Dear Members;

On Monday March 28th I addressed the County Legislature and gave them a written presentation describing the deplorable working conditions at the Nassau Jail. I also supplied them with photographic evidence of the crumbling infrastructure as well as the numerous Security deficiencies that our Members deal with everyday.  This evidence was all gathered after I led a tour of County Officials through our facility several weeks ago.  

During my presentation many other issues were addressed, including the artificial overcrowding of the Jail, caused by the Sheriff's continued consolidation policy which puts our officers in danger every day, due to the large Gang presence we have in our facility. I detailed how different classifications and different Gangs are mixed together as well as how half the jail remains empty with usable Housing space that could be used to alleviate the problems and spread out the problem inmates.

While I don't expect miracles from anyone in the County, it was decided that a joint committee of Legislators and the Union, along with Jail and County Officials would be formed so that a Capital Plan can be instituted to finally begin to refurbish the facility.  

While pressing the issue of utilizing additional space in our facility, I was asked several questions about the new Commissioner of Corrections and his qualifications for this job. I hope my point was made perfectly clear that our facility is in dire need of administrators with actual Corrections experience. The current conditions in our facility and the current mindset is a recipe for disaster and we need to move in another direction.

Stay safe and Always Yours in Unionism

Brian Sullivan, COBA President.