Throughout this blog, I urge everyone to contact the principle players, the media etc. Ive sent out some emails and made some calls and will try to keep this section updated as to the efforts Ive made in fighting these issues with Commissioners Court. This blog was actually the first thing I did. Over at the General Information page, there are a number of links for you to check out and make some contacts of your own.
Sent to Lt. J. Janssen, newly elected President of the Deputy Sheriff's Association on 9/16/11:
First and foremost, congratulations on your election to the office of President. I have high hopes that you and the other newly elected officers will turn the Association around.
Sir, I would like to ask the administration of the DSABC to begin a dialogue with Detention Administration to propose easier working conditions for those officers that are required to work mandatory overtime. Ideally, these officers would be assigned to the less stressful areas of the jail such as corridor, low risk, triangle etc. This proposal would be applicable for those officers that have already worked their normal assigned shift and are now being asked to do another shift. When mandatory overtime started, as I understand it, this is what was typically done, but over time, this strategy has changed and these officers working mandatory overtime no longer receive the consideration I believe they are due.
Specifically, I would like the DSABC to seek a directive from detention administration to the shift commanders instructing that these mandatory overtime officers be used in the less stressful areas of the detention center rather than the dangerous and challenging areas such as BJ, BC, BD etc. The Sheriff and Chief Dovalina have both publicly recognized and said that the officers being used for mandatory overtime are at a disadvantage due to fatigue, stress and other indicators that would reduce the overall safety of the jail should these officers be used in the more demanding areas of the jail.
As mandatory overtime becomes the predominant staffing solution, I believe it would be an intelligent and considerate gesture on the part of detention administration to ensure that those that are negatively affected by our increasingly poor staffing levels will at least know that their overtime will not be in a horrible or dangerous area. Morale is going to continue to deteriorate and this strategy may help reduce that.
Thanks"
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Sent to Commissioner Paul Elizondo of Precinct 2 on 9/16/11:
"Commissioner Elizondo,
I emailed you several days ago regarding a request for your source for the jail staffing numbers you cited in a story presented on KSAT where you claimed that the State said the jail was "200 officers" over its minimum staffing limit. Could you please either send me a copy of that report or provide where and when the report was compiled?
Thank you"
I am not expecting a response.
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Sent to KSAT Reporter Jesse Degollado after her report "New Bexar County Budget May Trigger Legal Action" on 9/13/11:
"Ms. Degollado,
I read your story on the county budget and the issue of staffing at the jail. Commissioner Elizondo is touting a written report from the Commission on Jail Standards that the jail is overstaffed. If you look at the date on that report, I believe you will find it to be from 2004. When I spoke to Assistant Director Shannon Herklotz from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards almost two weeks ago, we discussed our staffing issues at length because as a Deputy in the jail, I believe we are being placed in much greater danger than we should be. At no time did he mention our staff as 'exceeding' minimum standards and in fact said that we were heading to being out of compliance with our minimum requirements due to the Commissioners trying to short staff us. Back in 2004 (almost 8 years ago now), we had quite a bit of staff. Now, we barely have enough to cover our shifts and its getting worse. Someone in the media needs to ask the Commissioner that if we have all this staff then why are they spending millions on overtime pay. Ive been a Deputy with the Sheriff's Office for over 17 years and Ive been assigned to the jail since day one. The media and the people of Bexar County are being greatly mislead by the Commissioners and that is inexcusable.
Ive contacted numerous media outlets regarding this issue with the jail and with the exception of the SA Current, not a single media representative has seen fit to reply to me. KSAT Defenders even deleted a post from their Facebook page about this issue. I feel compelled to write and call when I see things like this because its about all a person can do and I believe whats going on is an affront to the citizens of this county and its putting our staff and inmates at much greater risk. There is so much to say on this subject and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thanks"
As of 9/16/11, I have not received a response.
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Sent to KSAT Reporter Charles Gonzales after his story "Bexar County to trim jail staff" aired on 9/13/11:
"Mr. Gonzales,
I saw your story on the staffing at the jail and had to comment. Im a 17 year veteran of the Sheriff's Office and whats going on is criminal. Commissioners are not telling the whole story and are in fact, deceiving the public. We are incredibly short handed at the jail and have not had adequate staff for years. Elizondo is saying that the state says we exceed our minimum staffing by 200 and that's simply not true. Back in 2004, Texas Jail Standards determined our 'relief factor' (how many officers it takes to man a post 24 hours a day) and we had tons of staff back then so that number was very high. These are the same numbers the Commissioners are using to make these judgement calls on what our staffing should be rather than using updated numbers.
Many of our officers currently work mandatory and voluntary overtime to fill in the gaps every day due to staff shortages. If we had 200 extra officers, we would not have to do this.
If we had 200 extra officers, the county would not be budgeting monies for overtime. It would not be needed, and in fact, would be a waste.
If we had 200 extra officers, we would not have to ship over 100 inmates to other counties and close units in our jail.
Their goal is to get the jail to such a dangerous level with staffing that they can force the Sheriff to privatize which is the goal of Commissioner Kevin Wolff.
There is a lot more information to be told. I would be happy to answer any questions you have.
Thank you"
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Sent to County Commissioner Paul Elizondo, Precinct 2 on 9/13/11:
"Mr. Elizondo,As of 9/16/11, I have not received a response.
I read the most recent story on the jail staffing from KSAT and wanted to ask you about your statement where you said "the state" was saying that the jail is 200 officers over its minimum staffing number. Can you please elaborate a bit on that? When I spoke to Assistant Director Shannon Herklotz at Texas Commission on Jail Standards about 2 weeks ago regarding the staffing issue at our jail, he was very clear that we are going to be dangerously low on staff very soon. He also mentioned that way back in 2004 when they determined our relief factor, that we had a large number of staff at the jail at that time. I was wondering where you got your figures from.
Thanks
Steve Sprague"
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Sent to County Manager / Budget Director David Smith on 8/31/11:
"Mr. Smith,
As a long time Deputy with the Sheriff's Office, I'm very concerned over the direction you and the County Commissioners are planning for the jail, and ultimately, the Deputies that work there. I wanted to take the time to bring some of my concerns to your attention and to ask a few questions;
In your Detention Staffing Strategies handout, you speak of the jail being staffed for "full to maximum capacity" and instead recommend a staffing level "to demand". That sounds great on paper but the reality of jail populations are that they are extremely fluid and change day to day. You and I both know that even when the 64 FTE positions finally vanish that the losses to staff will continue through attrition, and may likely increase due to poor morale, the perception that there's "no future" at Bexar County etc. What is the County plan for addressing this?
How bad does our staffing need to get before the County agrees to hire more officers? Keeping in mind that there is an approximate 'run up' time of about 12 weeks to train new officers, what does the County plan to do?
Does your strategy for reduction of the 64 FTE's take into account having a buffer of adequate staff to ensure safety and security of the facility, inmates and staff? It sounds as if you are going to staff the jail to the bare minimum. Right now, depending on our day to day staffing, officers may not even be able to leave the floor for even short periods of time due to causing the jail to be out of compliance with state standards. How does the County plan to address this?
Does your strategy account for increases in jail population that may exceed our mandated 1/48 ratio established by the Commission on Jail Standards? What if Zavala Co. decides they want to send back the 100 inmates that are currently there? Even the most recently proposed FY2011-2012 budget predicted a modest increase in inmate population. How can we meet our state mandated requirements if we do not have enough staff?
In your Detention Staffing Strategies handout, you claim that this projected change to our staffing levels is not based on inmate population, but a large portion of this presentation deals with inmate population and it being one of the reasons why you are recommending eliminating the 64 FTE positions. Can you explain this discrepancy further?
Our relief factor was determined by the Commission on Jail Standards in 2004. Why hasn't the Commission on Jail Standards been asked to re-evaluate our jail and staffing so that we have an accurate and appropriate representation of what their recommendations would be? After all, they are our regulatory agency. I spoke to a representative at TCJS yesterday and he was very forthcoming with information and described our staffing in 2004 as excessive at that time and admitted he does not know what it is today. From a personal perspective, I believe that it is a conflict of interest for the Auditors office, Budget etc. to determine our relief factor as they have an inherent interest in getting it as low as possible to "save money" rather than ensuring that there are enough staff on hand to handle in-house emergencies, inmate crisis, etc.
I also note in your presentation that staff absences are an important factor in recommending the elimination of the 64 FTE positions. When those 64 FTE positions go away, do you think that the staff absences will stop? What is the County plan for addressing this? How do our staff absences compare to other Sheriff's Offices such as Dallas Co, Tarrant Co., Travis Co., Harris Co. etc. My point is that large organizations are going to have people call in sick, go on FMLA, take military leave etc.
What if another large scale military operation begins and our active duty personnel are called up to serve their country? I do not know the exact number of officers, but I do recall during the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts that we were very short handed. What is the County plan for this contingency?
I appreciate your time in addressing these questions and thank you."
As of 9/16/11, I have not received a response.
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Sent to County Manager / Budget Director David Smith on 9/7/11:
"Mr. Smith,
I watched with interest during the budget workshop on the 7th where the jail staffing was being discussed. You brought up 46 positions you stated were support positions and stated that those could be used to staff the front line, budgeted, positions. While some of those positions are certainly able to be re-absorbed (and should be), there are some that provide a value to the County and to the Sheriff's Office that are necessary due to lack of funding for those positions and the perennial unwillingness of the County to provide much needed support staff. So, like any organization, the Sheriff's Office identifies and utilizes people with skill sets that are desirable and able to be utilized until an appropriately funded position is acquired. ...
As of 9/16/11, I have not received a response.If you were to factor the costs involved in staffing the 46 support positions with appropriate, equivalent staff, you may recognize a considerable savings to the County. I'm not sure if you have explored those positions to see what value they provide, but I would encourage you to look into it."
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"Recently, MySA.com has published a number of pieces from several County Commissioners regarding issues with the Sheriff's office and specifically the jail. As a long time Sheriff's Office Deputy, I found these pieces full of half truths, outright lies and other disinformation. Where is your obligation to fact check these individuals? Where is the equal time from representatives of the Sheriff's Office? Your reporters appear to be somewhat lazy in that they only let one side of the story be told. My real issue is with the lack of fact checking. Please start asking tough questions (or just ANY questions) of these people and make them support their claims. Tommy Adkisson and Kevin Wolfe are misleading your readers and misrepresenting the issues. You are letting them get away with it.As of 9/16/11, I have not received a response.
For instance, Kevin Wolfe and Tommy Adkisson will have you believe we are fully staffed at the jail. This is an outright lie. We are woefully understaffed and its going to get worse under the guise of "saving money". Part of the reason we have closed units at the jail is that we simply do not have the staff to man them. Additionally, our jail population is down at this time, thankfully or we would really be hurting.
Today, you published a piece where Kevin Wolfe is actually going to pursue trying to decertify our union so that they do not have to abide by the ruling of the State courts and the will of the voters and work to resolve our pending collective bargaining agreement. What Wolfe is attempting is also known as "union busting". Where is the story on this?
Please provide better coverage of BOTH SIDES of these issues.
Thanks"
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Letter pending to be sent to George Block, President and CEO of Haven for Hope. I currently do not have an email address for Mr. Block. If you know it, please let me know at bexardeputyissues AT gmail.com
"Mr. Block, respectfully, where did you get your information on the jail? 300 officers a day do not show up to work? This is grossly incorrect. Even with officers sick, on military leave, FMLA or other leave, the number of those that are not at work is far less than what you state. Additionally, the responsibility of running the jail operations is the Sheriff's job by statute. As for the budget, you weren't complaining about it when Haven for Hope was getting millions in funding so why complain now? Instead of "looking to the county for assistance", pull up your own bootstraps and find funding elsewhere. Religious organizations are one suggestion.
Sheriff Ortiz was not elected to 'clean up the jail'. He was elected to manage all county law enforcement and detention operations. Again, this is his responsibility under Texas law.
It’s apparent to me that you have very little understanding of what goes on across the street from you. I’m sure we would be happy to give you a tour. You make the statement "If he is really focused on our safety, he will gladly hand the jail back to the commissioners and focus his energies on rebuilding his patrol force." Sir, the jail has NEVER been under control of the Commissioners. Your statement implies it has.You also said: "If he is interested in empire building, he will allow fake “crises” to occur. There will be assaults on prisoners and guards. There will be escapes or near-escapes, problems will suddenly occur that haven’t occurred in years. It will be time to scare the public."
How dare you malign the officers, staff and even inmates. You have zero understanding of what the officers and the inmates have to endure here. Group assaults are common (5,6,7 or more on 1), regular fights are as well. Disturbances and mass disruptions are as well. You might know this if you actually did any homework before making your post above. In a single statement you have conveyed a staggering amount of ignorance. You act like the jail is some paradise. This is a damn dangerous place and has always been. Since you have shown that you cannot even be bothered to walk across the street to see things for yourself and learn, I won’t bother to ask you to do some research on privatization and the abysmal failure that typically becomes or how the private corrections companies have a horrible record here in Texas. Studies have been done to show that the oft cited savings rarely happen but the legal issues with private. companies (assaults, sex crimes, strikes etc.) remain the responsibility of the county and the Sheriff. Please stick to managing the multitude of problems at Haven for Hope rather than pushing bad advice on issues you have no understanding of.
Thank You
