Leaders of probation system under fire

Monday, Nov. 23, 1998 | 11:01 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Turmoil is boiling inside the state Division of Parole and Probation, where some officers say public safety is being threatened by budget reductions.

Orders are going out to trim back on drug testing of those on probation and to limit the return to Nevada of petty criminals who flee and are captured in other states.

In response to the budget-cutting measures, a "no confidence" ballot is being sent out to all probation officers in the Reno district by the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs, which represents many state parole and probation officers. There are 53 officers in the Reno district and about 450 throughout the state.

The ballot gives member officers the chance to register a "no confidence" vote against the administration of state Director Carlos Concha and Reno District Chief Dorla Salling.

The vote will be counted Tuesday in Las Vegas. The ballot claims there has been "an extremely high attrition rate" among staff, a claim denied by administrators.

Signed by Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs staffer Kathy Naumann, the ballot also states that reasons for the vote include "extremely low staff morale, unmanageable casework and diminishing product quality."

The ballot goes on to say, "Many believe a root cause is undesirable administration practices that have created a hostile work environment."

Ronald Cuzze, an executive vice president of the conference, said probation officers in Clark County also are upset.

"Although the no-confidence vote comes out of the north, the same thing is going on down here (in Las Vegas)," Cuzze said.

Concha, however, says that the public is not in jeopardy and that the complaints are generated by a few disgruntled employees.

He must slice $600,000 from the budget to keep the division from going in the red. "If I don't cut, I'll be in big trouble next year," Concha said.

His budget-deficit plan, approved last week, calls for:

* Reduced drug testing for those on probation. Concha says tests on parolees and probationers in Las Vegas are for six different kinds of drugs -- marijuana, opiates, cocaine, barbiturates, methamphetamine and PCP. Even though an offender may have used only one drug, all six tests were conducted.

There won't be "testing across the board" but only for those drugs the offender may have used or is suspected of using. Instead of 5,400 tests a month in Las Vegas, the division will be down to 900 to 1,000 a month.

* Instead of returning every offender who flees Nevada, Concha said those with petty offenses will not be sought from out of state.

"We will look at the risk factor and if any violence is involved. Why do we want to go to New York or Florida to pick up somebody who stole something out of Macy's?"

The offender may spend one week in prison or jail and he "goes right out the door," Concha said. "We've wasted thousands of dollars. We're trying to be smart, and the public safety is not in jeopardy."

Such offenders would be picked only if they return to Nevada.

* Parole officers will be allowed to travel 750 miles each month in supervising their parolees or probationers, instead of 1,000. Concha figures they can still do the job of monitoring offenders who are on the street.

* Overtime is limited. His budget for overtime was $105,000, and $380,000 was spent. "Some was justified and some was not. We want accountability. I have got to be fiscally responsible."

Cuzze, however, responded: "With the orders to cut back on drug testing and extraditions, the department has become dysfunctional. The first goal is to protect the public. They are to the point with such high caseloads and reductions that they can no longer do their job."

With the high number of cases for each officer, Cuzze said the job can't be done in 40 hours a week. And there are many vacant positions.

One officer who recently left the agency said the "morale is horrible and it keeps declining." The officer, who asked not to be identified, said, "They don't need a bean counter at the top. They need a leader.'

Another officer still with the division, who also asked that his name not be used, said the cutbacks will reduce public safety. The officer wondered what the reaction will be from district judges who have placed offenders on probation with the understanding that they will be tested.

Concha, who has been with the division for 25 years in every type of job, took over the top position in April. "Right now I'm trying to fix and correct the agency," he said.

This isn't the first no-confidence vote taken by parole and probation officers. Several years ago, the officers gave a no-confidence vote to district chief John Slansky, who was then transferred by Gov. Bob Miller to become warden at a vacant prison being built at Lovelock.

Concha, accused of poor communications with the staff, says he has visited nearly every office in the state explaining the budget reduction. Each month, a person on parole or probation must pay $30 to the state for cost of supervision.

But officers have failed to get the money, Concha said. "The focus has been on safety, not on collections." Concha said some parolees get out of prison with only $35 in their pockets, immediately fall behind in payments and never catch up.

It's cheaper for the state as a whole, even if parolees miss the monthly payments, for them to remain under supervision rather than return to prison.

The complaints against Salling, the Reno chief, are coming from officers who were not promoted. "If there was anything faulty, we would have an internal investigation," Concha said.

Concha denies there's been a high turnover, saying a study for this year shows the rate at 10 to 11 percent, down from 20 percent in the past. Parole officers in 1997 received an extra 10 percent pay increase above other state employees to bring them in line with counterparts.

But trained officers are still leaving for work in the federal and local governments, where the pay is better and the caseloads lighter.

Concha says the average number of regular parole or probation cases handled by an officer is around 70, not the more than 150 claimed by some critics.

Last fiscal year, the division faced a shortage of about $300,000. Concha received permission from the Legislative Interim Finance Committee to shift $300,000, which was set aside for the purchase of high-band radios, to be used in operations.