Guards fear layoffs will escalate overtime hours at PDC

With news that two high ranking Porterville Developmental Center (PDC) public safety officials have been indicted on suspicion of overtime fraud, some facility employees are concerned that overtime costs will soar and that the public will be at greater risk — especially after the planned lay-off of security guards in May. Security Guards, who earn lesser salaries and overtime annually than their Peace Officer counterparts — but have much of the same credentials — say they could save taxpayers money by taking on more responsibilities at the state hospital.

On Tuesday, Commander Jeff Lewis Bradley and Lieutenant Scott Anthony Gardner were arrested on suspicion of embezzlement of approximately $121,000 in overtime pay. Porterville police detectives said Gardner had been paid for time he did not work, including multiple trips to Las Vegas, and that his pay was approved by Bradley.

A number of PDC employees have contacted The Recorder and said they are concerned about public safety and costs to taxpayers.

“The facility does great things,” food services employee Marsha Randolph said. “But there are people taking advantage of the system.”

Randolph is married to a security guard at PDC, who learned Jan. 21 that he and the 27 other guards will be laid off in May, and replaced by security cameras that will be monitored by Peace Officers.

It will be the first layoff to hit the facility in at least the last 10 years.

Guards are on the same payroll as Gardner and Bradley. They all work for the Office of Protective Services, an arm of the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) which oversees the state’s five developmental centers, including the PDC. Although part of the same agency, OPS is administered separately. Bradley had been promoted from PDC and was the statewide OPS Chief before being placed on Administrative Leave related to the investigation.

The lower-paid security guards are members of the state’s Bargaining Unit 15, represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The higher paid Peace officers are members of the state’s Bargaining Unit 7, represented by the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA).

Many PDC Security Guards said the news of the alleged fraud is not surprising, because many employees were aware of the ongoing investigation.

Although overtime is common at the facility, the investigation that resulted in the arrests earlier this week was triggered by a whistleblower report from inside the facility.

“No one wants to know that your organization is corrupt ... but we all knew,” guard Robert Johnson said.

Aside from concern about the safety of Porterville residents, and how the pink slips will impact their ability to pay mortgages, car payments and medical bills, Randolph, and other security guards, say that layoffs will create more overtime. The guards — whose assignments include manning towers overlooking the perimeter of the facility’s Secure Treatment Program (STP) — are being replaced by state of the art security cameras which will be monitored by the Peace Officers.

The STP houses approximately 275 clients, sometimes called “forensics,” with the mild to moderate range of mental retardation, who have come in contact with the legal system and who have been determined to be a danger to themselves or others and, or incompetent to stand trial.

The STP is supposed to be as secure as a prison, as clients can be dangerous, and over the years have escaped.
Twenty five cameras, costing $600,000, have recently been installed around the perimeter of the STP.

According to DDS spokeswoman Nancy Lungren, the cameras offer a broader span of visual surveillance with controlled zoom-in capability. Lungren also said that they will provide immediate and more accurate detection of people in dangerous situations, or other security issues, resulting in faster response times.

The new monitoring system will be controlled from one room by two Peace Officers who also operate the sally port gate entrance.

Although DDS has no plans to hire additional Peace Officers to fulfill the new duties, there is no expectation that the overtime for Peace Officers will increase, Lungren said.

In fiscal year 2009-10, the salaries of Peace Officers throughout all DDS facilities ranged from $41,460 to $57,432, while Security Guards earned between $27,036 and $32,844. In 2008, Peace Officers working for all state developmental centers collected an average of $37,800 in overtime each, while security guards, on average, earned $13,400 each.

The most overtime paid to a DDS Peace Officer in 2008 was to Thomas Lopez in the amount of $146,902, nearly triple his yearly salary. The most collected by a DDS Security Guard in the same year was $29,113 to Thomas Fowler whose salary was $32,844.

The overtime collected by commanding officers such as the recently arrested Gardner are not included in the figures, as their positions have a different Civil Service classification. Gardner was paid $121,511 worth of overtime in 2008, in addition to his annual salary of $58,939. He was paid more money than the 19 other employees statewide with his same Civil Service classification, Special Investigator I.

Security Guard Steve Ensslin said his attempts to show the state it could save money by using Security Guards instead of Peace Officers for some duties have fallen on deaf ears. Security guards who work at the PDC are required to have completed high school, as well as Peace Officer Standards and Training under California Penal Code Section 832. The Peace Officer position requires a high school diploma as well as completion of a POST-certified police academy.

In 2005, Ensslin estimated that the state could save $1 million by assigning a few Peace Officer duties to Security Guards.

“By having the security guards fill the positions to which they were assigned there would be substantial savings without affecting the safety, security, or level of service to the institution or community,” he writes in a letter that he said he distributed to several different local state legislators. “There will be more positions open as the 96 bed construction expansion is completed. These figures conservatively could amount to $2.5 million, if [the Office of Protective Services] were to continue with the current practice of filling these positions with Peace Officers.

Security guards helped write the post orders for most of the positions. This is security work and not that of a [Peace Officer],” the letter goes on to state.

The $85 million expansion has since been erected, and is currently not occupied. The expansion sits on 120 acres and includes six 5,000 square feet units with 16 bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as a recreational area with a state of the art gym and swimming pool set to Special Olympics specifications.

Contact Jenna Chandler at 784-5000, Ext. 1050, or jchandler@portervillerecorder.com.