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Main Page Jailers split up $5M by snatching OT shifts
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: kwflatbed

Photo by Herald file
Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral

Dozens of Suffolk jailhouse workers have locked up hefty $100,000-plus salaries in an astonishing overtime feeding frenzy - taxpayer dough that’s there for the taking because of chronic short-staffing, a Herald review shows.
Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral blames underfunding and short-staffing for forcing her to pay out millions to jailers, including some with checkered pasts.
“We’re always trying to keep overtime down as low as possible, but the fact is that between people who are out sick, people on vacation and attrition, overtime is a fact of life in a correctional institution that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” said Cabral, whose department paid out about $5.6 million in overtime last year.
Eight Suffolk Sheriff employees have base salaries of $100,000 or more, but once overtime and other pay is factored in, 46 of the roughly 1,150 employees earned six figures, according to a Herald review of payroll records.
According to the records,several officers disciplined in the past are now making salaries reaching into six figures:
Lt. Lorne Lynch, a senior jail officer, made $129,000 last year - $59,000 more than his base ,making him one of the highest paid sheriff’s employees. Lynch was given a written reprimand after a black female employee claimed he made racially charged comments to her in 2000.
Lt. Jose Burgos earned $110,000 - $30,000 higher than his base pay. Burgos was given a 30-day suspension in 1999 for not reporting or investigating a detainee beating, but the suspension was overturned, according to his union.
Lt. Robert Bracken, who made $40,000 in OT and extra pay last year, was among several officers put on leave in 2001 after an inmate assaulted another inmate on their watch, according to published reports. When reached at the jail, Bracken denied knowing about his suspension. The other jailers could not be reached.
All three of those cases preceded Cabral’s tenure. She declined to comment on them.
Cabral, who makes $123,000 a year, said the department routinely examines staffing levels to make sure they aren’t excessive. She pointed out that there are 77 fewer officers than when she took over in 2002 and the overtime budget is a necessary stop-gap.
Stan Andruszkiewicz, president of the Jail Officers and Employees Association of Suffolk County (JOEASC), which represents the 225 jail officers at the Nashua Street jail, blamed staffing cuts on the ballooning overtime. Andruszkiewicz, a jail officer, claims they are down 50 officers at Nashua Street.
“That’s the reason why there is plenty of overtime,” he said.

2008 Suffolk County Sheriff Employee Payroll:

+ 2008 Suffolk County Sheriff Employee Payroll</SPAN>

http://bostonherald.com/news/regiona...icleid=1089728

Big house, big bucks

Some of the top wage earners in 2007 at the Suffolk Sheriff’s Department, including base salary, overtime and other bonus pay:
Matthew T. Carver, correctional officer, $225,578*
Edwin V. Parris, jail officer (sergeant), $143,633
James M. Coppi, senior jail officer (lieutenant), $141,808
Katie J. Edwards, nurse, $136,743
Lorne F. Lynch, senior jail officer (lieutenant) $129,035
Sheriff Andrea Cabral, $123,937
Michael J. Robinson, assistant chief jail officer, (captain), $127,676
Anthony R. Rosati, senior jail officer (lieutenant), $125,938
Thomas Harris, correctional officer, $110,495
Shane Bouyer, jail officer, $109,106
Brenda Garcia, correctional officer, $102,241 Some of the lowest-paid jail workers include custodial workers, who pull in $32,000 a year and up, and new jail officers making $35,000 base pay.
Social workers for the sheriff’s office pull in about $38,000 and a school teacher at the jail $37,600.
*$187,000 of Carver’s 2007 $54,800 grosspay came in the form of back pay as a result of a court decision.

Source: Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department

http://bostonherald.com/news/regiona...icleid=1089731

Posted by: celticsfan

"in an astonishing overtime feeding frenzy"

Were swimming inmates ordered out of the water?

Edwin P. Murridom, volunteer Sheriff traffic special deputy, -$37,430*

*After cost of motorcyle, boots and self-paid trip to Daytona

Posted by: mikehammer

Funny of the paper doesn't mention that Jail Offocers (Suffolk Jail) are getting forced overtime 2 or 3 times a week. Also, it doesn't mention that adminsistration cuts so many officer positions at the House of Correction that officer safety is becoming a major concern ....

Posted by: USMCMP5811

Tell me they aren't one and the same....

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4n...g-eye-lady_fun

Posted by: OutOfManyOne

Who cares what they make, their lives, their OT. Good for them, as long as they work at the jail and not outside, i don't care if they make $500K a year.

Posted by: WaterPistola

I'm a little confused here, if they had more officers wouldn't that OT money be in the form of an officer's salary? The paper goes after these guys like they are the criminals. Like the article says the jail operates 24/7. It's not like they can cut a shift because of the budget, someone needs to be there at all times.

Posted by: redsox03

Quote:

Originally Posted by OutOfManyOne

Who cares what they make, their lives, their OT. Good for them, as long as they work at the jail and not outside, i don't care if they make $500K a year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WaterPistola

I'm a little confused here, if they had more officers wouldn't that OT money be in the form of an officer's salary? The paper goes after these guys like they are the criminals. Like the article says the jail operates 24/7. It's not like they can cut a shift because of the budget, someone needs to be there at all times.

Posted by: USMCTrooper

[quote=celticsfan;283172Edwin P. Murridom, volunteer Sheriff traffic special deputy, -$37,430*
*After cost of motorcyle, boots and self-paid trip to Daytona[/quote]

Thats some "volunteer" committment..............

Posted by: uspresident1

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikehammer

Funny of the paper doesn't mention that Jail Offocers (Suffolk Jail) are getting forced overtime 2 or 3 times a week. Also, it doesn't mention that adminsistration cuts so many officer positions at the House of Correction that officer safety is becoming a major concern ....

Sounds like the Cambridge Jail in Middlesex County. Staffing is at a all time low and now the Sheriff has extended the current academy to 23 weeks. It speaks for itself.

Posted by: lawdog671

Thats not right.....I'm counting approx. 1.5 million between like maybe 10 guys??...I'm not saying their job isn't worth the pay as long as they're working inside...but how many guys could you hire with that extra coin huh??....damn....give the working guys a raise and you'll get more guys interested....less forced OT....lower budget...I am of course being simplistic...(disclaimer for STR8 in case he comes back...)

The press has no idea what they are talking about most of the time....we all know that...

Posted by: MD1218

This was a horribly written article and it is obvious that someone inside of this administration was feeding the press some information pertaining to any discipline that some officers were subject to for whatever reasons they were.

The type of employee that they are aiming to hire is currently a person that is college educated and has a pretty clean record, drug free. Which are not unreasonable to ask I guess. But they eliminate a ton of applicants due to being to strict on the criteria. I know it's a jail and HOC and you want someone that isn't a criminal or a junkie, but not all college grads want to work in this environment. On top of being inside a Jail or Prison new officers have to deal with tue/wed for days off. You're also unable to pick your shift for 3 years, so if they want to keep you but punish you, you're either on 3-11 or 11-7. For vacation the only months available are January, some of February, some March and then a couple months in the fall. Can't forget about the 18 months probation either. Some will say "Oh well, this comes with being new." Just try to tell a man or woman with a degree all of that. Most people turn it down.

They get a ton of applicants, they had stacks of them and a majority of those people are turned down for whatever reason it might be. Then when you do get the job and realize it isn't what they make it out to be most of these guys want out before probation is over. A good number of they do leave, so it's pretty much a revolving door.

I work there and I can say that the administration is the reason that the overtime is as out of control as it is. At the HOC I talk with officers there that said they are hiring up to 50, and sometimes more, overtimes to staff their 3-11 shift. At the jail we are sometimes hiring 20 overtimes for the 3-11 shift and that is staffed with around 75 people. There are nights that 11-7 shift which requires about 33-35 to be fully staffed are even hiring up to 20 overtimes and this is just to do rounds to make sure nobody is hanging it up.

The part of the story the Herald was missing is the amount of fights that shows this isn't easy money earned. When you have a unit with 180 inmates and 2-3 officers in that unit, what happens when a 8-8 fight breaks out or a more recent fight that was about a 15-15. Or when you just hope to have an easy day to make some money and next thing you know you got someone throwing urine or feces on you. Maybe a little more extreme you're in a cell by yourself now holding a guy up that hung himself waiting for someone to come and cut him down. But, we're stealing money I guess and this should be reformed!

Posted by: FAPD

Of course, the article has to mention some prior personnel issues like they even matter. My hat's off to all the c.o.'s who do the job that I would not want to do. I don't care how much they make either, they earn it!

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