Union: Cuts make Nassau jail more dangerous

Cost-cutting measures implemented recently have made the Nassau County jail more dangerous for inmates, visitors and correction officers, the president of the union representing the jail's 1,000 officers said Friday.

"In a correctional facility, when you try to do more with less, people can get hurt or killed," said John Jaronczyk, president of the Sheriff Officers Association, speaking at the jail.

Nassau Sheriff Michael Sposato's decisions to use a private health care provider, cut supervisory staff and reduce officer training will ultimately result in injuries or deaths for which the county will have to pay "tenfold," Jaronczyk said.

Sposato defended safety at the East Meadow facility, which holds about 1,500 inmates.

"The safety and security of the facility is always my primary focus and paramount concern," he said in a statement. "I am confident that every cost-saving change that I have implemented, and any future cost-saving measure I must take, has not and will not impact the safety of the inmates . . . or the staff."

The jail has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after a string of inmate deaths. There have been five suicides at the jail since January 2010.

The latest was Feb. 25, weeks after an inmate was beaten to death by another inmate. In June, shortly after the county's new medical provider took over, an inmate had a fatal heart attack after visiting the infirmary complaining of chest pain.

Armor Correctional Health Services, which is providing the jail care, will cost the county an estimated $11 million a year -- $7 million less than Nassau University Medical Center, the previous provider, according to Jaronczyk.

But Jaronczyk argued Friday that "any money the county saves is going to be paid out tenfold in lawsuits and legal settlements, based on Sheriff Sposato and County Executive [Edward] Mangano's poor decisions."

The demotion of 30 corporals to the rank of correction officer, another cost-cutting move, has impacted safety because it eliminated a layer of supervision in housing units, according to Jaronczyk.

The union leader also criticized a move to cut training hours for all officers in half -- from 32 to 16 per year.

Jaronczyk called that a sharp reduction from the 40-hour requirement imposed by the U.S. Justice Department when it oversaw the jail for several years after the beating death of an inmate in 1999.