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Former Probation Chief to be Considered for Commissioner of NYC Prisons

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Several candidates have been interviewed and are being considered for the open position of Commissioner of New York City’s Prisons. One of them is a former commissioner of probation in New York City. Another is a former head of prisons in Washington State. 

The first candidate is Vincent Schiraldi, aged 58. He’s apparently been through several interviews with officials at New York City Hall, according to sources close to the story.  Mr. Schiraldi is, at present, a senior research fellow at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. According to Natalie Gybauskas, a spokeswoman with City Hall in New York City, “As part of our thorough search for the next commissioner, we’re talking with many correctional experts from all over the country.”  Vincent Schiraldi is closely tied politically to the head of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, Elizabeth Glazer.  He was a senior adviser to her from March of 2014 to September of 2015.  Vincent Schiraldi was in charge of New York City’s Probation Department from 2010 until 2014, when Michael Bloomberg was mayor.

Another candidate for Prison Commissioner, Dan Pacholke, comes with more of a checkered record. While he was secretary of the Washington State Department of Corrections, 3,000 prison inmates were released by mistake.  This error was chalked up to a computer malfunction that began in 2002, and was even unearthed in 2012; but because of bureaucratic red tape preventing the prison computer system from being refurbished, continued until 2016.  Two of the inmates released were later accused of murder after being set free.  

Dan Pacholke, who is 56 years old, stepped down from his position as head of Washington State’s prisons in February of 2016 after only serving six months.  While he decided any responsibility for the computer mishap that freed thousands of inmates by accident, he did accept blame.  As he put it, “Within a couple of months, we discovered the sentencing error that had gone on for some time.  I had never supervised the records or IT department in my 33-year career. It was not anything I should have been aware of or managed.” He went on to say,

“I was head of Corrections at the time.  I owned the problem.”

His consideration as Commissioner is being opposed by the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, the prison guards union, who desire someone with more experience being in charge of jails.  The President of the COBA, Elias Husamudeen, stated, “Prison systems and jail systems are as different and unique as states and municipalities and they require a unique set of management skills and operational knowledge.”

By: Anat Ghelber

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