NOW TO A TARGET 12
INVESTIGATORS
EXCLUSIVE:
"DOING TIME"
(MM)
DATA WE'VE OBTAINED
FROM THE DEPARTMENT
OF CORRECTIONS SHOWS,
CORRECTIONAL
OFFICERS AT----- THE A-C-I
ARE WORKING---- MORE
AND MORE MARATHON
SHIFTS....
32 HOURS STRAIGHT!
(HE)
THIS COMES AS THE COST
OF OVERTIME FOR
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS
HAS BEEN ON THE RISE.
TARGET 12 INVESTIGATOR
TIM WHITE IS HERE NOW
WITH HIS EXCLUSIVE
FINDINGS.
IMAGINE GETTING TO WORK AT
9 A-M, THEN LEAVING AT 5 P-M...
THE NEXT DAY.
32 HOURS IN A ROW.
OUR INVESTIGATION FOUND
HUNDREDS OF CORRECTIONAL
OFFICERS ARE PULLING THESE
MASSIVE SHIFTS EVERY YEAR.
BEING A CORRECTIONAL
OFFICER AT THE ADULT
CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION IN
CRANSTON,
ISN'T SOME LAID-BACK GIG.
"It's a very difficult job.
We're in a
different world here."
WORKING EIGHT HOURS ALONE
AT THE A-C-I CAN BE GRUELING.
HOW ABOUT FOUR, EIGHT HOUR
SHIFTS IN A ROW?
32 HOURS STRAIGHT...
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS CALL
IT WORKING A QUAD.
It is considered a biological
necessity, it is not an option.
DOCTOR JARED MINKEL IS A
SLEEP STUDY EXPERT AT
RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL.
"It's very hard to sustain
attention
when you are sleep deprived.
Your
mind will start to wonder, you
will
start to get what we call
microsleeps
(0157) where your brain will try
to
sleep a little bit even when
youre
awake.
Data obtained by target 12 shows
the number of four eight hour
shifts
at the ACI... Or quads -- is on
the
rise.
In 2016 correctional officers
worked
more than 19-hundred quads
In 2017 there were more than 31
hundred 32 hour shifts
And in 2018 there was a whopping
42-hundred quads worked by
correctional officers.
OF THE ROUGHLY 960
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS, 355
WORKED AT LEAST ONE 32
HOUR SHIFT IN 2018.
White: "Why? What happened
between 2016 and 2018 they would
go up so much?"
Ferruccio: "Not hiring anybody,
we
didn't put any classes on in
that
period and it's a number of
people
leaving."
RICHARD FERRUCCIO IS
PRESIDENT OF THE
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS
UNION.
HE SAYS OFFICERS ARE OFTEN
FROZEN IN FOR ONE
ADDITIONAL SHIFT - MEANING
THEY ARE FORCED TO WORK -
DUE TO SHORTSTAFFING.
"The problem is straightforward
that
if we didn't have the ability to
offer
these triples or quads then we
are
going to freeze some of the
correctional officers in."
C-O'S WHO WORK BETWEEN 8
AND 16 HOURS OF O-T GET PAID
TIME AND A HALF. ANYTHING
BEYOND THAT THEY EARN
DOUBLE TIME PAY.
LAST YEAR -- PAYROLL
RECORDS SHOW 21 OFFICERS
TOOK IN MORE THAN 100
GRAND IN OVERTIME ALONE.
IN A STATEMENT, A
SPOKESPERSON FOR THE
DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS SAYS ANY
EMPLOYEE WORKING BEYOND
16 HOURS DOES SO
VOLUNTARILY... THEY ARE NOT
FROZEN IN FOR THAT LONG.
"We do not force, or even
encourage, people to work quads,
but because it is contractual,
there
is little that can be changed."
FERRUCCIO SAYS THERE HAS
NEVER BEEN A SAFETY ISSUE
AS A RESULT OF SOMEONE
WORKING 32 HOURS STRAIGHT.
BUT THERE HAVE BEEN
CONSEQUENCES.
White: You have seen CO's fired
because they fell asleep in
their
third or fourth shift.
RF: I have. I have also seen
CO's
fired for falling asleep on
their first
shift and Im not proud to say
that. Its
nothing something we support we
tolerate, its nt acceptable.
White: after someone works a 32
hour shift, they have to go
home,
would you want to be on the road
with someone who has worked that
long?
Doc: absolutely not
(TW)
BY CONTRACT, OFFICERS CAN'T
WORK BEYOND 32 HOURS
STRAIGHT. BUT THEY ONLY
NEED 8 HOURS OFF, BEFORE
THEY ARE ALLOWED TO WORK
ANOTHER MARATHON SHIFT.
WITH THE TARGET 12
INVESTIGATORS TIM WHITE
EYEWITNESS NEWS
(HE)
OUR EXCLUSIVE TARGET
12 INVESTIGATION --
"DOING TIME" --
CONTINUES ON
EYEWITNESS NEWS AT SIX.
(MM)
COMING UP NEW AT SIX --
WE LOOK AT OTHER
STATES' OVERTIME
POLICIES, AND FIND THAT
SOME PUT---- A TIGHTER
CAP ON HOW MANY
HOURS CORRECTIONAL
OFFICERS WORK IN A
ROW.
CONDITION.
(HE)
NEW DETAILS NOW IN A
TARGET 12
INVESTIGATORS
EXCLUSIVE:
"DOING TIME"
AS WE REVEALED AT FIVE:
CORRECTIONAL
OFFICERS AT THE A-C-I
ARE WORKING MORE AND
MORE MARATHON SHIFTS
-- 32 HOURS STRAIGHT.
(MM)
NEW AT 6 ---
WE LEARN OTHER STATES
PUT A TIGHTER CAP ON----
HOW MANY CONSECUTIVE
HOURS THEIR
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS
CAN WORK.
TARGET 12 INVESTIGATOR
TIM WHITE IS HERE NOW
WITH WHAT HE'S
UNCOVERED.
["
THE UNION CONTRACT WITH
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS AT
THE A-C-I ALLOWS THEM TO
WORK FOUR, EIGHT-HOUR
SHIFTS IN A ROW,
AND THEY ONLY HAVE TO TAKE
EIGHT HOURS OFF BEFORE
DOING IT AGAIN.
BUT WE LOOKED AT SOME
OTHER STATES' OVERTIME
POLICIES, AND FOUND SOME
LIMIT CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS
TO NO MORE THAN 16 HOURS
STRAIGHT.
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS CALL
IT WORKING A QUAD.
FOUR SHIFTS IN A ROW.
32 HOURS STRAIGHT... AT THE
A-C-I.
AND THE NUMBERS ARE ON
THE RISE.
IN 2016 CORRECTIONAL
OFFICERS WORKED MORE
THAN 19-HUNDRED QUADS.
THOSE NUMBERS ROSE TO A
WHOPPING 42 HUNDRED 32
HOUR SHIFTS IN 2018.
What happened between 2015 and
2016 they would go up so much?
Rf: (0020) Not hiring anybody,
we
didn't put any classes on in
that
period and it's a number of
people
leaving.
CORRECTIONAL OFFICER UNION
PRESIDENT RICHARD
FERRUCCIO SAYS
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO
WORK THESE LONG,
VOLUNTARY SHIFTS MAY BE
PREVENTING OTHER OFFICERS
FROM BEING FROZEN IN --
MEANING THEY CAN'T GO HOME
- DUE TO SHORT-STAFFING.
So if we were to eliminate quads
we
would have to come up with some
plan to replace it. (0833)
otherwise
were are going to freeze more
CO's
in
THERE IS ALSO A FINANCIAL
INCENTIVE.
FERRUCCIO SAYS ANY TIME ON
THE CLOCK OVER 16 HOURS
EARNS A C-O DOUBLE TIME PAY.
Target 12 checked with several
new
england states.
And in maine the union contract
caps time on the clock at 15 to
18
hours, depending on the
facility.
In vermont its no more than a 16
hour shift.
In massachusetts. A spokesperson
tells us:
"There is nothing written in
policy
that restricts how many hours
our
officers can work, but in
practice we
don't allow anyone to do more
than
16 hours."
(0923) There are a lot of
paralells
between sleep deprivation and
drunk driving, including the
inability
to know how drunk you are, how
impaired you are.
DOCTOR JARED MINKEL IS A
SLEEP SPECIALIST AT RHODE
ISLAND HOSPITAL.
White: (1140) At a certain point
could a body just shut down on
you?
Doc: (1146) Absolutely we've
sometimes called it a sleep
attack. If
you're sleep deprived enough
sometimes there is no amount of
willpower that can overcome
that.
All I can tell you is in my 35
years
here, we haven't had a CO that
was
on a 32 hour shift that has had
an
incident.
IN A STATEMENT, A
SPOKESPERSON FOR THE
DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS SAYS ANY
EMPLOYEE WORKING BEYOND
16 HOURS DOES SO
VOLUNTARILY.
"We do not force, or even
encourage, people to work quads,
but because it is contractual,
there
is little that can be changed."
FERRUCCIO TELLS ME WHEN
THE 2019 NUMBERS COME OUT,
HE THINK THERE WILL BE
FEWER 32 HOUR SHIFTS
BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEFED
UP THE RANKS OF
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS AT
THE A-C-I.
WITH THE TARGET 12
INVESTIGATORS TIM WHITE
EYEWITNESS NEWS