As we all know, we are short at work. We have been short at work for years. Whats different this time is that there is no light at the end of the tunnel with the prospect of a cadet class. No new crop of rookies on the horizon to call and order to have the "aspirin count" done by shift change. No, Commissioners Court and in particular, David Smith of the Budget Office, er, I mean, the County's newly created "County Manager" job with the awesome employment upgrade that guarantees (while you work mandatory overtime based on his recommendation of not hiring anyone else for the jail, he is getting $170,000 a year), have seen fit to determine that the jail can be staffed with 64 fewer officers than it currently is. The number was actually 128, but 60 of those positions are "on paper" which is to say they were budgeted but never filled. Thankfully, at least for now, nobody is slated to lose their job. One spooky note to always remember though is that at any time, the county can recommend a "RIF" or reduction in force. Under Civil Service rules, they would only have to give us a 90 day notice and then the pink slips get sent out.
The way this works is pretty simple. Rather than staffing the jail presuming a full inmate population, David Smith and the Commissioners want to staff it "to demand", which means using a formula to determine our "relief factor" which is what Texas Jail Standards determined is how many people we need to staff a post 24/7/365. Right now thats 5.37 officers. The relief factor was determined back in 2004 by the Commission on Jail Standards and now the Commissioners and David Smith have allegedly applied the same manner to determine that our new relief factor should now be 4.92, or you should be able to staff the jail with 64 fewer officers (full time employees). I've sent an email to the Commission on Jail Standards to ask about who has the actual authority to determine the relief factor at the jail. I would suspect that this responsibility rests with the regulatory agency overseeing jails and prisons mostly because Commissioners and other legislative bodies could just throw any number out there for a budget proposal regardless of the appropriateness of their final number. Ive yet to receive a reply, but if I do not hear from them in the next few days, Ill call and talk to people until I get the answer and then update you here.
UPDATE: I spoke at length with Shannon Herklotz, Assistant Director of Inspections and Jail Management at the Commission on Texas Jail Standards and he stated that the TCJS does not force a relief factor requirement on any jail or prison but that they make a suggestion as to what it should be. He further stated that when he made his relief factor suggestion in 2004, that Bexar County had a large staff and that in one instance, he counted 21 officers assigned to our laundry operations and voiced his amazement that it would require that many officers to watch some trustees. I agreed with him and assured him that we have not had that kind of staffing in years and urged him to consider contacting our administration in order to update the suggested relief factor. Mr. Herklotz was very forthcoming and cooperative and I thank him for his assistance. He understands our current problem with Commissioners Court and said that he specifically warned County officials that we were setting ourselves up for failing a jail inspection. Of course, this is what the County officials want so they can point the finger at the Sheriff and blame him for failing the jail inspection.
Some other brilliant ideas they came up with was to utilize part time employees, retired officers, volunteers etc. and to tell the Sheriff to have everyone else work mandatory overtime and simply work them to death.
UPDATE: I spoke at length with Shannon Herklotz, Assistant Director of Inspections and Jail Management at the Commission on Texas Jail Standards and he stated that the TCJS does not force a relief factor requirement on any jail or prison but that they make a suggestion as to what it should be. He further stated that when he made his relief factor suggestion in 2004, that Bexar County had a large staff and that in one instance, he counted 21 officers assigned to our laundry operations and voiced his amazement that it would require that many officers to watch some trustees. I agreed with him and assured him that we have not had that kind of staffing in years and urged him to consider contacting our administration in order to update the suggested relief factor. Mr. Herklotz was very forthcoming and cooperative and I thank him for his assistance. He understands our current problem with Commissioners Court and said that he specifically warned County officials that we were setting ourselves up for failing a jail inspection. Of course, this is what the County officials want so they can point the finger at the Sheriff and blame him for failing the jail inspection.
Some other brilliant ideas they came up with was to utilize part time employees, retired officers, volunteers etc. and to tell the Sheriff to have everyone else work mandatory overtime and simply work them to death.
Now, first off, who in the Hell would work at the jail part time and put up with the challenges you and I face for full time pay on whatever the county would see fit to part with? Secondly, using retired officers? No offense to those that have retired, but they have done their time and have earned their retirement. I can't imagine anyone I know thats retired coming back to that hellhole for whatever they might be offered in compensation. Volunteers? I would wager you would get what you pay for providing you would get anyone to put up with the gangs, violence and general bullshit for no compensation in the first place.
More to come....
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