Where Does Your Sheriff Stand?

Corrections News & Views, January 2014 Edition

What are potential and ex-employees saying about working at the HCSO?

This is a thread from Officer.Com, it's a discussion between former employees and potential employees considering working for the HCSO. 

 A potential applicant asks, "Is HCSO still on a pay freeze?"


The answer he gets is, "No, but they are paid less than surrounding counties/agencies. 

See the following websites for more details:

Hennepin County Sheriff's Deputies Association
www.hcsda.com (Click on Contract and Pay Scale) |www.facebook.com/hcsda

Hennepin County Detention Deputy Blogspot
http://detentionhome.blogspot.com/"

Potential applicant responds, "WTF. That's pretty terrible."

OUCH!

The link is a good read that gives a pretty honest sum of working here.

PREA Update

On Friday January 10th we met with Sheriff's Administration to discuss the implementation of the PREA background checks on MNPEA members. This is a new condition of employment and it should be negotiated and we believe either contract language or a Letter of Understanding needs to be drafted to establish what can and can't be done under the PREA background investigations.

We made it clear that we were going to cooperate with the new law, but were concerned about the Sheriff's Office casting a "wide net." Our goal is to make sure the law is applied to our members as written, no less and certainly no more. After all, PREA backgrounds are available to future employers.

We went over the questions the Sheriff's Office wants to ask and there were a couple we believed were not required by the PREA. We made recommendations to the administration.

We have concerns over any unreported minor  infractions that may be found during a background investigation. The purpose of the PREA is to make sure you aren't a sex offender working in corrections, and you shouldn't be if you are. The Sheriff's Administration says if found, minor infractions will be turned over to I.A. We view it as a search warrant looking for a specific item not a catch all.

There is concern many of you have  about being fingerprinted again. The PREA does not require it as part of the background check. The Sheriff's Office believes it is necessary. Our position is that they already have them. 

We have concerns over where those fingerprints will end up. After all the HCSO has a poor track record of keeping confidential information confidential. Like the 3 times they violated our Garrity Rights and home addresses ending up with AFSCME. Let's not forget the Kingfish system that allows the Sheriff's Office to track our cell phones. As I said, we will comply with the law, but do not want a wide net cast beyond what the law requires.

An interesting side-note is that every time we go to arbitration our employer, the County makes it clear that there are three corrections groups in the County. The Workhouse, the Juvenile Center and us at the jail. They ALWAYS say we are the same and use that argument to keep our pay equal, even though we have more inmates, more training and higher standards (ACA). Well guess what? The Workhouse and Juvenile Center CO's aren't getting fingerprinted as part of their PREA background. Why should we be held to a higher standard? 

The Lieutenants at the meeting are bringing our concerns to the Sheriff. We will wait and see how it goes. 

Low pay costs taxpayers money!!

Correctionsone is reporting:

 ATLANTA, Ga. — Turnover in Georgia’s adult and juvenile justice systems, which pay their correctional officers far less than what their peers receive in other Southeastern states, required training for nearly 3,000 replacements in the most recent fiscal year at a cost to taxpayers of about $30 million.

Take note Hennepin County!. The Detention Deputies working for the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in the jail are THE LOWEST PAID IN THE SEVEN COUNTY METRO AREA!. 

That's right, the biggest busiest jail in the upper Midwest, with 839 beds, is the lowest paid. On average $2-$4 an hour lower than their metro area counterparts at smaller county jails.

Our jail is hemorrhaging employees. This brings the experience level down and the risk of lawsuits up. 

I was talking to one of the Hennepin County workhouse CO's last week and he said they hired 5 new CO's and just as they finished training 3 left to work for Ramsey County which STARTS at $4.00  an hour more.

3 of my longtime co-workers in the County jail left in the last week for better paying jobs and our boss has no idea how many more are about to.

Low pay leads to turnover, expensive hiring and training of replacements, inexperienced staff and lawsuits.

It can't be that they can't afford it. In 2007 the jail was staffed with 181 detention deputies and 39 licensed (sworn). The licensed deputies make $1,000 a month more. Under Sheriff Stanek the detention deputies now only number 142 while the number of  licensed deputies in the jail has risen to 93. That's an increase of 54 licensed deputies doing the same job as the detention at a cost of $54,000 a month more! Do the math. I should note, Hennepin County is the only jail increasing licensed staff, the others have almost eliminated them from their jails.

Hennepin County just raised our Sheriff's pay to $157,000 a year, making him the highest paid in the state. Up $12,000 a year from six years ago. All while keeping their Detention staff at the lowest paid in the metro-area. 

Go ahead County Board, pat yourselves on the back for winning the battle, but you will lose the war when no one is willing to work these essential public safety jobs.