SAN ANTONIO — About a third of the detention officer positions at the Bexar County Jail are open. That’s two to three times more than Tarrant, Travis and Dallas counties.
Hiring has become an obstacle nationwide, especially at the county jail, which has increasingly leaned on mandatory overtime to cover the gap. The county spent $14 million on overtime for detention officers last fiscal year — about $6 million over budget.
The shortage has created a new category for overtime: forced, no relief, according to a recently released report from Detain, a Belton-based jail consultant commissioned by Sheriff Javier Salazar. That’s when a detention officer has to stay past a scheduled shift because of an unexpected call-in — sometimes working an entire extra shift.
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The report listed several recommendations to improve staffing, including higher salaries and changing the work schedule.
Salazar commissioned the report a year ago using seized asset forfeiture funds. The Bexar County Commissioners later contracted American Correctional Consultants, a Florida firm, to conduct its own study after a heated exchange between Salazar and former Pct. 3 Commissioner Trish DeBerry, who said the court should have a say in selecting the consultant. The second report hasn’t been released.
The Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Bexar County criticized the delay of the review because it was not released before the 2022-2023 operating budget was passed last month, and they are still waiting for the county to release its assessment.
Detain’s report showed that starting detention officers were making an average of 15 percent less than their counterparts in six large metropolitan counties in Texas as of November 2021. Even nearby counties like Comal, Atascosa and Kendall were offering higher starting wages.
The consultants noted El Paso County had just 10 vacancies and attributed the low figure to area economic factors and a high retention rate among detention officers.
Salazar credited Detain as the reason the deputies were afforded a yearly step increase in a collective bargaining agreement ratified in February.
Deputies will receive a 20 percent raise across-the-board at the end of their contract, which started with a 5 percent increase in October 2021 and included a mid-summer raise of 5 percent, a 5 percent raise this month and 2.5 percent increases in both October 2023 and October 2024.
“We’ve already done a lot of the things that (the report) is talking about,” the sheriff said. “The pay has caught up.”
In response to the high vacancy rate, Detain noted the difficult recruiting environment is compounded by a nationwide shortage of workers in most private and public sector fields due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic.
Bexar County and other agencies have resorted to mandated overtime, using mid-managers to work line positions, modified work weeks, and employing part-time staff to meet minimum levels.
Detain recommended that the sheriff’s office move to a 48-hour, six-day work week for detention officers and any support staff who face chronic overtime — a similar schedule is currently used by Tarrant County.
Salazar was intrigued at the prospect, echoing Detain’s suggestion that the change in hours could start as a pilot program with the staff of the smallest of the three buildings that make up the Bexar County Jail. Detain’s report states starting with one building would also allow leadership to give detention officers the choice of whether an 8-hour shift or 12-hour shift would best accommodate their schedule.
Salazar said the option could help recruit and retain detention officers, giving employees who think the “grass is greener” at other companies the option of three or four days off in their schedule.
“If you’re a young person in law enforcement, you were always told to say goodbye to weekends,” he said. “For me to tell young people today, ‘Hey, you get weekends or three or four days off a week,’ why wouldn’t I want to shout that from the rooftops?”
Detain advised that volunteers for last-minute overtime needs are often communicated to staff via email, radio, phone calls, text messages and in-person briefings.
Salazar said the department is currently working on implementing software that would help, per Detain’s recommendation, but it is still in the early stages of adoption.
It was also recommended that the sheriff’s leadership examine whether the “relatively high” number of hours away from the job because of disciplinary actions adversely affecting mandatory overtime assignments and costs.
Several areas also needed more data, including a staffing study to generate a shift relief factor, which had not been conducted in more than five years.
The consultants also observed a 70 percent increase in emergency trips to the hospital year-over-year. To further investigate, the consultant recommends the agency conduct a historical review of approximately five years of inmate emergency trip data.
“Our population is just sicker,” the sheriff said. He attributed this to people who are booked and found to have mental health needs, women who are pregnant, people who have chronic illness or people suffering injury from drug abuse.
Transporting inmates also adds to the need for overtime from deputies, who have to accompany inmates on hospital visits. The sheriff said there are anywhere from eight to 15 deputies waiting on inmates daily.
“You have to sit there for 16 to 24 hours,” Salazar said. “If they get admitted, they’re still guarding them.”
Consultants recommend that the sheriff’s office partner with other organizations to combat overcrowding at the jail, which is occurring despite a “relatively low incarceration rate and robust diversion programs.”
As of May 1, the jail held 4,365 offenders at just over 85 percent of total capacity, consultants said. The Bexar County Jail is the third largest jail facility in Texas in terms of overall capacity, according to the Texas Commissioner on Jail Standards.
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Salazar said he has been working with stakeholders and that the Bexar County District Attorney and county judges are often helpful in combating overcrowding.
Ultimately, he attributed the high inmate population to three separate areas.
“It’s systemic,” the sheriff said. At any given time, there are more than 200 inmates convicted of a felony who should be moved to a prison. Inmates who are sentenced to the state mental hospital are not being picked up because of a lack of beds and facilities.
Likewise, people who need to be taken into drug rehabilitation are also languishing in jail.
“If you took those three categories, we wouldn’t have an overtime problem in here,” the sheriff said. “I say that out of frustration that that’s probably the most easily recognizable.”
jbeltran@express-news.net
from
https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/a-jump-in-pay-and-three-days-off-a-week-sheriff-looks-to-boost-staffing-at-bexar-county-jail-san-antonio-express-news/
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