could have been written this morning.
Let's see now, Rod Hickman, Jeannie Woodford, James Tilton, and now Matthew Cate. And that's just recent history. How far back would you have to travel in time to find one or all of those individuals in charge of the Corrections Department? How about just under three years?
They come and they go. Yet, time stands still on our plane of reality. The faces and names change but the catch phrases live on. You know the ones, Evidence Based Programs, Parole Models, Rehabilitation Models, the Pathways to Rehabilitation Project, and my personal favorite, any word that comes to mind with Reform added to it. These eloquent phrases spew from the mouths of these illustrious officials as if they were one, like water over Niagara Falls. Again, time stands still and nothing has changed.
In 2003, faced with a budget deficit of billions of dollars, the people of California decided it was time to recall Gov. Gray Davis, as over the horizon, Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger rode into Sacramento on a white horse, promising to blow up the boxes. Remember? We don't have an income problem, we have a spending problem. Armed with a cache of dumb movie quotes, he promised us the world, and all of his past indiscretions were forgiven. Welcome to California, where time goes to die.
Five years later, the state is again billions of dollars in the red and it's going to get worse–partially due to the federal court overseeing the medical department. Why? Because Arnold didn't care–"Let them take it." We are still billions in debt, the doomed boxes still exist, and the sands in the hourglass are wedged tightly in the narrow passage between the fragile glass bulbs.
Perhaps when all is said and done, this isn't really about time travel. Maybe, just maybe, we are stuck in some vicious time warp, as on Star Trek, where time just flows in a perpetual loop. Perhaps my limited intelligence concerning the laws of the universe doesn't allow me to see the light. "Damn it Jim, I'm a guard, not a Highway Patrolman!"
For the record, I am also a fan of the original Star Trek, and its travels through time and the final frontier. Although, I will confess, I was recently watching an episode with my 3-year-old grandson, Andrew, who informed me that Captain Kirk and friends wear the same uniforms as The Wiggles.
He's a smart, observant kid who just may be the one to bring an end to this cycle of inactivity some day. Lord knows we'll probably be in the same place when he's old enough to do so.
