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| Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 1622 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 | Tel: (415) 621-5661 | Fax: (415) 621-5466 |
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he's serious about reforming the prison system. He has appointed new top leadership at the Department of Corrections who say they're determined to root out corruption, waste and intimidation of whistle-blowers. One test of that resolve is the department's response to whistle-blower Richard Krupp's complaint.
What did Krupp do? He stepped on the third rail of prison management issues - out-of-control sick leave and overtime costs. To date, two findings by the state Personnel Board and the Office of Inspector General have determined that Krupp was a victim of retaliation for his trouble. Yet the department continues to appeal. It has done nothing to discipline or fire the retaliators. It has done nothing to protect the whistle-blower.
Intimidation and retaliation will continue unless top leaders - from the governor on down - make it clear that whistle-blowers will be protected and retaliators punished.
Here's the background: In 1998-1999, Krupp was the chief of personnel automation in the Department of Corrections. He produced a study on sick leave and overtime patterns, showing overtime costs on their way from $50 million to $75 million. He made recommendations for reform. He showed that of all the state's prisons, the medium-security facility at San Luis Obispo was doing the best job of managing costs.
The response? Krupp recently told the state Senate Select Committee on Government Oversight that wardens told him this was "dangerous information." Headquarters contacted the San Luis Obispo prison, he says, and told them to stop doing what they were doing to control overtime costs. Predictably, sick leave and overtime went back up. Krupp was removed from the project.
But Krupp didn't stop. He turned his information over to the Bureau of State Audits, which produced a January 2000 report echoing his warnings of a looming overtime crisis. Krupp was removed from his job and asked to craft a response to refute the findings.
Though data showed sick leave and overtime costs increasing, he was asked, "What can you do to make the figures look like they're going down?" When Krupp refused, insisting overtime costs were now approaching $100 million, the department turned to someone else.
Krupp testified that although prison guards account for 85 percent of overtime, to make the numbers look better the department included nonguard staff who don't incur overtime costs when they're out sick. Incredibly, the department also included vacant positions that, of course, take zero sick leave. That pattern of fudging numbers, notes Sen. Jackie Speier, the committee chairwoman, continues today.
Krupp was again removed from his job. He was put to work in the Department of Corrections summarizing college research proposals, a task that took about one hour a week for which he was paid $6,000 a month. Fed up, in August 2001 Krupp filed a whistle-blower complaint against the Department of Corrections.
The State Personnel Board issued a finding of retaliation in January 2002, the Office of the Inspector General in May 2002. Rather than hold up Krupp as a public servant who can help turn around department troubles, the Department of Corrections continues to battle these findings.
The budget and management mess at Corrections will continue unless the department is willing to confront sick leave and overtime issues openly and honestly - as Krupp has been trying to do for five years. The governor has a chance now to send a strong message that he's serious about reform. He can do that by disciplining the retaliators and protecting the whistle-blower.
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